Professor Manfred Kets De Vries, who authored the paper Doing Nothing and Nothing To Do: The Hidden Value of Empty Time and Boredom, agrees with McCall’s approach.

“The give-away that we are working too hard is when we find ourselves in a place where there’s always more to do. We fool ourselves into thinking that if we do just one more thing we will be able to relax,” he tells Forbes.

“This thinking is delusional; either our to-do list will continue to lengthen or we feel we could do things a little bit better. If we get stuck in this mindset it’s time to get off the treadmill and take a break. And surprisingly, often after a period of disconnection the problem will look quite different and we might find the answer was right there all along, staring us in the face.”

Remember, science is clear on the amount of rest we need: it’s 42 percent. That’s the percentage of time your body and brain need you to spend resting, and it averages out to about 10 hours out of every 24. Think eight hours of sleep opportunity, 30 minutes “stress-reducing conversation” with a loved one, 30 minutes of physical activity, 30 minutes of paying attention to food, and a 30-minute ‘wild card’, depending on your needs.

If this doesn’t sound doable, remember it doesn’t have to be every day; it can average out over a week or a month or more. You just have to make sure you give your body adequate time to rest and recover. And if that looks like a day on the sofa in front of The Crown (we salute you, Davina!), so be it.

Interested in learning more? You can find out all about the 42% rule, and how to implement it into your life, here.

Davina McCall has unveiled her tried-and-tested cure for burnout