I went back to work last week. This was my first week back in the office since the end of July, and it hit me hard. Monday was fine, I’d cleared hundreds of spurious emails from my mailbox, and had my first meeting by lunchtime, it was good to be back. But as the week went on, I went downhill, backache, sore shoulders, hands, and a thumping headache combined with an overwhelming desire to sleep. By Thursday my shoulder had swollen up. I took Friday off!

On Friday I went out for a gentle bike ride along the canal towpath on my Kona singlespeed. The autumn colours against the clear blue sky were fabulous. Within 10 minutes I started to feel so much better, and by the time I reached Kinver I had completely regenerated. Why do I need to work?