This question originally appeared on Quora, the knowledge-sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus.
Answer by Nela Canovic, productivity hacker, writer, and Silicon Valley entrepreneur:
One hour is a long time, enough to feed your body as well as your brain. Here are some ideas:
Make your own lunch, and bring it to work. It doesn’t take long, and you can prep the night before. In a glass container with a lid, pack some leftovers from your dinner with a few fresh vegetables on the side that you can dress up with some olive oil and lemon juice, a dressing you like, or just have them to snack on (think carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, kale, olives, etc). Or make a sandwich. Bring a snack, too. Then find a place to eat, maybe on a patio of your building or while sitting on a bench in a park nearby—somewhere you can enjoy your meal and eat it mindfully.
Benefits? It’s way less expensive. It’s less likely you will gain weight, which tends to happen more when eating out, mostly because you don’t know all the ingredients that go into a restaurant meal as opposed to the meal you prepare where you can choose healthier options. Not to mention the portions are bigger in cafeterias and restaurants. You focus on what you are eating, and you feel fuller than you’d feel in a more distracting environment. Time for lunch: 15 minutes.
What to do with the rest of your hour?
Go for a walk. It’s good to keep moving after a meal, and you also give your brain some much needed rest. Monitor your steps with a pedometer or one of the many apps you can download on your phone (try Runtastic); most phones already come with a built-in health app that automatically logs your steps daily. You will see how easily you can log the time and make progress every single day.
Feed your mind. Select something interesting to listen to on your walk. It can be an audiobook or a podcast, such as Planet Money (stories on things smart people do, economics, world politics), Radiolab (show about curiosity, interesting ideas, science, philosophy), the Inquiry (a debate on a controversial topic in the news and four experts challenging one another with two views, for and against the topic), Question of the Day (a show for people short on time and long on curiosity, with a lot of good humor in trying to answer the question at hand), Achieve Your Goals (practical advice and strategies on becoming successful and interviews with famous authors and industry experts), Optimize With Brian Johnson (condensed big ideas from the best books on optimal living and microclasses on how to apply these ideas to everyday life, or Happier With Gretchen Rubin (a fun show led by best-selling author of The Happiness Project with small ideas you can apply to your life to exercise your happiness muscle).
Dream big. In the last five to 10 minutes of walking back to your office, make a plan to dedicate an hour later in the day to something that’s important to your personal development. Have you been learning to code in your spare time? Plan out your progress, and think about which new materials you need or which tutorial you could look up online to get you going. Are you planning a trip abroad? Brainstorm a list of things you need to do and to find out about before booking your ticket. Learning a new language? Think about who you could ask for advice on which materials are optimal for your learning experience, and plan a trip to the bookstore or library to read up on learning techniques that can impact your progress. Write down these ideas when you get back to your desk so you remember them for later. Then schedule these activities into your day, your week, your month. Make your personal development your top priority, and work consistently—even in small increments—toward your goals.
How do I maximize my one-hour break at work? originally appeared on Quora. More questions on Quora:
