In short, the hours that Canadians spend refreshing their minds and their bodies through leisure and cultural activities – and moments shared with family – are being condensed and it’s affecting their well-being.

We know what you’re thinking … people who don’t work from home often have an image of those who do as lying around in their underwear, unshaven and unwashed, watching Oprah and constantly gorging on salty and/or sweet snacks. But it seems there are a lot of benefits to working form home. Indeed, it offers some interesting new twists on the way we traditionally view work.

In a recent chat at the highly literary Hay Festival in Wales, Andrew Simms and David Boyle, authors of The New Economics: A Bigger Picture and both directors of the New Economics Foundation think-tank, argued that for a small farmer in the 12th century to make a sufficient amount to live on for a year, he would be able to (and did) take 170 days’ holiday – almost half a year …

According to research, money isn’t a prime motivator in motivating employees. Quite the contrary, using money as a motivator can actually be counter-productive. It seems that what keeps people working hard is a combination of things, including the desire to master a task and/or skill, and a drive to excel.

It could be quite interesting to imagine a Hollywood pitch of your own life … would it sound bland and “unsellable,” or would it be riveting and fun?

One Canadian woman named Maria who lives in the UK was in Portugal visiting with family when the volcano hit. Unable to fly back to the United Kingdom, she tried to wait it out in Portugal. But as a teacher she needed to get back to Britain to be with her students.

It’s a real problem in our modern world: people aren’t getting enough sleep. Insomnia is at almost epidemic levels, with spin-off consequences in the economy, not to mention personal lives.

It’s hard not to shake one’s head in dismay at this sort of thing. Is it somehow normal to put oneself in a situation that causes great unhappiness, even hatred, and then spread that negativity to all who will listen? That’s supposed to be healthy?

Kids that age are fearless. They aren’t held back by worries of worst-case consequences, they just roll the proverbial dice. Plus they’re constantly asking a simple question that adults rarely voice: “why?”

The charming series “The Worst Jobs in History” takes a look at some of the most awful professions in previous periods in history. They’re all available on YouTube, and are an entertaining watch. Hard not to feel grateful for our pithy little office work problems!