took a two week break from applying entirely because the rejection emails had started blending into noise and I couldn't tell what I was even optimizing for anymore

Six weeks of applying every day, a handful of first rounds, and the one metric I was tracking — applications sent — stopped meaning anything. Took two weeks completely off, no job boards, just worked on an actual project I cared about. Went back with maybe a third of the volume but I actually remembered why I wanted each role before I hit submit.