The busy lifestyle of many Americans prompted the emergence of the term "al desko" where they now prefer to eat lunch at their desks instead of going to the nearest diner. While many believed that this results to more productivity, there are certain reasons why you must not and should not eat at your desk.
Huffington Post highlighted several health reasons that will make you realize why you should not eat at your desk. You'll be surprised at the adverse health effects of this seemingly good but in reality a very bad habit.
You get to put on extra pounds without you realizing it, a.k.a. mindless eating.
Additional calorie intake is one of the reasons why you should not eat at your desk. You may reach out for some snacks while you work, and mindlessly munch on them but at the end of the day, you have already accumulated hundreds of calories. Dining out can make you eat more, but mindless eating at your desk proves to be worse. Besides, when you get up and walk towards that diner across the street, you burn some calories along the way.
You accumulate bacteria at your workplace.
According to RD, if you tend to eat at your desk, there's a high probability that you may have more bacteria right on your desk as compared to a toilet seat. Now that is one gross reason why you should not eat at your desk. So make sure to disinfect your desk or better yet, go out for lunch with colleagues.
You miss the opportunity to build better work relationships.
According to the Director of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab, Brian Wansink, "Workplace satisfaction is so much higher if you eat with your colleagues." He further added that you will end up liking your colleagues better and build stronger working relationships. If you choose to eat alone, you end up harboring all those ill feelings and will miss out the opportunity to laugh and interact with co-workers. Remember, socialization can ease stress.
You missed the chance to improve yourself.
According to experts, employees who interact and socialize with colleagues tend to be more productive as compared to others. One mindset of an individual is, "I have to finish everything by 12:00 noon so that I could go out for lunch." Hence, this leads to better productivity which you will certainly enjoy.
So these are the four reasons why you should not eat at your desk. You don't really need to memorize them, just make sure to head for the diner with colleagues whenever it's time for lunch.
