August 2025 | Why Is It So Hard to Take a Break?
July 28, 2025
Welcome to August and peak summer vacationing. Perhaps you’ve planned some time off, time to disconnect, to spend time with friends and family, and especially time to relax. Except—are you having trouble relaxing?
We generally look forward to our time off, from taking a break from our responsibilities in order to recharge ourselves. When times are particularly busy and stressful, knowing some time off is coming can help keep you motivated in the meantime. That can mean that, when that time off finally arrives, you might feel an inordinate amount of pressure to make the most of it. That time is so limited, right? So you don’t want to waste it. And therein lies the trouble: wanting to maximize your time off can lead to things like overplanning, running around, and otherwise making your relaxing time anything but. You might even experience decision paralysis, where you worry so much about what to do, about finding the perfect way to spend your break, that you burn through all your time in indecision.
So how can we be sure that our time off will be perfect? Well, we can’t. But we can use some techniques to help us actually enjoy our time off.
Maximizing is overrated
We live in a world of maximizing. Every message we get, all day long, is about accepting nothing but the most, the biggest, the best. Your time off needs to utilize every moment to its fullest capacity otherwise, what’s the point, right? We know that’s not correct, that that mindset is just going to lead to disappointment. What if, instead of trying to maximize our breaks, we just pick one or two meaningful things to do with our time? It’s a better way to focus our limited resources and when we do less, each thing we do feels more special. We can of course keep ourselves open to other fun things as they come along—that sort of flexibility means that we can enjoy the fun surprises life offers when they pop up, something we wouldn’t be able to do if we were only focused on planned maximization.
Set at time limit
If you struggle with making decisions, try setting a time limit on how long you’ll take to make your plans. The amount of time will vary depending on what type of break you’re having. If you’ve got a three day weekend at home, give yourself a half hour for plan-making. Going to South America for four weeks? You might need a bit more time to familiarize yourself with what options are available. Once you’ve made your decisions, though, commit. Book tickets for shows, make your restaurant reservations, and let that be it. Refrain from making changes to your plans unless necessity forces changes.
Accept some inactivity
Time spent in inactivity may seem like a waste and we may start to feel anxious about the fact that we’re not “doing anything.” But rest is something. It might actually be the best thing if you’re constantly on the move and over-taxed in your regular life. Take an hour to enjoy a coffee. Take a nap. Look at the sunlight traveling across the floor. And when you finally do return to activity, notice how nice it feels to have had some time in stillness.