Lunch Break

I've been trying to segment the activity of eating from working. Lunch is had in the kitchen, not at my desk. The temptation is strong to nibble on lunch when deep in a work problem. You're in the flow, so why stop for a sandwich?

Lately however, I've found that breaking that flow and taking a sincere lunch break away from my laptop allows much needed processing time for all kinds of things, from personal matters to that work thing you took a break on. Just the other day a breakthrough to a work problem formed while I was mid-bite. Was it because I took a lunch break? Maybe not, but I like to think so.

This also tangentially relates to my slippers as portals theory — that the act of eating a meal is a portal back to the home, not something tied to work. My wife also works remotely and every day we eat lunch together. It's been a welcome time to reconnect with each other, an anchor point for a day spent mostly stationary, staring at a screen. A reminder that there is more to life than AWS infrastructure, that there is food, love, and home.