I first discovered the benefits of Turkish baths in Istanbul and now I go twice a week to one close to the office and I find it unbelievably stress busting.

After 40 minutes on a running machine I sit in the grey marble Turkish bath for 20 minutes and no one can reach me. Other people could be in there but no one ever speaks and you can’t see them because of the thickness of the swirling steam which affords a lot of privacy. It unclogs my head. I thoroughly recommend it.

Then every Saturday I swim in my local public pool. I do a fast breaststroke in my yellow swimming trunks and after about 20 lengths I find my head is completely cleared.

By the end of the week I sometimes feel that I have mopped up or had passed to me every piece of stress that has been going round the building. We have a staff of about 450 and by Friday afternoon my head is congested with a combination of stress and paranoia. After my Saturday swim I feel a great deal better. Sometimes I take the children with me. The good thing about the Kensington pool is that the water is very warm.

Nicholas Coleridge is managing director of Conde Nast magazines. His latest novel ‘With Friends Like These’ has recently been published in paperback