Stepping back is healthy when you have been doing too much, ignoring your own needs or trying to manage another person’s feelings. It becomes a game when silence is used to make someone anxious, jealous or desperate. The difference is intention, communication and what you do with the space.
State the boundary
You can say, “I care about this, but I need more balance, so I am going to stop managing all our plans.” There is no need for a dramatic threat.
If safety is a concern, you do not owe advance notice. Otherwise, simple honesty prevents space from becoming punishment.
Return to your own life
Use the time for friends, work, sleep and interests—not constant monitoring of whether they notice. Space should reconnect you with yourself.
Avoid indirect social posts or strategic jealousy. Those tactics may create contact without creating trust.
Observe what happens
The other person may step forward, ask questions, remain unchanged or withdraw. Their response gives information, but it is not a test they must pass on a secret timeline.
Decide in advance what level of reciprocity you require and what you will do if the pattern continues.
A grounded next step
Reduce only the effort that has become unsustainable. Keep your communication respectful and let the relationship reveal what it can support without one person carrying all of it.