It is not just any day. It is that moment when the calendar seems to breathe a sigh of relief, yet our minds remain in overdrive. While some are already at the beach, others are still in the office, and we all share a common feeling: the need to pause, even if just for a little while.
At the beginning of August, it's not that meetings multiply or emails sound more urgent; quite the opposite happens. Activity slows down, inboxes lie dormant, work chats empty out... and that calm, rather than being welcome, is unsettling. It's a pause that weighs heavily, an uncomfortable silence that suddenly reminds us that rushing around at full speed isn't the only way to live these days.
The acceleration vacuum that arises in this mental limbo has a name: “early break”. It's not true rest. It's mind on standby, trapped in an invisible script that pushes us to project even more. Recent studies show that truly disconnecting, silencing notifications, and turning off internal noise not only reduces stress but also improves mental and emotional recovery.
Likewise, the phenomenon known as “fall anxiety” —those anxieties surrounding the end of summer and the return to routine— begin as early as August. According to experts, these feelings are not irrational: they represent the clash between expectations and reality, the pressure to have “made the most of everything,” and a vague fear of what is to come.
And here's the interesting thing: we're not talking about vacation melodramas, but about a shared reality that affects us all.
“Those who do not understand August have not yet understood the art of truce.
And without a break, there is no strategy."