Rethink the fear of missing out

FOMO is a syndrome which plagues many of us in the modern era. Social media is probably the biggest culprit, since it often forces us to compare ourselves to others who are displaying the most wonderful aspects of their lives. In our recent blog post, we discuss the how to swap FOMO, for JOMO (The Joy of Missing Out). JOMO is basically about disconnecting, opting out and being O.K. just where you are. Have you considered practicing JOMO as part of your self-care routine?

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I embrace JOMO through the habit of a weekly ā€œdigital sabbathā€ ā€“ avoiding computer & TV screens from bedtime on Friday until sunset on Saturday.

I embrace JOMO by reading physical books these days instead of reading ebooks on a Kindle, which tempts me to jump from ebook to ebook instead of staying focused on a single book at a time.

I embrace JOMO by using an Android-7 phone whose simplified home page contains nearly all the same apps on the Mudita Pure ā€¦ and no other apps. This means that I must go to my laptop to check personal email, surf the Web, etc. This, in turn, has made me uncomfortably aware of how often Iā€™ll check personal email and surf the Web ā€“ for Fear Of Missing Out :disappointed:.

Summarizing, I embrace JOMO:

  • through weekly habit;
  • through the physical world instead of the virtual world;
  • by making my FOMO actions more obvious.
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Iā€™m making this the summer of Missing Out!
Whatā€™s happening? Who cares. :slight_smile:
Iā€™m going to monitor my digital diet as I would my food diet.

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Reading a physical book, the tactile nature of it, turning a page with your fingers, even putting a bookmark in between two sheets of paper is a joy. I have a bookshelf full of books. I have never (and thatā€™s genuine) even held a Kindle, or any e-reader. Iā€™m not what would be considered old either - Iā€™m in my 40ā€™s. I have never suffered with FOMO. Having no social media accounts is a great benefit in that regard. I donā€™t ā€˜doā€™ envy. Things like Fakebook are just that. No thanks.

And Iā€™ll be honest, Iā€™ve never surfed the web (as most would recognise it) as a way to fill timeā€¦ā€¦just because. Just endlessly clicking and searching isnā€™t for me. I use the internet as a tool. And only that. I have a specific task, I need the internet to do it, so I complete the task and log off. I have one web device - an iPad mini. Everything web based I need is on there. No laptop. No PC. No smartphone.

It is bliss. And I wonā€™t be shifting my world off its axis for anyone. I lost folk from my life when I became a minimalist. And honestly, I donā€™t miss those individuals. I have all I need from the few people I have around me. They ring and text me quite happily. So bring on the Pure!!

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Good luck to you :partying_face:

Iā€™m really enjoying acquiring new knowledge at the moment. Defining a topic that is meaningful, learn about it as much as possible, ponder over others experiences and finally put it into practice in your own life is really rewarding!
It can be a new skill, a language, a development of personalityā€¦
Escaping the state of ā€œpassively watching others doing meaningless things ā€œ is liberating :slightly_smiling_face:

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