Lunch or not to lunch. That is the question.

 Someone asked me the other day about whether or not they should go to lunch every day with their work colleagues.

To most of you, this question probably sounds quite stupid and you are wondering why this person asked such a banal question.

To me, however, it is quite an important question and it highlights the importance of intra-office politics and how you can avoid them or run away from them altogether. 

Yesterday I went for an interview at a government department. It will be a six month posting and I will be working in an office with up to 300 other people. I don't if I have got the job yet (or if I want it) but one of the things that I have thought about is that this will be the first time in my life that I will be going to an office and sitting in front of a computer from 8am to 4pm, playing with the mouse and putting stuff into a spreadsheet.

Despite the actual job, there is the other thought that I had about working with other people and hearing about their different lives and problems and dramas. 

How would I react to all of this?

I'm not sure at the moment. I think it would depend on the day. Hey, we aren't all robots and we do have different moods that come out on different days.

Anyway, let's get back to the topic. 

Should you go to lunch with your colleagues every day?

The short answer to that is no, no you don't have to. It is your break time, you can do whatever you like with it.

In my current job, if I have one hour, I sit in the staff room with the laptop that I am writing this blog post on now and check emails etc. My boss goes home and walks his dog. You do whatever you like.

In my opinion if you get in to grief because you don't want to go to lunch then I think you are in the wrong room and you might want to change that room one day. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

I'm not saying that it should be "No" all the time. What I am saying is that you need to pick and choose the times you want to be with your colleagues and when you don't want to be. It is your life after all. Why should people who you barely know dictate to you how you spend your free time? 

Yes, go if you want but politely decline if you don't. It is up to you, but at the end of the day, it is all about protecting your energy, conserving your energy for other activities that you might find fun or profitable.