Take a Health Tip from the Smokers in Your Office

What sort of healthy practice could those stigmatized smokers at your place of work be doing?

They take regular breaks and socialize with their fellow smoking colleagues on a consistent basis.

In lieu of the risks, how about developing your own habit (hopefully a healthier one) that forces you to take regular breaks:

Walk away from the desk and around the building/campus
Head to the employee gym
Grab a latte or tea
Visit the farmers' market near your office
Run errands
Network - take someone to lunch
Step outside to call your friends and b*tch about the unbelievable cr*p going on at work (just to vent and then get over it)

Try these alone to clear your head or with a trusted colleague to build camaraderie.

Worried about your Boss-zilla? Find a way to turn a work errand into a break: Hand-deliver something, set up a meeting with a buddy-coworker to work on that team project away from your cube/office, or take a cue from an office morale-boosting tip in one of my earlier entries.

Even though it's a busy day at the office, that won't stop me from taking a break! There is tea to be brewed, office errand strolls to be taken, and lunch to be eaten.

Comment by Ralph Leon on March 19, 2010 at 2:23pm: Yeah I must agree, walking about does make a difference as well as breaks. Everyone in my office is signed on to a messenger chat, but despite that I will still go walk around the office. I liked the irony of learning from the smokers. Fun and insightful read

Comment by Sandra McCartt on March 19, 2010 at 2:36pm: Thanks for some justification of our existance. :) Interestingly i have a riding instructor who learned inadvertantly that horses trained by smokers learn faster. Why, because a smoker will work with the horse for 30 or 45 minutes then stop to have a cigarette. The horse has time to think about what has been going on, catch it's breath and absorb the lesson. The non smokers are pounding away without a break for themselves or their animals with both frustrated and out of breath. It's not the smoking it's the time to think so now he makes all the non smokers take a smoke break. When they protest he says, "That's good, now let the smoke you have stirred up settle for 10 minutes and think about what you are doing and let the horse think".

I suspect what we may be talking about here too is taking the time to think for a few minutes or let the smoke settle and let the brain process. Excellent post and worthy of ten minutes of thought. I am going to have a cigarette and think about it.

Comment by Laurie Bell on March 19, 2010 at 2:39pm: Wow! I had no idea about that, Sandra. Thanks so much for that fun "cocktail party fact" I now have to share with my friends.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on March 19, 2010 at 2:46pm: Try it with your dog or cat also. It also works with people. LIttle kids and big kids. Interesting and sometimes useful information is always fun. My take is that if we focus on how people learn and think we save ourselves a lot of selling. :)

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