Take your breaks—you’ve earned them!

Too often, people talk about skipping breaks as if it’s a mark of dedication. Eat at your desk. Keep working through lunch. Stay glued to your screen because every extra minute counts. I never bought into that mindset. I’ve always taken my breaks, and nowadays I even have my lunch blocked off on my Outlook calendar, hoping to discourage others from scheduling meetings during that time. It doesn’t always work, so sometimes I take my break before or after a meeting—but I still get it. Eating in front of a Zoom meeting does not count as a proper break.

For me, lunch breaks are essential. They’re my reading time, my mental reset, my chance to breathe. On warm days, I step outside for a walk, letting fresh air and movement clear my head. When the weather turns cold, I close my office door, turn away from my computer, and read while I eat. Without this downtime, I am far less focused, far less creative, and far less effective than if I tried to push through lunch at my desk.

It’s also the responsibility of supervisors to make sure their workers are taking their breaks. I once worked in an academic department under a supervisor who told me when I started, “We don’t really take breaks around here.” I wish she had warned me before I accepted the job. She went out of her way to lay guilt trips on me whenever I took a break. The “break room” for staff was a table at the back of the supply closet, half taken up by a microwave. If I wanted to eat away from my desk, I had to tolerate coworkers reaching over me or hovering while using the microwave. Meanwhile, the faculty had a large workroom with big windows that served as their break room—but my supervisor made it clear that it wasn’t for staff. Experiences like that show that protecting your break time sometimes means claiming it in spite of your workplace culture.

Here’s the truth: skipping breaks won’t earn you a promotion, a raise, or admiration. The idea that grinding nonstop is the key to success is a myth perpetuated by workplaces that want more output for the same pay. I refuse to be exploited. Every second I’m off the clock is mine. I will spend it in ways that recharge me, not ways that make me a slightly more overworked cog in the machine.

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Breaks are not optional. They are essential. They help your mind reset, your body recover, and your creativity flourish. Reading, walking, simply sitting and breathing—these are investments in your productivity, not distractions from it.

So take your break. Eat your lunch away from your computer. Step outside. Close the office door. Do whatever restores you. Don’t let guilt or judgment steal the only time you truly own during your workday. You’ve earned it.

I’d love to hear from you: How do you spend your lunch break or downtime at work? Do you fight to protect it, or do you often find yourself skipping it? Share your experiences in the comments—I want to know how others make their breaks count.

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Now that Jack has been forced to reflect on everything he has to lose, he resolves to do better. He’s determined to spend more time at home with his family and repair the relationships that have suffered over the years while he’s been so focused on work. But as Callie’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre, Jack realizes he has a lot more room to improve than he realized – and it might be too late to save his daughter after all.

For fans of We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Push, and Baby Teeth.