Surveyed 1,916 employed Americans
We asked how hard it is to lock back into work as summer ends, how their summer work ethic compared with the rest of the year, and how much time they spent on non-work things while on the clock.
A national survey on summer and focus at work
Back to Work: The States Struggling Most After Labor Day
Returning to work after summer can be difficult, but many Americans are finding ways to cope with the help of short breaks. In fact, many people play solitaire as their preferred break. We surveyed 1,916 employed Americans about losing and regaining focus as summer ends. See where the slump hit hardest, what pulled workers off task, and how they’re getting back on track.
1,916employed Americans
40states ranked
36%say it’s difficult to lock back in
Arkansas topped the ranking, while West Virginia workers held onto their focus best.
They used to call it spring fever, and it dates back to our younger years. Once the weather started to warm up, we would gaze longingly from our classrooms, anticipating the sweet freedom of summer. And after years of conditioning, the reality of the adult world and its lack of summer breaks has collided with the carefree feelings we once embraced when summer hits.
No longer are June and July filled with zero responsibilities and endless free time. Now the only way to obtain that same freedom for most Americans is to request time off from work. Each year, people all across the country fill their schedules with vacations, pool days, and other fun activities that tend to create a summer fog, distracting them from work and its responsibilities. And whether from regret or unspent summer energy, once Labor Day comes around to remind us that summer is over, some Americans have a hard time getting back into the work routine.
This year we decided to survey Americans to learn more about this struggle returning to work. To do this, we asked a variety of questions including how difficult it is for them returning to work after the Labor Day weekend, distractions that kept them from work throughout the summer, sneaky behaviors they embraced during the season, and more.
We then awarded points to each response that represented a struggle to remain focused and calculated an average score for each state. Those summer fog scores were then adjusted on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the least focused. Read on to learn where Americans are struggling most this year with the end of summer.
At a glance
Key Takeaways
Summer breaks Arkansas workers' focus more than anyone else's in the country.
Summer Fridays backfire: 41% of workers who get them say it's difficult to lock back into work as summer ends, compared with 35% of workers who don't.
Nearly 1 in 4 Americans called out sick this summer when they weren't actually sick.
State by state
Where Americans Are Struggling Most Returning to Work
Summer reaches every corner of the country, but it doesn't leave every workplace in the same shape. Overall, we found that 36% of Americans say it's difficult to lock back into work as summer ends, including 6% who call it very difficult.
When we looked at this struggle on a state level, it was Arkansas who topped the list with a summer fog score of 99.58 out of 100. Burnout is the clearest reason why, as 58% of the state’s workers named it as what made it hardest to stay focused, more than any other state and well above the national average of 37%.
This difficulty to stay focused bled into many people’s days as 67% of Arkansas residents said they zoned out during a meeting, 56% took a long lunch or midday break, and 42% fell behind on email or messages. Arkansas also leads the country in fake sick days, with 37% calling out sick when they weren't.
Coming in second place is Kansas with a score of 93.75 out of 100, and its workers had the hardest time keeping summer from following them home. Nearly half of its workers (45%) fell behind on email or messages, and 42% had work spill into their evenings or weekends because of it, the highest share in the country. Another 36% logged off early without telling anyone.
Massachusetts sits third at 92.36 out of 100 after a summer of quietly taking time back. Its workers led the nation in two categories, with 62% taking a long lunch or midday break and 40% logging off early without telling anyone. More than half (54%) spent an hour or more of a typical workday on non-work things while on the clock, and the same share said their work ethic was weaker this summer than the rest of the year.
Washington (91.90) and North Carolina (91.23) follow in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Washington workers spent the season playing catch-up, leading the country with 45% falling behind on email or messages and 42% saying the pile waiting for them after time off made it hardest to focus. In North Carolina, burnout was the story again at 52%.
At the other end of the ranking, West Virginia workers held onto their focus better than anyone with a score of 57.25 out of 100, more than 11 points clear of the next state. Oregon (68.63), Iowa (69.70), Mississippi (69.89), and Wisconsin (70.13) round out the five states where summer did the least damage.
Summer Fog Scale
0Most Focused100Least Focused
Excluded due to a lack of respondents.
Focus Hit Hardest
RankStateSummer Fog Score
(0–100)
(0–100)
1
Arkansas
99.58
2
Kansas
93.75
3
Massachusetts
92.36
4
Washington
91.90
5
North Carolina
91.23
6
Utah
91.10
7
Idaho
86.74
8
New Jersey
85.80
9
Colorado
85.09
10
Illinois
85.04
Focus Held Up Best
RankStateSummer Fog Score
(0–100)
(0–100)
1
West Virginia
57.25
2
Oregon
68.63
3
Iowa
69.70
4
Mississippi
69.89
5
Wisconsin
70.13
6
Louisiana
70.27
7
Nebraska
70.67
8
Michigan
71.87
9
Virginia
72.12
10
Alabama
72.38
| Rank | State | Summer Fog Score (0–100) | Biggest distraction | % Who Say It |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arkansas | 99.58 | Burnout | 58% |
| 2 | Kansas | 93.75 | Burnout | 49% |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 92.36 | Nice weather | 64% |
| 4 | Washington | 91.90 | Nice weather | 56% |
| 5 | North Carolina | 91.23 | Nice weather | 54% |
| 6 | Utah | 91.10 | Nice weather | 51% |
| 7 | Idaho | 86.74 | Coworkers being out of office | 50% |
| 8 | New Jersey | 85.80 | Nice weather | 48% |
| 9 | Colorado | 85.09 | Nice weather | 50% |
| 10 | Illinois | 85.04 | Nice weather | 56% |
| 11 | Minnesota | 83.27 | Nice weather | 50% |
| 12 | Georgia | 82.77 | Nice weather | 40% |
| 13 | Maine | 82.18 | Nice weather | 64% |
| 14 | Connecticut | 81.99 | Nice weather | 67% |
| 15 | Tennessee | 81.64 | Nice weather | 42% |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 81.45 | Burnout | 47% |
| 17 | California | 81.33 | Nice weather | 43% |
| 18 | Ohio | 80.33 | Nice weather | 51% |
| 18 | South Carolina | 80.33 | Nice weather | 57% |
| 20 | New York | 80.13 | Nice weather | 56% |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | 79.29 | Nice weather | 59% |
| 22 | Nevada | 78.55 | Burnout | 38% |
| 23 | Kentucky | 78.36 | Nice weather | 54% |
| 24 | Missouri | 77.55 | Nice weather | 49% |
| 25 | Maryland | 77.09 | Nice weather | 58% |
| 26 | Texas | 76.40 | Nice weather | 40% |
| 27 | Florida | 75.37 | Nice weather | 42% |
| 28 | Arizona | 74.91 | Coworkers being out of office | 38% |
| 29 | New Mexico | 74.13 | Nice weather | 46% |
| 30 | Indiana | 73.62 | Nice weather | 51% |
| 31 | Alabama | 72.38 | My vacation(s) | 37% |
| 32 | Virginia | 72.12 | Nice weather | 55% |
| 33 | Michigan | 71.87 | Nice weather | 60% |
| 34 | Nebraska | 70.67 | Nice weather | 45% |
| 35 | Louisiana | 70.27 | Burnout | 35% |
| 36 | Wisconsin | 70.13 | Nice weather | 61% |
| 37 | Mississippi | 69.89 | Burnout | 42% |
| 38 | Iowa | 69.70 | Nice weather | 49% |
| 39 | Oregon | 68.63 | Nice weather | 51% |
| 40 | West Virginia | 57.25 | Nice weather | 54% |
A higher score means focus took a bigger hit this summer. Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming were excluded due to a lack of respondents.
What pulled focus
The Top Distractions at Work This Summer
After learning where the slump hit hardest, we wanted to know what was actually pulling workers off the job. Overall, we discovered that nice weather is America's number-1 focus killer, named by 48% of workers.
Nearly 2 in 5 Americans report burnout as one of the top reasons they struggled to stay focused this summer. This is followed by longer daylight and later nights (32%) and workers' own vacations (32%), which tied for third place. For 31% of workers, social plans and events were among their top distractions while on the clock this summer.
These distractions land differently by generation, as 45% of Gen Z blamed burnout compared with 14% of baby boomers, the widest gap anywhere in the list. Social plans split them nearly as far, with 1 in 2 Gen Z workers pointing to them against 21% of boomers. Millennials have a distraction all their own, as 33% said kids home from school made it hardest to focus, triple the 11% of Gen Z who said the same.
0%
say nice weather made it hardest to stay on the job, the country’s No. 1 focus killer.
0%
blame burnout, which lands second and splits the generations wider than anything else.
0%
point at their own vacations, and just as many at longer daylight and later nights.
Burnout is where the generations split hardest: 45% of Gen Z blamed it for their summer focus problems, compared with 14% of baby boomers.
| Rank | Distraction | All workers | Gen Z | Baby Boomers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nice weather | 48% | 48% | 54% |
| 2 | Burnout | 37% | 45% | 14% |
| 3 | Longer daylight and later nights | 32% | 33% | 35% |
| 3 | My vacation(s) | 32% | 37% | 19% |
| 5 | Social plans and events | 31% | 50% | 21% |
| 6 | A slower or lighter workload | 26% | 30% | 15% |
| 7 | Kids home from school | 25% | 11% | 11% |
| 8 | Catching up after time off | 23% | 32% | 13% |
| 8 | Coworkers being out of office | 23% | 28% | 21% |
| 10 | Planning or booking travel | 22% | 28% | 14% |
| 11 | Managers being out of office | 17% | 22% | 12% |
| 12 | Summer sports and events | 16% | 16% | 13% |
| 13 | Hosting family/friends for a visit | 14% | 18% | 9% |
Respondents could select more than one option.
After seeing how often workers blamed their own vacations, we wanted to know whether the length of a break changed how hard the return felt, and the answer tracks almost in a straight line.
Among workers who took more than a month off this summer, 62% say it's difficult to lock back into work as summer ends. That falls to 53% for those who took multiple weeks, 39% for a full week, and 34% for a few days. Workers who never left their desk had the easiest landing at 17%, though that group is small, since just 13% of Americans took no time off at all.
The vacation hangover is real: 62% of workers who took more than a month off say it is difficult to lock back in, against 17% of those who never left their desk.
| Time off taken this summer | % Who Say It's Difficult to Lock Back In |
|---|---|
| More than a month | 62% |
| Multiple weeks | 53% |
| A week | 39% |
| A few days | 34% |
| Only a day or two | 29% |
| No time off | 17% |
Based on 50 respondents who took more than a month off.
On the clock
What Summer Fog Caused People to Do on the Clock
When focus starts to slip on the clock, many Americans look for ways to get away. This is the case for more than two-fifths of workers as they report they took long lunches or midday breaks when summer fog crept in.
Another 28% ran personal errands during work hours and 26% skipped a meeting or only half-listened. For nearly 1 in 4 people, summer brain fog kept them from work altogether as they report calling out sick when they weren't. Additionally, 23% kept their status “active” while not actually working, and 19% logged off early without telling anyone.
Hybrid workers turned out to be the sneakiest group of all, posting the highest share on eight of the nine behaviors we asked about despite spending part of their time on-site. More than half (52%) took a long lunch or midday break, compared with 43% of remote workers and 40% of those fully in-person.
They also outpaced their fully remote colleagues on skipping a meeting or only half-listening (31% to 26%), logging off early without telling anyone (24% to 22%), and blocking their calendar with a meeting that didn't exist (13% to 8%).
0%
Took a long lunch or midday break
0%
Ran personal errands during work hours
0%
Skipped a meeting or only half-listened
0%
Called out sick when I wasn't
0%
Kept my status “active” while not actually working
0%
Logged off early without telling anyone
0%
Let a deadline slide
0%
Worked from a vacation spot without telling my employer
0%
Blocked my calendar with a meeting that didn't exist
| Behavior | All workers | In-person | Hybrid | Remote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took a long lunch or midday break | 44% | 40% | 52% | 43% |
| Ran personal errands during work hours | 28% | 21% | 35% | 34% |
| Skipped a meeting or only half-listened | 26% | 24% | 31% | 26% |
| Called out sick when I wasn't | 23% | 28% | 17% | 17% |
| Kept my status “active” while not actually working | 23% | 15% | 33% | 29% |
| Logged off early without telling anyone | 19% | 14% | 24% | 22% |
| Let a deadline slide | 9% | 9% | 10% | 9% |
| Worked from a vacation spot without telling my employer | 8% | 4% | 15% | 10% |
| Blocked my calendar with a meeting that didn't exist | 8% | 5% | 13% | 8% |
Respondents could select more than one option.
The fallout
The Impacts of Summer Breaking Americans’ Focus
The loss of focus among workers didn’t just lead to sneaky behaviors, it also led to poor performance for some Americans. For 60% of workers, this included rereading the same thing multiple times to absorb it.
For 53% of respondents sitting in meetings was difficult as well as they found themselves zoning out. Another 45% say they made mistakes they had to later go back and fix, and nearly 1 in 3 fell behind on email or messages this summer.
Unfortunately, for 26% of workers, this lack of focus resulted in work spilling into their evenings or weekends because they fell behind. Nearly 1 in 5 forgot about a meeting altogether, and 14% say they missed a deadline.
Very little of it caught up with anyone, though, as only 6% of workers were called out by a manager, 6% were called out by a coworker, and just 4% received a formal warning or were written up. Most workers seem to carry the slump quietly, since 12% worried their performance could put their job at risk even though so few faced any real consequence.
0%
had to reread the same thing multiple times to absorb it, the most common symptom of the slump by a wide margin.
The rest of the damage report
Only 6% of workers were called out by a manager this summer, and just 4% received a formal warning.
| Experience | % Who Say It |
|---|---|
| Had to reread the same thing multiple times to absorb it | 60% |
| Zoned out during a meeting | 53% |
| Made a mistake I had to go back and fix | 45% |
| Fell behind on email or messages | 32% |
| Had work spill into my evenings or weekends because I fell behind | 26% |
| Forgot about a meeting | 19% |
| Missed a deadline | 14% |
| Worried my performance could put my job at risk | 12% |
| Was called out by a coworker | 6% |
| Was called out by a manager | 6% |
| Received a formal warning or was written up | 4% |
The return
How Workers Are Handling the Return to Work
With Labor Day behind us, we wanted to know how workers feel about carrying a full workload again. Most are taking it in stride, as 40% feel neutral about the return and another 21% are motivated and ready. For nearly 1 in 5 workers, the end of summer means the return of a normal routine, which they are relieved about. On the other side, 11% are dreading it and 1 in 10 are overwhelmed returning to a normal work flow following the end of summer.
Recovery is moving faster than the summer might suggest, with nearly half of workers (48%) already back to full focus. Another 26% expect to need a week or more, and 13% think it will take two weeks or longer.
When it comes to remedies for this summer fog, we discovered caffeine is the country's go-to at 65%. This is followed by making a to-do list (54%) and exercise or a walk (46%) in second and third place, respectively. For nearly 2 in 5 workers music or background noise helps, while 27% simply put their phone out of reach.
Neutral
40%
Motivated and ready
21%
Relieved to have my routine back
18%
Dreading it
11%
Overwhelmed
10%
What actually helps them lock back in
| Feeling | % Who Say It |
|---|---|
| Neutral | 40% |
| Motivated and ready | 21% |
| Relieved to have my routine back | 18% |
| Dreading it | 11% |
| Overwhelmed | 10% |
| Rank | Refocus method | % Who Say It |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caffeine | 65% |
| 2 | Making a to-do list | 54% |
| 3 | Exercise or a walk | 46% |
| 4 | Music or background noise | 39% |
| 5 | Putting my phone out of reach | 27% |
| 6 | Setting a new routine or schedule | 21% |
| 7 | Taking more time off | 12% |
| 8 | Brain games or puzzles (solitaire, crosswords, sudoku) | 11% |
| 8 | Blocking focus time on my calendar | 11% |
| 10 | Nothing really works | 4% |
Refocus methods: respondents could select more than one option.
How we did this
How we measured summer’s hit to focus
In this study, we set out to learn how American workers lose and regain their focus at the end of summer.
Asked what got in the way
We also asked what made it hardest to stay focused, what they did on the clock, what happened to their work, and what helps them refocus.
Scored responses
We awarded points to responses that represented difficulty refocusing and calculated an average score for each state.
Scaled from 0 to 100
We adjusted those scores on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the biggest loss of focus during the summer. States without enough responses were excluded.