It sounds almost stupidly obvious, but I did a horrid job of actually building a lunch break into my work schedule for probably the first eight months of working from home.

For one, you need the nutrients and energy to keep going, but it also turns out you need a break.

If possible, I’ll prep a few lunches on Sunday, so that I can make the most of my lunch break. It basically just allows me to spend more time eating and relaxing, and less time prepping. I’m not going to lie, often Bri is the saviour for me in this regard. My wife, it turns out, is ever so considerate in terms of making a bit extra.

At first, I was terrible at eating a rushed meal, then getting back to work (talk about a workaholic). I’m talking 9 minute lunches or something absurd. It turns out that when you do that, you’re on a fast track to hitting the dreaded 3:12pm wall.

Yes, it’s a thing.

In response, I decided that I’d tune in to an easy to watch show at lunch. I personally settled on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Most episodes are under half and hour, and are fun and light, and there’s something like 5 seasons now. Or, if not, I’ll throw on a Netflix comedy special with a comedian I like or a silly, laugh-worthy show like Final Space or Big Mouth.

This way, I can get my lunch organized, watch an episode of something, digest, and maybe get another cup of tea or coffee, and then head back to work having had a real break. Generally speaking, that process takes around 40-50 minutes, which I’ve found is about appropriate for me.

And, if I had to guess, I’d say I take lunch most days around 1 or 1:30pm.

I’ll also give myself permission to check my phone during this lunch, as long as it doesn’t lead me to work by accident, which certainly has happened, and it’s something I remain vigilant about combatting.

A Work Schedule for the Afternoon/ My Afternoon Routine

I plan my afternoons under the assumption that I’ll likely already have spent a fair bit of mental capital, and that I’m not going to be at my creative best.

Having worked at home for myself for a while at this point, I now inherently understand that there’s no use slogging to finish an article for three hours because “I should,” when it would likely take me a third or half the time to do if I made space for it in the following day’s morning routine.

In my afternoon work schedule, I spend a significant portion of it at a standing desk. There are few things more unbearable to me than sitting all day.

In the morning, I’m sitting and focused on creative tasks, and in the afternoon, I’m standing and completing tasks that are likely more administrative in nature, where I don’t need to be sitting and hyper-focused.

You might be thinking that it’s easy for me to form a schedule like this since I work for myself, but you’d be shocked how you can reorganize your commitments and guard your time when you’re working from home, period - even if you’re technically working for someone else, or a company or business.

Time to Get Back to it!