I have been trying to set up a lunch with my supervisor from the intern days. She and I had started planning this lunch about two weeks ago. That’s a fortnight. Each time the lunch gets closer to happening, one of us has to cancel for some work related reason.
I expressed my apologies to her upon my most recent cancellation, but she didn’t seem fazed by it! She told me, “Welcome to Corporate America!”
Apparently it took her and another lady close to two months to get a lunch date settled. That’s how things work here. Between executing time-sensitive tasks, attending meetings, and coffee breaks, most people don’t have time for an actual lunch meeting. Sure, you can have a chance meeting in the break room as you heat up your lean cuisines, but that’s about all you can get.
Having such a hectic work schedule has made the simpler things in life, such as grabbing lunch with a coworker, seem the hardest. So, I look forward to meeting and catching up with her in the next year or so.
Eating at the desk. Not unusual.
A nice simple post but couldn’t agree more. Is a lunch break, even a lunch break now? I mean you end up eating it at your desk, whilst still working at a manic pace. Maybe we should go a little Spanish or Japanese and have proper midday breaks. Either to sleep or to socialise. It gets the mind more focused and generally encourages better performance. Now all we need to do is convince the boss.
I agree! I spent time in Italy and was delighted at the idea of a mid-day siesta! Thanks for reading!
Work can be demanding, but if you get into the habit of putting things off it could become a problem down the line. Always try and honor commitments, even if they seem as trivial as a lunch as you never know what might come out of it. People deal with people at the end of the day, not numbers, marketing, strategies and spreadsheets.
I agree! When I have a business lunch, it is treated as a meeting. Mandatory. This, however, was more of a social meal– to catch up, etc. As a student of Anthropology, I honor the importance of human interaction over numbers and spreadsheets, but I also know what should be prioritized to keep my job!
Thanks for reading!
I find that quite often its the unofficial human interactions that makes the best connections rather than the organised formal business ones. You might enjoy this TEDx video I linked to on my blog : http://newbons.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/the-rise-of-positive-psychology/ Its Shawn Achor: The Secret to better work based on positive psychology. Will definitely put a smile on your face.
So true! and I love that video! Thanks for sharing!