What are the "August blues"?

The Minnesota State Fair is just days away, affectionately known as summer's last hurrah. That's bittersweet for some people given the seasonal shift ahead, an impending change than can sour summer's last full month.

"Even though summer hasn't ended, we start experiencing that ending," said Dr. Audra Nuru, the endowed chair of social sciences and a family studies and communications professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. "It's still warm outside. We're still going to the pool and taking vacations, but the school emails start coming in and the school supplies displays start showing up in the stores and our calendars start filling up."

Maybe you've experienced the "Sunday scaries," which is when you worry about the looming work week or wish you could have accomplished more over the weekend. The "August blues" create similar feelings, one being regret.

"At the beginning of summer there's all this possibility, right? And then August arrives and we start asking ourselves, did we take that trip? Did we spend enough time together? Did the kids have enough to have fun?" Nuru said.

Another feeling can be anxiety. The thought of the school year beginning, schedules changing and colder days ahead can create anxiousness — all while summer is still there to be enjoyed in August. 

"That affects how we feel about the time that we have left," Nuru said.

For those struggling with the "August blues," what can they do to manage it? Nuru says the first step is to simply savor the present moment. The weather's still warm, and while we're losing daylight, there's still plenty of it compared to fall and winter.

"One thing that we can do is just change the way we talk about the time that's left. Instead of, 'We only have two weekends left,' Maybe it's, 'We still have these two weekends!' Nothing about the calendar has changed, but we're paying attention to what's here rather than rushing past it," she said.

Her next idea is to relieve yourself of the pressure to do more before August ends, like forcing one last vacation.

"A good summer doesn't have to be filled with these extraordinary things. Kids can get bored sometimes. That's OK. We can spend a Saturday at home. That's OK," she said. "Those ordinary days count, too."

Lastly, plan something to look forward to in the fall. That could include the vacation you didn't try to force in August or a seasonal activity like leaf peeping. That way you have a reason to be excited about what's to come rather than thinking about the summer we'll soon leave behind.

For 2026, fall begins on Tuesday, Sept. 22.