Can you believe that only one and five employees admit to taking a lunch break? And, 39% of employees say they eat lunch at their desk, and 28% of employees seldom take a break whatsoever.

It’s time to reclaim the lunch break.

Step away from the computer, grab some grub with a friend or colleague, and most importantly give your brain a break and stop talking about work!

Have nothing to say? Here are 5 topics y’all can talk about on your lunch break:

1. Girl Scout cookies are now available to be purchased online.
   Forget about the order form being passed from cube to cube, the coveted cookie can be ordered from your couch and delivered to your door. The new program is designed to teach Girl Scouts the value of e-commerce.
2. What you can learn from Katniss Everdeen’s leadership style.
   In case you’ve been living under a rock, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 hit the big screen last week. Whether or not you’ve read the books or seen the movies, there are certainly a few takeaways on how to become a better leader. This week, Zoe Henry highlights some important lessons you can learn from Katniss’ fearless leadership style; including, great leadership comes from the heart, psychological (and perceptiveness) is half the battle, and trust your instincts – and act quickly.
3. Skipping sleep is career suicide.
   It’s no secret that sleepless nights do the body harm. A recent Forbes article by Travis Bradberry discusses into how sleep deprivation is killing you and your career. The article notes, “According to the Centers for Disease Control a third of U.S. workers get less than 6 hours of sleep each night, and sleep deprivation costs U.S. businesses more than $63 billion annually in loss of productivity. Yikes! Check out the article for some helpful tips on how to get more sleep and live a healthy life.

   Along with draining you mentally, sleep deprivation also puts your health at risk. You are more likely to develop high blood pressure, diabetes, or even suffer a heart attack in the long run. A few symptoms of this particular problem are excessive sleepiness, irritability, and frequent yawning. There are many methods that you could try out to help you get enough shut-eye. You could make use of the multiple health-focused apps that are available on the market today to get better sleep, or you can even undergo a sleep study at a medical center to help figure out the issue.

4. The top 6 mistakes managers make when having difficult conversations.
   We have all had some pretty cringe-worthy experiences delivering bad news. Lisa Evans, a freelance writer for Fast Company, interviewed Marcia Reynolds, corporate trainer and author of The Discomfort Zone: How Leaders Turn Difficult Conversations into Breakthrough on how to keep the conversation from turning. The six mistakes mangers make when having difficult conversations include:
   1. Approaching the conversation from a negative place
   2. Avoiding the conversation
   3. Responding with the same emotion
   4. Delivering bad news by email
   5. Trying to fill in the silence
   6. Rushing to get it over with
5. 35 things you should do for your career by the time you turn 35.
   At Meridian, we’re all about investing in our talent and helping our colleagues achieve their career goals. A recent Mashable article features 35 things to do before you turn 35 to build your personal brand and advance your career. There are some good ones on there, including, learn how to delegate, get comfortable with saying no, perfect your LinkedIn profile, and stop over-apologizing.

That’s all I have today, folks. Enjoy your well-deserved lunch!