I collect articles that catch my eye, squirreling them away infolders on my desktop. They’re usually related to work – health, wellness, benefits, retirement – but didn’t make it into a longerformat. Here’s a sampling as we slide deeper into February:

Have stairwell, will climb: The stairwell inyour office building could be your next cold-weather (orhot-weather) fitness center. Researchers at McMaster Universitystudied people doing short bouts of intense stair-climbing. "Short"means taking no more than 10 minutes (including a warm-up, a cooldown, and a recovery period). Participants ran the stairs threetimes a week for six weeks, and it worked -- they improved theircardiovascular fitness. Exercise for Anyone, Anytime: Researchers FindBrief, Intense Stair Climbing is a Practical Way to Boost Fitness-- Newswise

Busyness as status symbol: Forget the luxurycar or the expensive clothes -- now the new status marker is howbusy you are. Researchers at the Columbia Business School studiedhow Americans rate the social status of a person who has a full (oreven overloaded) work schedule versus a person with a lot ofleisure time. People who worked long hours were ranked as having ahigher social status than those fun-loving types enjoying life. Theresearchers noted that “by telling others that we are busy andworking all the time, we are implicitly suggesting that we aresought after, which enhances our perceived status.” Whether beingcrazy-busy is good for the body and soul is another matter.Why Americans Are So Impressed By Busyness --Harvard Business Review