Summer is over. Time to cease and desist with Barbenheimer. Enough of watching Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour on TikTok. And if you didn’t finish reading Yellowface on holiday, that ship, my friend, has sailed. We’ve all moved on you see, from summer blockbusters and this year’s beach reads to the shiny new cultural happenings of autumn 2023.

You probably don’t need to wear a heart-rate monitor while at work, as the subjects in one 2016 study did, to determine that time spent on email is “significantly associated with stress”. Between 2005 and 2019, the number of messages the average business user sent and received in a day increased from 50 to 126, which roughly equates to one every four minutes.

Closing your eyes when you feel tired is probably one of the most elementary human instincts. But actually getting a good night’s sleep? That’s an entirely different story. Two thirds of adults in the UK suffer from disrupted sleep and one third of Americans admit to getting less sleep than they’re advised. Getting good shut-eye has become something of a myth – a dream, if you will – in recent years.

In November 2022, the British National Health Service reported a 42 per cent rise in referrals for gambling addiction. That this issue has worsened in recent years is no surprise. Anyone can access a 24-hour casino in their pocket with just a few swipes of their thumb. And in an era when everyone is addicted to their smartphone, who knows – or even cares – whether you’re spending all day on Instagram or betting apps? It’s all just bright lights, levers and rewards. Dopamine hits, most of which just sap your time. Some of which can drain your money and ruin your life.

Summer is over. Time to cease and desist with Barbenheimer. Enough of watching Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour on TikTok. And if you didn’t finish reading Yellowface on holiday, that ship, my friend, has sailed. We’ve all moved on you see, from summer blockbusters and this year’s beach reads to the shiny new cultural happenings of autumn 2023.

You probably don’t need to wear a heart-rate monitor while at work, as the subjects in one 2016 study did, to determine that time spent on email is “significantly associated with stress”. Between 2005 and 2019, the number of messages the average business user sent and received in a day increased from 50 to 126, which roughly equates to one every four minutes.