Lunch Break Rebellion in a World That Never Stops

Why Your Sandwich Is a Middle Finger to Hustle Culture

May 01, 2025

Hi, I’m Claudia. I help you face a hurried world with greater confidence in your “Power of Slow.”

You are reading the sub-section SlowPOWER of the publication Un-Rush-The Power of Slow in which I demonstrate the absurdity of rushing and make you realize how slowing down benefits your life and work.

Don’t be shy to share it with fellow rebels against the hurry culture and click the❤️ button, so more people can discover it on Substack. Thank you!

Lunch Break Rebellion in a World That Never Stops

Here is one way to fight the hurry culture.

Do you wonder how you can resist the hurry culture and “practice” your “power of slow” mindset? Start with small steps because grand tasks rarely become habits. Our minds think they are too big and take too much energy, and we can’t get ourselves to do them. It takes 21 days to form a habit, two months to find a habit’s flow state, and six months to get good at it.

Here is one idea for you to take a small step, turning it into a habit: Spend your lunch break on your terms. Most of your workday, you feel under pressure, you get rushed, and you wonder how you can fight against that. And you don’t want your lunch break just sort of happen to you. It then gets wasted as you try to decide what to do, or you find yourself tangled up in the wants and needs, and suggestions of everybody else.

Having worked in the busy advertising field, I paid attention to how I spent my lunch break, which was my way of defying workplace insanity, one bite or one step at a time. Usually, I would take a walk, even though colleagues wanted to drag me into eating lunch with them. Or, I sat on a park bench and ate in quiet. I knew the best way to return refreshed and motivated to my tasks is by having time for myself, away from the busyness. It became a habit over the years that I applied to each workplace.

The Key

Knowing yourself helps to defend what is important to you. When you know what helps you to recharge and keep your mojo going, you can act accordingly.

This is one step or radical act to strengthen your position against the absurdity of the hurry culture. Be in charge of your lunch break and spend it the way it makes you feel better. Let’s look at two barriers you are confronted with.

The Barriers

One barrier in the lunch break arena is that it often becomes a group break. You go with others to have lunch. Nothing against that. But don’t complain that you never have time for yourself during the day. It’s in your hands to give your brain and nerves a pause.

You don’t want the hurry culture or your colleagues to dictate the rhythm of your work and pause. Here are some reasons why you want to slow down and defend your regular breaks.

Taking short breaks significantly impacts your well-being and energy during the workday.
Long breaks provide more benefits, but even breaks of less than a minute also have measurable effects.
Clerical and creative types of work benefit the most from short breaks.
Even very brief breaks can do wonders for your health and productivity, such as a quick pace around your house or even thirty seconds of glancing out the window can

The beauty of pausing lies in reconnection.

Pausing is a moment of resetting and regeneration
It connects you with new ideas and perspectives.
It deepens your thinking.
It shifts your sense of what matters.
It helps to reconnect with yourself and forges new connections with others.

When you catch yourself racing through life, pause and ask: Who wrote these rules about speed? Who decided that faster equals better? Why do we believe that productivity equals worth? These aren't universal truths – they're (corporate) cultural narratives we've swallowed whole without questioning. History’s great minds knew the relevance of stepping away from work every now and then to think, make better connections, and ponder over existing problems.

Another barrier is that you want to question the imposed rules by your company regarding lunch breaks. Isn't it just perfect that companies act like they own your stomach? Company policy says that your lunch break is from 12-1 pm. Because hunger works on a schedule. "You can only be hungry between noon and one!" What if you are in the flow of focused work and want to keep going? Knowing that you will reward yourself with a break when your flow brings you to a point where you need to surface and breathe?

Your Rebellion

Choosing when and how you take lunch is a mini-rebellion against the constant hurry culture and "speed up" madness. While everyone else is racing through sad desk salads between meetings, actually stepping away when it’s right for you and taking a break, going for a walk, or eating like a human being seems weirdly revolutionary.

Corporations have somehow convinced us that scarfing down food while answering emails is "efficient," when it's just another way they've normalized working through what should be your time. No, it’s not normal. Companies implement strict break policies ostensibly to maximize output. The irony is that they ignore the overwhelming evidence that proper rest and nourishment lead to better focus, creativity, and ultimately, better work. The beauty of deciding "I'm eating now because I'm hungry and I need a break from what I am working on right now, and not because the schedule allows it" is that you're actually reclaiming a tiny slice of autonomy in your day. It's saying, "My rhythm, my basic needs, and my way of working matter more than this artificial policy and urgency."

Breaking the Script

I want to help you face a hurried world with more confidence in your power of slowing down. Remember that the most powerful mindset shifts often feel uncomfortable at first. If giving yourself permission to slow down feels wrong, unsettling, or even guilt-inducing, you're probably on the right track. Real change begins at the edge of your comfort zone. Starting with small acts, like taking charge of your lunch break and implementing daily routines around it, helps you emphasize what matters most to you.