Modern lunch break

Rant time. Lunch breaks are a fucking scam. Hear me out.

We're made to believe that a mandatory 30 minute, unpaid, lunch is somehow a victory for workers rights. Tell me, do you really feel like you're taking a break from work in those 30 minutes? Or are you still thinking about work? Are you still in "work mode"? Well guess what, that's 30 minutes of you thinking about work and not relaxing that they are stealing from you. Your workday isn't 8 hours, it's 8 and a half hours. That 30 minutes isn't really yours, it's not enough time to get anything done. You don't agree? Go get drunk during your lunch break. Oh what's that? You can't because you'll face consequences at work? Well gee, sounds like that time doesn't actually belong to you then if you're not free to do whatever you want.

It used to be a job was 9-5. That's 8 hours. Total. You either had a paid lunch, or you ate on the job. But it was PART of those 8 hours. I don't know about you, but if I'm not getting paid for it, I don't want to be at work a second longer than I have to. I've had a few jobs that let me work through lunch and it was great, I could keep working and eat at my desk and I was out of the door 30 minutes before the rest of my co-workers. Jobs that force me to take a lunch are BS. I don't need 30 minutes to eat a sandwich, and the remaining time is NOT relaxing. I don't get to unwind from work. I am instead filled with rage that I'm just wasting time, not getting paid, in order to uphold the illusion that the company "values our time", when really they're just holding us hostage.

Mandatory, unpaid, "breaks" are just a form of wage theft.

You don’t agree? Go get drunk during your lunch break.
Bold assumption that I wasn't doing this already.
- My last week at one of my jobs I was just drinking at my desk
https://sh.itjust.works/comment/20638345

That car looks comfy as hell ngl

If I take one nap my circadian rhythm will be fucked forever.

After a certain age, waking up from a nap feels like being a malnourished bear slowly crawling out of your winter den on shaking legs and a confused, lethargic mind that only wants berries.

I used to work for Comcast at their corporate HQ. One day while walking around waiting for my Blackberry app to finish compiling (this could literally take upwards of an hour because every module incorporated had to be digitally signed by a different RIM server - sometimes it would never finish at all and I would go home) I discovered a sick room with a very comfortable long couch. I started taking 30 minute naps here and my post-lunch productivity skyrocketed. I made the mistake of mentioning this room to one of the Infosys employees and that was the end of my naps. That room was permanently occupied from that point on.

I eventually started pulling a George Costanza and sleeping under the desk in my cubicle, hidden by a filing cabinet and my chair with a crocheted blankie draped over it. Corporate hatred of naps is just so fucking stupid and counterproductive.

I used to do desktop support for a hospital and at one point we were using an empty suite for storing hardware during a PC refresh so I had a key for it. There was still furniture in there so I also used it as my office when I wasn't running around. It was really nice because there was a couch I could nap on and no one ever went in there so it was quiet. My boss didn't care because he could always reach me on my cell.

This is me working from home. My one hour lunch is just my one hour nap, if you quickly drink coffee before the nap, you wake up with a rocket up your ass

I also WFH but still go out to my van during lunch. Mostly to work on small projects.
Nappucino
- I've heard it called a turbo-nap.

I got fired for this! Even though it was my lunch break, I was off the clock, and I have a chronic illness that makes working an 8-10 hour day exhausting, I was fired since I was "setting a bad example for the junior staff".

Guess who got an EEOC/disability settlement.

Fudge the number slightly and such to protect yourself, but what did you end up getting?
Asking for a friend.
- We settled for wages at my previous salary for the time I was unemployed, the bonus I would have received, and the stock I was to be awarded literally the day after they terminated me. We think the latter two were the real drivers for my termination.
- About tree fiddy
Nice

My luck I wouls try to rest my eyes and wake up tomorrow lol

Gotta set an alarm on your phone

I didn't like my old job, but the one thing I really miss was having a full hour for lunch and being located directly next door to a park

I'd go hang my hammock up between a couple trees and set an alarm on my phone to take a nap, it was pretty damn great.

In my opinion, this is mostly great only for salary folks. As an hourly worker, an hour lunch break means I'm away from home for an extra hour. Also, as someone who travels to many locations, I'd much rather eat on the road than sit down and wait until lunch is over, especially if it's mandatory...
- Generally I agree, but I do carve out a narrow exemption for that particular hourly job, it was in a warehouse so pretty physical, I was on my feet all day, carrying around heavy boxes and such, and with the specific job I had I was often the first one there in the morning and basically always the last to leave, so I really wanted that nap in the middle of the day
- Same here from when I was working in the field. If I'm driving, I can count it as working so I go home after 8 hours instead of 9 or 8.5 or whatever.

I wish break rooms with sleeping facilities were more common. A quick nap would be so much more helpful than a gallon of coffee.

a friend interned at a FANG company, fell asleep in one of the noise isolation pod chairs in the hall and missed most of a day.
he still got hired after his internship lol.
This is actually legally mandated in Sweden for all workplaces with more than 50 employees - there must be a room present with some kind of affordance for lying rest. It must also be possible to darken the room completely. Its stated purpose is to facilitate temporary rest for workers.
Unfortunately we all know what they would actually be used for.
- Sounds to me like we need another room.
- Also a great way to decompress on a lunch break
- It's a public facility for employees so I'm sure most people wouldn't try.
  It's not a bad idea. In Romania and France I've seen beds in relax rooms, or unfoldable couches. They were quite a hit with employees taking a nap.
- Getting raises?
- Yeah but every good thing is used for some bad purposes too
  That shouldn't stop people from implementing or putting good stuff in the right places
  Having some beds in a break room would be great for the corporate people
not being so overworked would be nicer
What if you drool a lot? asking for a friend
- Just bring your own pillow
No no, you can’t have any wealth afforded to the working class, that’s communism /s
For anyone who thinks this seriously go read The Gospel of Wealth and don’t @ me.
This is some "battered employee" type shit to say.
- Get a load of the guy who has never heard of siestas
- I've found a 20-minute nap to be game changing, no matter your occupation or love for your job. It just works.

No, I did this every day for years in my 20s. Nothing new, sorry to say.

I genuinely don't understand how people can nap during a 20 minute break. I need two hours just to consider falling asleep. Unless I'm trying to stay alert, at which point I'll crash immediately, but only as long as I don't actively try to lie down and sleep.

I don't trust anybody who can shut down on command to not be an infiltrated cyborg.

Try being permanently exhausted. Ever since I had mono and COVID in 2020 I basically fall asleep the moment I touch my bed. But unfortunately I also need that nap almost every day.
- Sorry to hear that. It genuinely sucks.
My personal experience is if you try to nap every afternoon consistently at the same time, your body gets used to the schedule which allows you to get to sleep faster.
- So why doesn’t that work for sleeping at night
I was a flight attendant in my early 20s. I had no set schedule and often worked really early or really late paired with multiple takeoffs and landings made sleeping on command a necessity. I can usually fall asleep within 10-15 minutes. Faster with airplane engine noise.
I've heard the same from a lot of ex-military folks.
If I'm really exhausted and feel like I'm gonna die but still have to work, I've found that a 15-minute nap is amazing for "taking the edge off" so I can become functional again. If I'm stressed enough I can even have some lucid dreaming happen, or awareness of my surroundings even tho I'm asleep (like sleep paralysis) which is almost as fun. Under normal circumstances, yeah it's hard to nap in under 20 minutes but I bet it'd become easier if I made it a habit.
You don’t have to be fully asleep for a nap to be restorative. Even if you just lay there with your thoughts (NOT YOUR PHONE!) for 15-30 minutes it can be very beneficial.
My Japanese friends can all tap out and rejoin with what seems like on-demand sleep in any position or location for as short as a three minute window to nap. It's like some form of advanced meditation or self-hypnosis. I don't get it and I'm so jealous.
I did it all the time working nights. Just close your eyes and konk out. But set an alarm.
- See, that I can do just fine. I haven't heard an alarm clock in decades. Even if I have to wake up at like 4 AM for an early flight I will typically just wake up 30 minutes earlier and check the time. I still set an alarm just in case, but I can just... wake up at the same hour every day naturally (even before sunrise) and fairly reliably early at unusual times.
  But falling asleep on command? That's science fiction.
  When I worked nights I actually ended up having to create some buffer time before falling asleep. Otherwise it was all work-related nightmares every time, all the time. Sure, I was working from home as well, so people who commute back from their night jobs may get that for free, but still.
I don't know why, but if I'm sleepy I can fall asleep in a few minutes, and will automatically wake up in either 15 minutes or an hour. I went on a long road trip with a friend, and that freaked him out 🙂. Maybe I'm a cyborg and don't even know it 🤖.
Maybe that's something to work on and consider why you struggle to sleep. Given sleep is so important in life, maybe you'd feel some substantial improvements all round with better sleep?
- Struggling to nap and struggling to sleep are two very different things. I have no problem sleeping, but I would never be able to muster a nap during a break at work, even if I had access to my own bedroom.
I got really good at it in college, since I worked the morning shift at FedEx from 2-8, then had classes all day. If I didn't develop the ability to get a nap in between classes I'd never have been able to pay attention. Can't do it anymore though - it might've been that I was just exhausted enough back then to sleep on command, or maybe it's just easier when you're young.

Soooooo…. Who took the picture?

It's a Twitch stream. passive income.
- Gotta hustle, can't stop grinding

The image is of a health care worker. The missing context is this. It’s common practice for unused (not patient) rooms with recliners and such to be used for naps during breaks. Doctors have designated sleeping rooms they can use whenever, lunch or not. Nurses do not, so they get creative, even going so far as using equipment storage rooms if there’s a recliner in there, but can only sleep during their designated lunch break time.

This staff person appears to have a setup for napping in their car.

I feel called out, this is literally what I do during my lunch break with a camper bed set up in the back. I skip eating lunch altogether because a nap is more energizing than some food

I would but my hungry ass needs food

Hell no. I'd eat at my desk our out my tool pouch, whatever to catch that sweet nap. 20-minutes down is a game changer, no matter your job.

I lay down and sleep in a Smart Car during lunch. I am not short just very tired.

Yeahim 33 and i do this even if I have to sleep on the ground somewhere. I also have a bed in my car for the same reason. I feel amazing after 15 minutes

Back when I was working at Dell (sales 🤮), I would do this almost every day! Luckily back then, we had hour long lunches so I could eat and then go to my car for a nap.

This is very much my current set up. Glad to see I’m not the only one. There are literally dozens of us.

I had two jobs in a row where I'd crash in my cot. At one, I kept it in the attic, at the next I had an actual office. Last job was WFH, so I crashed in an actual bed after lunch.
A 20-minute nap is energizing! Very nice.
CAVEAT: For most of us, 20-minutes+ might make you more tired. Clock it on at 20, test for yourself.

💔

On night shift, I'd eat for half and sleep for half of my break. Worked out pretty good, 30 mins to eat and 30 min nap.

This makes me miss nap time at preschool.

I don’t because I’m fresh and just starting my day when I go into work, but most on night shift do this

Nah, I just don't sleep ever