Whether it’s a last minute meeting, a phone call that can’t be ignored or your inbox needs a clean out, many of you won’t manage to make it out the door today at the time you had hoped to.

This scenario is the inspiration behind national Go Home on Time Day which will be held on Wednesday 20 November 2013. GHOTD is an initiative of The Australia Institute in partnership with beyondblue.

The Day is a light-hearted way to start a serious conversation about work/life balance and we’d be thrilled if your organisation registered to participate. You can sign up here.

Participants will receive an information pack containing useful information to help you participate and encourage dialogue in your workplace.

Stats and facts

Did you take your full lunch break today or did you cut it short? Perhaps you ate at your desk or realised mid-afternoon that you hadn’t yet eaten. Well, you’re not alone!

Despite Australia’s reputation for being a land of ‘sickies’ and ‘smokos’ and for celebrating long lunches, many Australians are struggling to even manage a short one.

In fact, our research shows that 3.8 million people routinely don’t take a lunch break, with one in two of them saying it’s because they are ‘too busy’.

Check out and download our fun infographic which highlights the benefits of taking a break.

More interesting facts from our research can be found in our Hard to get a break? infographic and our Mental health at work infographic.

Feel free to share them with your colleagues, friends, family, customers and clients. You can also download workplace posters and a ‘leave pass’ from the website.

In the news

Now that the countdown to national Go Home on Time Day has started – it’s less than a month away! –  the Day has captured the interest of many in the media.

Recent articles on Go Home on Time Day and the importance of work/life balance include:

Busy days make workers lose their lunch (The Australian)

At a small park between office towers in the centre of Perth, old school friends Emma Rodgers and Olivia Monaghan were among dozens of workers eating their lunch on the grass yesterday.

Ms Rodgers says a rest and a change of scenery in the middle of the day clears the mind.

Ms Monaghan says: “I find I think about the things that I have been working on and that I’m struggling with and I come back to it with renewed energy”.

Read the full article here

Such was her laundry list of niggling work stresses, welfare centre manager Elfa Moraitakis would be wide-eyed at 3am each day, her mind in a ferment. Research by The Australian Institute think tank due for release on Monday suggests millions can relate to Ms Moraitakis’ plight.

Stress levels grow as more demands placed on workers, study finds (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Join us

You can register to participate here. There is lots more information available from www.gohomeontimeday.org.au or you can click on the links below to join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.