Many people know the feeling of arriving home or pulling into a parking spot and then staying put for a moment, as if the day needs one more beat before it continues. The Associated Press reported that the behavior has become common enough to draw notice and discussion online, including through videos of people wondering why they repeatedly end up just sitting in their cars before going inside.
Psychologists who spoke with the news outlet said there are reasons that short pauses can help. Jenny Taitz, a clinical psychologist who runs her own practice in Beverly Hills, said that while people often feel they are “just going 100 miles an hour,” the ability to stop matters. “But if we can literally stop, like slow down, take a step back, observe, proceed mindfully, maybe like a few minutes to reset between activities, it kind of gives you an ability to be intentional.”
Taitz and other experts framed the parked-car time as an emotional buffer between what came before and what comes next. Anthony Vaccaro, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said he sits in his parked car for a few minutes after arriving home from work and turns up the speakers to listen to one more song. He told the Associated Press, “By taking a brief little break, you can at least take a moment to relax and prepare before moving forward.”
Experts said the car itself can make that pause feel contained and manageable. Thuy-vy Nguyen, a psychologist with Durham University in England and founder of Solitude Lab, described the parked car as “an in-between space.” She said it is also a setting in which people can have control over details such as the temperature and the music, which can make it easier to shift into a calmer state.
Scientists, the article said, point to the idea that taking brief moments to decompress during the workday and after can improve mood, sharpen focus and boost energy. But the effectiveness of a parked-car break is not automatic, and psychologists said what someone does during the pause is decisive. Taitz warned that “If you’re in your car scrolling and thinking about something that’s upsetting to you or ruminating, you know, in your head spiraling, the parked car is not a reset. It’s the stressor.”
In the same vein, the Associated Press reported that scrolling can pull attention toward the phone screen, which can make it harder to decompress. Experts said the habit may be better used for regulation rather than distraction—slowing breathing, listening to a familiar song, or making a simple plan for how a person wants to show up next. Taitz also said that “You could change your blood pressure in five minutes,” referring to techniques such as slowing breathing and relaxing the body.
The psychologists said there is also a difference between a helpful reset and avoidance. Vaccaro told the Associated Press that the key question is why someone is doing it and whether the behavior disrupts life. “It’s really about why you’re doing it, and whether it’s interfering with other aspects of your life. That’s really what’s going to determine whether this is a good or bad behavior for you.”
Nguyen and Taitz emphasized that the pause can serve needs beyond stress relief, including processing and recalibrating after a day filled with information. In addition to treating the moment as a buffer between one activity and the next, Taitz said it can help people find time to slow down amid constant juggling. She added that “Trying to find those moments can allow for things to be happier and more joyful and fulfilling,” describing parked pauses as a kind of refueling rather than stalling or escape.