How long would you block off for a workday lunch with a friend?

[Anonymous]

When I go to lunch with friends during the work week it's an hour, maybe an hour and a quarter at most.

Sounds like your friend wasn't feeling great plus got overwhelmed with work. Can't see how you did anything wrong here.

[Anonymous]

At 11:40 let's say you would be there at 11:50. To get back forva 1 pm call you would need to be paid and gone by 12:45 say. So check at 12:35 or leave her cash, not much time to catch up. If you cared.

[Anonymous]

I would be annoyed to go out and meet a friend for a half hour fast casual lunch. If I’m going to leave the house and pay for a lunch out, I’d assume we were going to be leisurely about it. I would plan for an hour plus travel/ordering time. I can work later to make up the time, so it’s not s big deal once in a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2-3 hours

2-3 in middle of day? Go to happy hour if you need that time.

45 min - 1.5 hrs max if you're working.

+1

[Anonymous]

schedule at another time like after work or weekend or a day off. 2-3 hrs for frequent catch-ups is too long in middle of day. But for an infrequent catch-up that amount of time is probably wanted or needed.

[Anonymous]

I’d plan to eat for about an hour or maybe slightly less. I’d plan to eat somewhere near my house so I didn’t have to spend a lot of time traveling. All in all, 1.5 hours during a workday, and I would make up the time by working later that day. Long leisurely lunches can be done on the weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At 11:40 let's say you would be there at 11:50. To get back forva 1 pm call you would need to be paid and gone by 12:45 say. So check at 12:35 or leave her cash, not much time to catch up. If you cared.

^It depends on other factors such as
When was the last time you met to catch up?
Do you talk, text, email frequently between catch ups? If it was just last week, an 11:50am -12:35pm at a reasonably fast service eatery is enough. If you haven't seen each other in weeks months or years (which probably isn't the case with OP since they live near from their friend), it makes more sense to plan more time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2-3 hours

2-3 in middle of day? Go to happy hour if you need that time.

45 min - 1.5 hrs max if you're working.

Totally agree- especially since its someone OP speaks with/sees regularly. This isn't like an out of town friend coming to meet up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be annoyed to go out and meet a friend for a half hour fast casual lunch. If I’m going to leave the house and pay for a lunch out, I’d assume we were going to be leisurely about it. I would plan for an hour plus travel/ordering time. I can work later to make up the time, so it’s not s big deal once in a while.

But recognize not everyone has that flexibility..

[Anonymous]

I don’t have a friend I see blocks from each other. It sounds like you had plenty of time to see each other for at 45 minutes.

I need to drive a bit to see most friends on WFH days, so I block off 2 hours with the idea that lunch will be 1 hour. It’s a lot of time so I can’t do it often.

[Anonymous]

Yes you screwed up. You had a hard stop for 1:00. There may have been a wait at the restaurant, it takes a bit to get your food. As another said, you need to get your check by 12:35!

And yes I also take longer lunches when I am in the office vs. WFH. Nobody would blink twice at a long lunch on a singular Friday when someone is pretty much deskbound the rest of the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why people are getting called back to the office.

I took longer lunches when I worked in the office bc I would often go out with other coworkers. When I WFH, I eat at my desk and work through lunch.

Same for me and on the rare occasion I met a friend for lunch I would block an hour and a half whether I was in the office or at home. But when in the office coworkers and I often grabbed lunch and it took a good 45 minutes to an hour. 99% of WFH days I eat at my desk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes you screwed up. You had a hard stop for 1:00. There may have been a wait at the restaurant, it takes a bit to get your food. As another said, you need to get your check by 12:35!

And yes I also take longer lunches when I am in the office vs. WFH. Nobody would blink twice at a long lunch on a singular Friday when someone is pretty much deskbound the rest of the time.

Nobody screwed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes you screwed up. You had a hard stop for 1:00. There may have been a wait at the restaurant, it takes a bit to get your food. As another said, you need to get your check by 12:35!

And yes I also take longer lunches when I am in the office vs. WFH. Nobody would blink twice at a long lunch on a singular Friday when someone is pretty much deskbound the rest of the time.

+1. Agree. If you were both at the restaurant at 11:45, that would give you an hour but you weren’t leaving the house until 11:45. Next time, set a time to be at the restaurant and give yourselves one hour plus travel time.

[Anonymous]

2 hours