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

[Anonymous]

My lunch break is an hour, so one hour. This is why I've been allowed to work from home for 19 years.

[Anonymous]

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

+1. I’ve always worked in person and am on salary. I usually take 20-40 min for lunch. Sometimes longer but often am working and eating. Lunch meetings are common. There is never any lunch outings of catching up with friends for 2 hours.

[Anonymous]

2 hours. You need to budget travel time and transition time. One or both of you may be late too.

[Anonymous]

I mostly do lunches on Fridays and allow for about 2 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

+1. I’ve always worked in person and am on salary. I usually take 20-40 min for lunch. Sometimes longer but often am working and eating. Lunch meetings are common. There is never any lunch outings of catching up with friends for 2 hours.

That sounds so sad. I catch up with friends for long lunches. I still deliver and get excellent reviews

[Anonymous]

Your friend was fishing for an out. That's why she asked "still on for lunch?" And when you said you had a hard stop, it gave her the out she was looking for. No harm no foul.

[Anonymous]

2 hours

[Anonymous]

I can spend 3 hrs over tea or a meal with a friend, but sometimes we don't have time for that and we can only spend an hour. That hour feels rushed when it includes coming and going, being served, eating, etc.

So I think you were right to postpone.

[Anonymous]

I would only do this with coworkers who are friends for an hour or an hour 15 minutes. Anything more than that is not seen as productive by work.

I don't meet regular friends for lunch on a workday when I am on the clock.

Now that I work for myself, it doesn't matter how long I go as long as I don't owe any of my clients work or have meetings, but people are so busy with jobs/kids/travel it is hard to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We both work from home within blocks of each other and made loose plans to meet up today for lunch. She texted at 11:40, still on for lunch?
I said yes, free in a few moments, just have a call at 1. In my mind I figured a little more than an hour for a weekday catchup.
She said let's postpone so you're not rushed.
I now feel badly like I double booked or something? I said, are you sure, I'm free right now -- and she said yes, she isn't feeling great today anyway.
Did I screw up?? Am I overthinking this?

Work from home? 60 mins

Driving to a lunch place from each office? 90 mins

2+ hour lunches are a joke. Unless you make up the time and leave 1-2 hours later than others who don’t have social lunches multiple times a week.

[Anonymous]

An hour does not see long enough to meet someone for lunch unless it is right ouside your front door.

By the time you get to a lunch location, wait to be seated, order, served, and then have time to eat, chat, and pay and then return to your original location - that can't be done in an house in most places. If you both live very close together and there is a serve yourself or fast food type place very close by, then I can see it working, but it will feel very rushed.

I wouldn't go meet a friend for lunch who only had an hour to get there, meet, eat, and get back home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

+1. I’ve always worked in person and am on salary. I usually take 20-40 min for lunch. Sometimes longer but often am working and eating. Lunch meetings are common. There is never any lunch outings of catching up with friends for 2 hours.

That sounds so sad. I catch up with friends for long lunches. I still deliver and get excellent reviews

Nice for you but not all jobs work that way. I am expected to.be available during my work hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

+1. I’ve always worked in person and am on salary. I usually take 20-40 min for lunch. Sometimes longer but often am working and eating. Lunch meetings are common. There is never any lunch outings of catching up with friends for 2 hours.

That sounds so sad. I catch up with friends for long lunches. I still deliver and get excellent reviews

Great for you. Please let us know your field and where you work and your salary. Some of us would love this type of flexibility. I’ve never had it at any job.

[Anonymous]

Butt in chair time 1 hour then add transit time. During wfh I told people that my lunches were either 10 minutes or 2 hours.

[Anonymous]

I mean, it depends on your job, so let's assume you have the kind of job my husband does--he is an executive who doesn't punch a time card, but does have to be on calls at certain times. He works from home whenever he feels like it.

Assuming this is your type of job, where no one is managing your time,take all the annoying comments about lunch breaks and RTO out of here.

Your friend probably just wanted more time and that is a rushed schedule. When my husband has liong lunches with me on Fridays (my only day off) he schedules it around long breaks from calls. Your friend probably did, too