How to be more JOMO and be ok with missing out…

Sharing a guest post today about JOMO, being ok with missing out. Read on to find out more and how it works and some of the tips I will be putting into place myself…

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It’s the season of New Year resolutions and I have decided that mine is going to be taking a step back from social media and spending more time improving myself.  I am not alone. A recent survey showed that looking at sites such as Instagram, revealed users often suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out) with 46 percent saying social media makes them wish they could travel more (50 percent). A further 46 percent said it made them feel their own lives are unexciting and 43 percent said they haven’t achieved as much as their peers (43 percent). I can definitely relate to social media making me feeling overwhelmed at times. Therefore, for 2020 I am going to be more JOMO and appreciate the “joy of Missing out” more.  

If you’re curious then I’d recommend checking out websites Psychology today which has a great long piece on the subject as well as experience JOMO  which offers daily tips on how to be more JOMO. GiffGaff, have created a JOMO generator  – which offers great ideas on how to action JOMO in your day to day life with very little effort.

I’m also sharing some tips below which have really worked for me in the first few weeks of giving it a go: 
Monitor screen time 

Most smartphones have a feature which will show you just how much screen time you have been using on your phone, and exactly what you have been doing with it. When I first started considering taking a break from social media it was because I saw the amount of hours a day I was spending on social media rather than doing other things which I wish I could do but was never able to find the time.Eeek! With that knowledge in mind of my actual digital habits, I’ve decided to swap scrolling for reading. 
Set a time limit of social media use 

I’m not taking a complete break from social media – it’s still a very useful tool but I am now aware of how much time that I do spend being distracted from what I originally set out to accomplish. For example – clicking on an article and getting lost in a comment thread rather than just going to my friend’s page to wish them happy birthday (We’ve all done it). I try to limit my social media time to reasonable slots throughout the day now. I have even set an alarm to use within those periods- but that’s just the type of person I am..I need the help that I can get as an excuse to get distracted, and I will take it! 

Unfollow people who make you sad 

This is life-changing. I used to feel so ugly and unpolished after using Instagram. Just image after image of perfection. Now that I have purged the people who trigger those negative feelings about myself, I feel so much better. 

This can also be done with people where an unfriend or follow wouldn’t go down well. You simply have to mute or hide them from your feed

Go analogue 

Being FOMO doesn’t mean that you can’t stay in touch with people – I have rediscovered brunch since doing JOMO due to trying to see people in person more. Whoop!  

Limit use before bed 

I can’t stress how useful this has been. Since not checking social media an hour before bed I have found that I am less anxious when trying to drift off. It’s a hard habit to break but well worth it in the long run if you ask me!

So what about you, are you going to part-take in some JOMO for 2020? If so let us know below, and continue the conversation on our social channels. 

Posted in Mental Health and tagged Fear of missing out, joy of missing out, social media use.