Fun on the 9 - 5

These days it's all about the 9 'til 5. I was very lucky to buck the trend set my many of peers by starting my graduate career only a week after my graduation ceremony. When I'm in the UK office - which seems to be about 50% of my time on average at the moment - I am based in the deepest Cotswolds working from a converted stables on a farm in a teensy hamlet. This is very different to the working environments I've experienced in the past. It's rural! There isn't a sandwich shop just the road where I can grab a roll when I forget my roll or a corner shop to pop to when I get a handy bar of chocolate. It's all very strange!

The world of business is getting busier, more competitive. There's more cost-cutting involved due to the infamous credit crunch so with jobs under threat and time at a premium, employees are working crazier and crazier hours. We continue to burn the candle at both ends; we don't want to compromise on our evening activities but we're having to get up earlier to satisfy our employers expectations. We skip breakfast in haste, grab a skinny latte during rush hour and sweat it out until lunchtime. We deserve a break! Don't work through it! Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day but lunch is a little salvation from the working day.

Now, with my working location, I can't get away with running out the door five minutes late only to grab a quick sandwich somewhere in town when the time comes. I have to be prepared. And it's annoying. But it got me thinking... how do we keep the 9 - 5 grind interesting? Food can improve a miserable day. What do you eat? And where? I'm wondering how many people eat at their desks or just skip a lunchbreak altogether.

So next week, you can expect a picture a day of my office lunches to inspire (I hope!).