Why Taking a Lunch Break Will Help You Find Time for Your Side Hustle

When you're trying to find time to build a side hustle, whilst also working a 9-5 job, it can be tempting to work through your lunch breaks as a way of being more productive.

Unfortunately this is likely to have the opposite effect and there are several reasons why working through lunch might actually make you less productive. The result? You end up working overtime more often, leaving you with less time to work on your side hustle. 

Taking breaks, including lunch breaks, is crucial for maintaining focus and cognitive ability. Your brain needs time to rest and recharge. Working through lunch can lead to mental fatigue, decreased focus, and reduced problem-solving abilities. Your ability to focus will decrease to the extent where you won't be able to do any meaningful work. You'll probably find yourself scrolling Instagram or checking Facebook. Basically, because you didn't give your brain a break it's now forcing you to take one.

Taking a break from your computer provides an opportunity for your brain to shift its focus and engage in more creative thinking. Stepping away from work allows your mind to wander and come up with fresh ideas, which can be essential for problem-solving and innovation. An example of this is when ideas come to you in the shower. You allow your mind to wander, to take a rest, but in the background it's still working on the problem and bingo, it comes up with the solution. This is less likely to happen if you don't give your brain an opportunity to switch off. It may be that the solution your brain comes up with is for a problem that you were struggling with in your side hustle.

Building a side hustle is going to be a busy season in your life, but continuously working long hours without breaks can contribute to burnout and increased stress levels. Basically, you can only do it for so long. If you're like most people, success in your side hustle is not going to happen overnight and so you need to pace yourself and allow your body to have regular breaks. Taking time out for lunch gives you a chance to step away from work and recharge mentally and emotionally. Again, if you don't choose to take a break, your body will make you take one as you'll become unwell and be forced to step away from work for a while and maybe give up the idea of ever building that dream side hustle. 

If you work in an office lunch breaks often provide an opportunity to socialise with colleagues. Building positive relationships and even friendships with colleagues can make work more enjoyable. It helps to build supportive relationships and increases a sense of belonging. If the reason you're trying to build a side hustle is because you're feeling disillusioned with your 9-5, relaxing over lunch with colleagues can help you take advantage of one of the benefits of your day job (as long as you get along with your workmates!)

If you struggle to fit exercise into your day because before and after work you're spending time on your side hustle, then lunch breaks are a great time to move your body. They're a chance to step away from your work environment, stretch your legs and get some fresh air. You could even do a 15 minute Pilates workout.

So hopefully I've convinced you that regularly foregoing your lunch breaks isn't going to help you get more done in your day job, which ultimately means more overtime and less time to work on building that dream side hustle. So make a promise to yourself that tomorrow you're going to take a break for lunch, even if it's just 30 minutes.  

And if you want some more tips on finding time for your side hustle grab my free guide ‘Easy Ways to Find Time for a Side Hustle’, a cheat sheet of 30 quick ideas to start finding time for your dream today.