Eating lunch at your desk may be good for you, study claims

Legions of overworked North Americans have ditched the traditional lunch break in favour of scarfing down food at their desk, and while previous research has scorned desk-lunching, a new study suggests it might actually be good for you.

Research from the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management indicates that going out for lunch with co-workers leaves employees more tired than had they stayed at their desks.

"You're hanging out with people who you can't necessarily kick back and be yourself with," explains study co-author and associate professor John Trougakos.

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This can lead to extra anxiety and stress, which leaves you feeling worse at the end of the day. Conversations during lunch also tend to be centred around stressful work politics, which adds to the feelings of anxiety.

To compile data, researchers asked employees on what they had done during their lunch breaks over a 10-day period. They then asked the participants' co-workers how tired their colleagues appeared to be by the end of each workday. Employees who socialized with co-workers during lunch were reported as looking more tired than those who did not.

But there is a catch -- researchers found that working through lunch was only found to be better than socializing with co-workers if the employees felt a desk-lunch was their choice, and not the result of pressure from their employers or colleagues.

Also see: How to take back your lunch break

"We found that a critical element was having the freedom to choose whether to do it or not," says Trougakos. "The autonomy aspect helps to offset what we had traditionally thought was not a good way to spend break time."

Another study published this summer also challenges the idea that desk-lunching is bad for employees. It found that eating lunch with co-workers at a restaurant reduces a person's cognitive functioning, and in turn makes them less efficient at detail-oriented tasks.

Do you eat your lunch at your desk? Do you think it has a negative impact on productivity? Tell us in the comments below.

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