Two hours of continuous desk-based work is enough to make the average worker’s mental state dip, and four hours can push stress levels up by as much as 18 per cent, a study of 26,000 workers has found. But the solution is simple: go for a walk.

Deceptively simple, perhaps. After all, if you feel swamped with work and pushed for time you probably can’t fathom taking a stroll in the name of mental health, says clinical-academic physiotherapist Brendon Stubbs of King’s College London, who oversaw the “Desk Break experiment”, which was commissioned by shoe brand Asics to mark World Mental Health Day on Thursday, October 10.