#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?
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

T-minus 6months / 184days!

Image
Eeep! 6months today I'll be just about to walk down the aisle to see the man I'm going to marry! AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!I'm so ridiculously excited I'm not sure I can bottle it up! Valentines day marked 200 days till our wedding & mum made us a countdown using tape measures measuring 100cm each. The plan was to cut off a cm each day as the countdown but she'd included little charms all down them of bags, shoes, guitars, etc & we didn't want to ruin it so we're colouring it in with a Sharpie instead! She's the best! :) thanks mum! Last night after work Adam & I met up at Waterloo to head home & it was all going as planned till we stopped at one station for about 20mins cos of a backlog due to a part suspension. There was nothing we could do to get on another line so we sat & waited, the train eventually left but then sat at the next station (Swiss Cottage) for another 20min & they didn't know when they'd set off again. We knew th...
Read more

Happy 30th Adam!

Image
Wow what an eventful weekend! Friday was Adam's 30th so we both took the day off work to celebrate together. After sleeping in till 10am Adam finally woke me up asking when I was going to emerge & celebrate his birthday with him - Yoink! So much for the breakfast in bed I had planned. We started the day off as all birthdays should be celebrated - with a trip to Asda! After getting the boring chores out the way we headed to Winter Wonderland (via the Barber) for our annual wander around with a mulled wine in one hand & a Bratwurst in the other all polished off with a pretzel. We stopped off at the Carousel bar to watch the world go by (literally! The whole bar rotates really slowly) & have another mulled wine while putting the world to rights before heading off for dinner in Hammersmith. The first of many surprises for Adam were tickets to Steve Merchant's 'Hello Ladies' tour at the Apollo which was really good fun. We got there quite early so thought we...
Read more

#TowerPoppies

Image
Last September I was lucky enough to get the chance to take part in the "Blood Swept Lands & Seas of Red" at the Tower of London.... Those of you who are regular readers will know I love helping out the Royal British Legion & this was a chance to be part of something awesome! "Blood Swept Lands & Seas of Red" was to mark the centenary of the outbreak of WW1, in total there were 888,246 ceramic poppies (1 to represent every British / Colonial serviceman killed) & the last one was planted on Remembrance Day. If you want to find out more & see a video about the poppies being made click HERE . Early one Saturday morning I set off to the Tower of London & joined another 120 people for a 3hour shift. The aim was to plant 5000 poppies to keep on track for the 11th November but someone ended up opening an extra palette & we planted 6000 instead! Our team was lead by a Beefeater's daughter who actually lived in the Tower - such an in...
Read more