Eating lunch at your desk is bad for your health, your client relations, and your boss. Skipping lunch is worse for your health, your client relations, and your boss. Unfortunately, paralegals and attorneys are notorious for poor lunchtime etiquette. A 2010 survey conducted by Monster revealed U.S. workers don't often take lunch breaks away from their desks. At the end of 2018, we conducted a poll of 100 law firms that found that 22 percent of paralegals and attorneys skip lunch altogether, and 78 percent eat lunch but stay at their desks. It's no secret that working in a law firm can be stressful, but eating lunch at your desk or skipping lunch altogether is not helping your client relations or your health. 

WHY IS EATING AT YOUR DESK BAD?

Eating a handful of trail mix at your desk could be one of the reasons you can't meet deadlines. Not taking breaks from a deadline-driven job can be deadly to your emotional, mental, and physical health. Moreover, all three of these areas of your health play a vital role in your ability to manage Ms. Negative Nelly. Just like a computer, your emotional, mental, and physical health should be optimized from time to time to remain a positive paralegal. 

Eating lunch at your desk or skipping lunch causes:

• Sore joints;

• mental and physical exhaustion;

• social exhaustion; 

• brain fog;

• overeating or under eating causing weight gain; and 

• all of these things can slow us down.

The slowing down of your mind and body is not doing Ms. Negative Nelly any favors. You need to take time to reboot, recharge, and reenergize your body, which helps refocus your brain.

 Eating at Your Desk and Skipping Lunch Is Bad for Your Boss

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require employers to give meal or rest breaks to employees. However, plenty of states do. Roughly 21 out of 50 states mandate meal breaks for employees, nine of which mandate meal and rest breaks. And even if you choose to eat at your desk or skip lunch altogether, you are NOT doing your boss any favors. The consequences for your boss can be incredibly costly — and in more ways than one. Consequences for bosses failing to enforce lunch breaks and baring lunch breaks at desks may include:

1. Lawsuit for unpaid time;

2. suppressing positivity; 

3. squishing creative; 

4. causing more stress and 

5. increasing sick days.

These potential consequences may not seem like a huge deal to you as an employee, but to the owner of a company, the financial implications of each of the above can be devastating to profits.

Take Away

Take away, if you want to be a positive, productive paralegal, take care of yourself during the workday. The deadlines, discovery, and depositions will still be on your desk when you return. Think of your lunch break as a midday reboot designed to reenergize the brain.