Survey: Half of workers eat lunch alone, but most don't want to

A new survey from Accountemps shows that there's often a gap between what workers want to do on their lunch breaks, and what they actually do.

For example, a much larger number of people eat lunch alone than would actually like to. Forty-nine percent of respondents said that they typically eat alone, but only 32 percent of all those surveyed said that this is what they would prefer.

This suggests maybe some of your coworkers who always sit by themselves at lunch would appreciate some company.

The survey identified several other gaps between plans and reality. Thirty-seven percent say they would like to exercise during their lunch break, only 10 percent do. Thirteen percent said they'd like to take a nap, but only 3 percent do.

The results come from an online survey of over 2,500 accounting and finance workers. The survey also found that 33 percent of responds say they usually use their lunch breaks to run errands, 28 percent check personal email and 24 percent surf the web.