What’s the relationship between eating and working for you?

January 18, 2013 by Joshua
in Blog

If you work at an office and eat lunch in the middle of the day, what is the relationship between working and eating for you? Do you take a break to eat? Do you eat alone or with others? Do you eat while you work?

The way I think of it is to ask

Are you there to work and eating is a distraction?

or

Is eating one of life’s great pleasures and work is a distraction?

You don’t have to choose between only a few options. I see the fundamental question for people who work for others as

Which is more fundamental to you — eating or working for your employer?

I hope you love your work and it consists of great relationships and projects you love to take on. When I worked nine-to-five in an office I viewed eating as a distraction. Sure, I ate with my coworkers, but I still felt like I was at the office to work, not like I was on this planet to enjoy life.

Now I see eating as one of the more fundamental parts of life — for that matter one of the most enjoyable, pleasurable, and reward. To the extent I work for reasons I don’t love or enjoy, I work to support activities like eating.

Everyone has to do what’s right for themselves, but if you value working over eating — or relationships with friends and family — you’ll let work encroach on the space of those things.

For me, it’s a matter of keeping my priorities straight.

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