There’s something romantic about a factory whistle that stops all work. I just imagine a factory and its assembly lines buzzing with movement, everyone working together like bees in a beehive.

And then, WhphhhaaaeeeuuueeeeeeooooooooooooooOoooooooooOooooOoooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooo. All work stops.

One high school summer, I was working for a direct-mail company stuffing envelopes — shoutout Letter Perfect (in business since 1978). Not quite an assembly line but there were dependencies, one person would stuff the envelopes, another would seal them with the letter sealing machine. You don’t lick 1000s of envelopes, that’s crazy talk.

For efficiency, we all took lunch at the same time. I got to know folks I otherwise would have never met. The work, in a real space, doing physical things made us take a break together, and it helped build a culture of support for each other.

Fast forward to my first role out of college, going through the new hire IT program at Deutsche Bank. Wall Street, baby. There were a bunch of us recent college grads starting at the same time. A couple of us became friends, and we’d frequently all go for lunch together. We were all in the same building but working for different divisions. Of course, the work was all IT/knowledge work, no physical effort required, no factory floor. The work itself didn’t mean we all had to take a break at the same time. It was just fun to grab lunch together. Sometimes we’d eat in the cafeteria; sometimes we’d run out for lunch. We'd always have a few laughs. 

What happens to lunch if you work for a virtual company?

Virtual work brings with itself a different level of independence. I wrote about this before; you’re in control of your time; no one is tracking your every minute. At Bluetree, our team and clients spanned at least three different time zones. For me, on the west coast, the hot zone was 8a-2pm. The overlap hours. There were days when those overlap hours were booked end to end. But when you can wheel yourself from your desk to your fridge without leaving your chair, lunch is at your fingerprints, awesome right?

Well, yes and no. Without other teammates around you, there are no physical cues, no one getting up to leave the office for the salad bar or to warm up their chicken masala, which generates a delicious curry fragrance to remind you to take a break. 

In the past 4.5 years, I can count on two hands, the number of times I left my house for lunch. Postmates and leftovers dominated my lunch menu. 

So yes, working remotely in a virtual company, you can easily skip lunch, snack on some nuts and bury yourself in code and emails.

Don’t worry, its not all gloom and doom. 

Remember, you’re working remotely, which means your office and your schedule are your own doing (within reason). I started to book an hour on my calendar for a lunchtime workout: a quick yoga class, some weight lifting, or a bouncy jog. Sure, I sometimes had to push through and go meeting to meeting but then at 2 pm, a quick workout, shower, and it’s like your brain rebooted — new processing power. I wasn’t overly consistent, and I know others who booked their lunchtime every day and took that time regularly. But for me, a little chaos worked best.

I’ve seen folks propose virtual lunches. Just get together with a few teammates and eat on webcams. I tried it once, but it always felt a little hokey to me, perhaps that would diminish with more reps. 

What’s the insight here? 

There’s no foreman to tell us to take lunch in today’s knowledge economy, especially so if you’re a remote employee. Breaks during the workday are great for productivity. Sometimes when working remotely, we can get into a state of flow and work non-stop, and sometimes that’s the right move, I’ve certainly done it and felt great when finishing a piece of code or sales proposal. 

There’s no one right way to do lunch when working remotely. You should experiment. Try a workout for lunch (my personal favorite). Try blocking lunch every day (even during your main overlap hours) and making something in your kitchen. Try meeting a local friend. Experiment with your schedule and your day. That’s the fun part about being remote. 

Did you have lunch today? Did you leave your remote office?

Oh, snap, its about time for me to forage my refrigerator as well — Mnyam mnyam mnyam.