We’ve learned to fill even the time that’s meant to help us recharge.
We start with a list of things to do, plan our days, choose places to visit, experiences to try and moments to share. Each day can become a small project to organize and, in the end, even our free time risks having an agenda.
Then comes the time to go home.
We’ve done everything we had planned, seen all the places we wanted to visit, taken photos, tried new restaurants, and collected experiences to share.
And yet, when we return home, the holiday is over, but the sense of recovery we were expecting never arrives.
When free time becomes a performance
The phenomenon of the “performance holiday” captures precisely this shift in the way we experience our free time.
The phenomenon is captured by a study¹ conducted by YouGov for Doctolib Italia, based on a representative sample of more than 1,000 adults. The research shows how even holidays can be experienced through a mindset shaped by plans, activities and expectations, turning time meant for recovery into something to be made the most of.
The paradox is clear.
After months of measuring time through goals, deadlines and results, we carry the same mindset into the very moments when we need to slow down.
Rest becomes yet another thing to do well.
The pressure to experience it all.
There is a subtle difference between fully experiencing something and feeling the need to make the most of it.
A day at the beach can become an opportunity to read, exercise, explore somewhere new, try a restaurant, take photos and share it all on social media.
A city can be explored by ticking off a list of places to see.
Even the simplest moment can turn into something to document.
Technology amplifies this dynamic. Photos become memories before the experience has even ended, while social media and digital platforms constantly show us new places to visit, activities to try and ways to spend our free time.
The result can be a subtler form of pressure: the feeling that your holiday has to live up to expectations.
Recovery also means making space.
Recovery needs time, but above all, it needs mental space free from the constant need to do.
Il dolce far nulla is precisely about allowing time to exist without a purpose.
There is no ideal number of activities to fit into a holiday. Nor is there a right way to rest.
The value of taking a break lies precisely in having the freedom to choose.
When we stop measuring every moment by what we have achieved, we can start listening again to what we truly need.
Even a few minutes can become meaningful when we are fully present.
Technology can make our days feel fuller, but it can also play a different role: helping us recognise when it’s time to slow down.
It’s one of the ideas behind Ianumind QUI, our device designed to help people tune into their physiological signals and create more mindful moments of pause.
Through personalised coaching, breathing techniques and mindfulness, Ianumind QUI supports different moments throughout the day without imposing a set routine.
Start listening to your body: https://ianumind.com/
Source
- AgenSalute, “Vacanza-performance: nuovo stress dei giovani italiani: 90% parte ma solo 39% torna riposato”, 27 July 2026. https://agensalute.it/2026/07/27/vacanza-performance-nuovo-stress-dei-giovani-italiani-90-parte-ma-solo-39-torna-riposato/