As much as I would love to be a full time blogger and content creator here at AEH, I can’t be. Not yet anyway. Why? Because the pay is really low, like $0 an hour low. Right now (and I reserve this right to change my mind because this is my little corner of the internet), I have chosen not to put ads on my blog, for a few reasons.

No one really reads it so they wouldn’t be profitable.
The just crowd up my space and dilute my message and my design.
Why would I want people leaving my blog to go somewhere else? There is a big disconnect for me here. You came to read about what’s going on with me or learn about something that I know more about than you do. I am not about to tell you to head over to XYZ website to buy a scarf.

I digress. Long story short, in order to stay in my house and eat food daily I have to work at a regular old 9-5. I am lucky in that I like my job and plan to stay as long as possible.

things to do on your Lunch Break

10 Things to Do on Your Lunch Break

1. Go outside.

If its nice out, eat your lunch outside and get your daily dose of Vitamin D and fresh air. If its cold, bundle up and walk around the building then eat inside. Or walk to a local eatery with a co-worker. It will do wonders for your gnat-like attention span to breath in air that hasn’t been filter through the HVAC system 46,000 times.

2. Ask an interesting person to lunch.

There is always that one person in the office that you want to get to know better or pick their brain more. So do it. Ask them to grab lunch outside the office and come prepared with all the questions you have for them.

Its probably best to keep your main line of questioning professional but if they delve into their personal lives, even better. Now you can brag to you cubical mate that you know more about Mr. Interesting than they do.

3. Work on your side hustle.

My side hustle is this little blog. I love writing about lots of things and am currently working on finding my niche. I will regularly carve out at least 30 minutes of my lunch break to either write, brainstorm ideas or work on graphics.

4. Learn something new.

I love learning! I would say this is fairly evident in that I willingly decided to get my MBA while working full time. While I was in school I would spend most of my lunch breaks studying or completing assignments but now I like to learn things that interest me.

Lately I have signed up for a bunch on email course to teach me all of the things. I will try to plow through a bunch of them on my lunch breaks (usually while sitting outside). Here are some of my favorites and where to sign up for them:

30 Day Better Branding Challenge by Maya Elious (enroll here)
Personal Branding Jumpstart by Maya Elious (sign up here – scroll to the bottom of the page)
7 Day Start a Blog Challenge by Just a Girl and Her Blog (sign up here – scroll to the bottom of the page)
Actionable Social Media Strategies from Buffer (sign up here)

5. Look for a new job.

Be really discrete here, maybe go outside to do this…but do it if you are unhappy where you are or if its just not the right fit then start looking.

One piece of advice, don’t make a change for the wrong reasons. Consider why you are looking and what you are truly unhappy about in your current position. Will this be rectified at a new position? Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. This grass might be greener but remember – “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”

6. Send/return your personal emails and/or make personal phone calls.

Do you have an email sitting in your personal inbox that you want to return but need to put thought into it. Just do it. Take time to respond thoroughly and with intent.

When is the last time you called your mom/dad/grandmother/crazy aunt/college roommate? They would all love to hear your voice, trust me.

7. Eat your lunch.

For goodness’ sake, eat your damn lunch! There is absolutely no point in skipping lunch because you will turn into a hangry monster around 3:00 pm and then eat your co-worker. Fact.

Whether you make your lunch or buy your lunch or steal your lunch make sure food gets into your mouth during your lunch break!

8. Do errands that you can’t do early in the morning or after work.

Does anyone live in a world where the post office is open before your work hours or after? If so, let me know. For me, the post office and bank are two go-to errands I like to get done during my lunch break.

A word to the wise though, everyone else is trying to go to these establishments at the same time. I like to take my lunch either really early or really late on days when I have errands to avoid the rush.

9. Treat yo self.

Get a manicure, pedicure or quick massage. When I was working in the Back Bay (and hated my job) I regularly got manicures and/or pedicures on Newbury Street during my lunch break. This wasn’t awesome for my wallet but was crucial for my mental wellbeing.