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I don’t like to use the term “life hack.” It’s cliched and honestly, most life hacks aren’t very useful. Like cutting a hole in a toilet paper roll to use it as a makeshift speaker isn’t a “hack” that makes your life easier. It’s just MacGuyver-ing yourself out of a situation where you don’t have proper tools that you would normally need. That said, I think I’ve figured out a legitimate life hack.
I’ve seen the code of the Matrix and cheated the system. How? Well, if you’ve been waiting for the evenings or weekends for your trips to the grocery store, you’re doing it wrong.
Once I was like you other deal closers, eschewing my mandated lunch breaks in favor of doing some extra work. Why squander precious time eating when you could be productive and combine lunchtime with work time?
Yes, we desk eaters are a proud and glorious bunch, but something was still eating away at me. This is time I was given. Time that I have earned. And while I’d love to just eschew that lunch hour, work through it, and dip home early, I found myself kept to the end of the day by meetings and needing to do that one last task for tomorrow. I was, essentially, giving extra time to the company for little to no gain. And although I have no qualms about devoting extra time when needed, when you’re salaried you don’t have the luxury of that extra work getting you any benefit other than some praise from upstairs or doing quality work. So how could I combine my desire to be productive for myself with the extra leisure time I wasn’t using?
For a time, I considered the gym. After all, a lunch-time pump is a time-honored tradition to get the nerves out while still being productive. If your building has or is near a gym, like mine is, the lunch gym session can seem great. Unfortunately, with my prodigious sweats, a couple of midday changes can leave me looking like James McAvoy when he’s having a panic attack in Wanted for the whole afternoon. I knew that there was still some way to better use my lunch time. And then it clicked.
You see, within a two-block radius of my office, there are two grocery stores. While I couldn’t bring myself to waste my effort and the company’s time dicking around by just taking a break while I ate, I could instead use that time for my personal benefit. After all, that 30 minutes is rightfully mine. Who says I have to spend it eating and not picking up needed groceries? My friends, it has been revolutionary.
It’s been about a month since I’ve started this ritual, and the amount of time and energy it’s saved me is incredible. You know those tense moments you’ll have during the work day, where you’ve been staring at a problem and can’t figure it out? You’re stressed, wound up, tired, and just overall unproductive.
A trip to the grocery store is the perfect respite to unwind, but still be productive. There’s soft muzak, some nearby comfort food if you want a desk snack to bring back. If you’re missing anything, you can take care of those quick purchases during your break. Pop in your headphones, listen to a podcast, and mindlessly browse the shelves as those work worries and cares flitter away. By the time you reach the front of the checkout line, you’ll feel like you just went through a day at the spa.
Another benefit of this practice is that you will have to limit your purchases if you are shopping during your lunch hour. Not only do you likely not have a car to haul back all of your loot home (unless you want to take a long siesta to the store then home), there is likely limited space in the communal fridge/freezer, meaning you can’t load up on a pallet of frozen chicken nuggets from Costco.
In addition, this routine forces you to carefully consider what purchasing choices you make, in terms of how you will come off to the rest of the office. After all, the prospect of needing to walk your haul through the office, past your boss and the cute girl in marketing, will definitely make you reconsider if you want to be showing up with two packages of Oreos. And if you’re a bit wary because of certain embarrassing necessity purchases (toilet paper, medications, any feminine hygiene products) never fear. You can just hide those things at the bottom of a bag, or save them from a post-work trip.
Still, those minimal risks of embarrassment and judgment from co-workers are outweighed by the productivity and efficiency benefits of a lunch-time trip to the supermarket. After all, nothing will relax your mind and get you ready to take on an afternoon of work like tapping melons to see if they’re ripe or not. And if someone can tell me what sound a ripe melon is supposed to make when you tap it, that would be greatly appreciated because I’m basically just guessing. .
Sorry but I’m not going to leave my precious, unspoiled groceries at the mercy of the savages I work with by putting them in the break room fridge. I won’t be happy if Mary takes half our eggs because she doesn’t want to stop on the way home and I’m sure as hell not going to run out of Capri Sun on the weekend because Robert wanted to snag a few one afternoon.
Also everyone is going to hate you for taking up so much fridge space.
It’s not like it’s that difficult to put a cooler in your vehicle.
A lot of places are starting to use a “hold for pickup” option now. Game changer.
You misunderstand: you use the communal fridge as a holding ground for the afternoon before taking groceries home. You don’t commandeer the whole fridge for yourself. And if you can’t trust the savages you work with to not open a brand new thing of milk and eggs in the 3 hours between the end of lunch and the end of the day, you might need to rethink where you work.
There is no U in MacGyver.
Bring your still feathered morning harvest of fowl to the office in a couple grocery bags and put it in the fridge. Nobody will ever go near your groceries again.
Source: guy who regularly has freshly killed game in the office fridge.
What adult gets embarrassed purchasing feminine hygiene products?
“Hide them at the bottom of the bag”? Are you still using plastic grocery bags? Also… trash take. I don’t want my food spoiling when I can’t get it home fast enough.
Food poisoning sucks, can confirm.
I do this every Monday–can confirm that this is makes a huge difference. 10/10 recommend.
Trash blog.
You are really going to sacrifice your 30 min of free time per day to go grocery shopping??
And if you have an hour lunch break, you don’t work at a real company…
They have 1 hour lunch breaks at Amazon but they’re not a real company anymore, they’re a monopoly and we all basically work for Amazon in some way or another
My company may not be real, but the paycheck sure as hell is.
Wait… Are there actually companies out there with an hour lunch break? That’s so much time for activities…
Hold up, there’s companies that only give you 30 for lunch? I’m on my third company since college and each one gave me an hour.
I am technically supposed to take an hour. Haven’t seen that happen in years. They just periodically come over and remind me to as a way to cover their ass. Whatever.
The best time to go to the grocery store is Saturday afternoon (with a slight buzz). Don’t @ me.
Having said that, this seems like a crazy move. I can’t imagine carrying groceries in and out of work. Plus, what if you get so busy you just leave without the groceries? What if a coworker “borrows” something. What if a random happy hour pops up? This whole concept has me shook.
Btw – you want a to hear a nice hollow sound after thumping your melons
Completely agree with Saturday grocery shopping, adds to or at least makes you feel productive on Saturday and allows to relax more on Sunday knowing you don’t have to go out anywhere and all your stuff is taken care of
A co-worker does this and takes up damn near the entire fridge. Everyone hates her; please don’t do this people.
If you’re worried about maximizing time use curbside or delivery. I order groceries every Monday at my desk and pick them up on my way home. Takes 5 minutes.
I would eat all the food I just bought. Never grocery shop hungry
For melons, look for a big yellow spot on one side of it. That shows that it ripened on the ground instead of being picked too early.
I wouldn’t leave groceries at work either.