#FOMO is a MOFO

I don’t normally talk about my feelings on here but this is something that’s been really affecting me recently. I couldn’t put my finger on it until the other day so didn’t really know how to talk to people about it.

The last week or so I’ve been really down, felt like I was missing out on so much and feeling incredibly lonely…
To some of you I’m sure this sounds crazy… my diary is always full seeing different people and I’m always out and about… but for some reason it just wasn’t enough…
It was driving me crazy trying to work out what the problem was and why everyone else was having more fun than me.

This was until I was read the “Unplugged” edition of Grazia on our drive up to Gateshead last weekend & it hit me… F.O.M.O!
(I know this word makes me sound like I’m trying to get down wit da kidz – that phrase proves I’m not!)
But bingo that was it…

FEAR… OF… MISSING… OUT…

I’d noticed the last few months I’ve been more and more addicted to my phone…
Scrolling Facebook to see what everyone was up to, checking twitter, grabbing my phone every time a WhatsApp notification buzzed or someone liked a photo on Instagram, it was getting out of control…
I do a lot on a day to day basis but a lot of the time I was doing it and thinking “yeah but so-and-so is at that gig… and my other friend is drinking at that bar… I wish I was dancing there…”
I was so focused on seeing what my friends were up to I was forgetting to enjoy what I was doing.…
This lead me to feel left out and lonely… and probably a right pain in the backside clutching my phone constantly no matter where I was going or what I was doing.

So over the weekend I turned off all my Notifications for EVERYTHING…
The only time my phone makes a noise now is if someone calls me…
I check the rest of the apps when I want to, not when my phone is flashing, beeping and buzzing for my attention…
And it feels great!

I’m also making sure that when I’m relaxing watching TV with Adam my phone goes upstairs, not next to me on the sofa…
If it rings I’ll hear it, if I get messages I’ll get them when I decide to check…
I’m actually enjoying watching programs properly again instead of constantly glancing at my phone trying to keep track of social media at the same time as trying to keep track of what’s being said on the TV.

Sometimes I find this new phone-freedom so easy, and I actually feel lighter and less frazzled…
Other times it takes a huge amount of willpower to not keep unlocking my phone just to see if I have any notifications…

But I’m getting there and I’m really looking forward to living my life properly again and enjoying every minute…

Ttfn x

Comments

AJP said…
Hope you're still in control. 'Scuse me was that my phone?

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