Whether it’s lunch or a snack eating at your desk, doesn’t just add calories and potentially make you ill, it makes you look like you have time to spare.
Most office workers know that eating at your desk adds extra calories (because you probably aren’t paying attention to how much you are eating) and that your desk is one of the germiest places around. A Marie Claire article from 2009 found on average your computer mouse has 846 germs per square inch and your keyboard has 719.
If germs weren’t reason enough to walk to the break room, appearance may be the ultimate motivator.
“Don’t eat at your desk, no matter what,” a wise beyond his years co-worker once told me. “Everyone can see you and it makes you look like you have nothing else to do.”
While there’s no study to back that theory up, think about it. Unless you have an office with a door, everyone can see you eating. Which means you aren’t focusing on a work related task. Even if you are frantically typing one-handed with the phone on your ear, it doesn’t look professional.
We all break this rule, but maybe we should stop. Not just for the sake of the excess calories and germs, but maybe for the sake of a promotion.
Do you agree?