To be honest, I wake up every day, brush up myself, and get ready for school and sit down to read the newspaper. Even if I haven’t eaten my breakfast, even if I am getting late for school, I will first give the newspaper a peek and only then will I move on to complete other work. Well, you may think that I am being a nerd and showing off. If you think so, and even if you don’t, then check out the following. How many times have you opened the newspaper or opened Google, or logged into Facebook or Twitter, JUST to see what’s trending in the virtual world? I am sure almost every person has done this one day or the other. I am sure you too have done this someday or the other. Now, what I am talking about here is FOMO- fear of missing out, a form of social anxiety. Well, you may be thinking that this isn’t a common anxiety problem, but don’t be surprised. In India, according to surveys by leading newsgroups, almost a staggering 82% of surveyed Indians have admitted to FOMO. What’s more, India is the country with the highest number of people suffering from FOMO. For your information, the average percentage of people suffering from FOMO from across the world is just 42%. Before we move on, let me test whether you have this disorder or not.There are 3 options for answers in this test- yes, no and sometimes. Read the questions carefully and answer honestly.1) Are you constantly checking out posts and trends in the newspaper and social networking sites?2) Are you sometimes afraid of missing out among your friends?3) Do you constantly check your messages in your phones or fb account?4) During a discussion, when the topic is something you don’t know much about, do you get nervous?5) Do you feel like an outsider when everyone around you is talking about the latest Bollywood or Hollywood blockbuster?6) Do you sometimes feel about buying a product everyone has but you don’t have?7) Have you ever felt that you had to pick up the cell phone right away when it rings?Now let’s find out the results. If more than 5 questions have been answered yes, you are definitely suffering from FOMO. If more than 5 questions have been answered sometimes, then MAYBE you are suffering from FOMO. If more than 5 questions have been answered no, then you are one the few people who is safe from this communicable disease. Mostly, the affected are maniacs who are online most of the time and gossip girls, which is obvious.
Learn To avoid IT!!
So, what exactly is FOMO?I am sure this must be the first question that came to your mind. FOMO stands for “Fear Of Missing Out”. In this disorder, you are constantly under the presumption that if you are not online or not aware about the latest trends, then you will miss out something important. The most important thing in this disorder is the Fear. There may be several instances when there is a lot of work around and you still go out to a birthday party, or some other function. You feel that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and if you miss it, you may miss something very important. Ok. Even if there is a disorder with a stupid name, what stupid things cause it?After reading this article, try to observe people around you. You will observe that almost everyone around you wants to garner attention. And to get attention, the best way is to start gossips or discussions. Almost every person in this whole world is into gossips, if I am not wrong. We are so into gossips that it has now become a lifestyle. Thus, if you feel you are missing out something in the gossip or you don’t know anything about the center of attraction of the gossip, you start to feel lost. You start to lose your morale. This is the first indication you are suffering from FOMO.The questions asked at the beginning themselves are highlighting the main symptom of this disorder, as well is the name of the disorder- You are constantly in the fear of missing out. To be more specific, there are other symptoms like-1) Being Unfocussed and Stressed: This is one of the first symptoms of FOMO. FOMO messes a lot with your work, work table and time schedule. So, people with FOMO often spend time in unnecessary activities and work, thus losing precious time that could have been utilized in a more creative manner. When you are not able to properly manage your time, you will naturally feel stressed and depressed.
2) Losing Money: Many a times, you may feel you need to buy a product because almost everyone around you has bought it. Well, I have felt this many a times. Some years back, I didn’t have a cycle, while all my friends had. Naturally, I kept on pestering my dad with my constant demand for a cycle, until he bought me one. Honestly, I didn’t even ride it a full month. Finally, the bicycle, by then a mess of rusted iron and plastic, was sold to a Scrap picker. Such instances surely must have taken place in your lives too. In many situations like these, nothing groundbreaking is going to happen after all- no fame, no money, just hard work. It is yet another product, which is going to waste your money, if the fear (FOMO) is getting the hold of you.
3) Overwhelm: Being overwhelmed is one of the symptoms of fear of missing out. When you are unable to say “no”, feeling overwhelmed is destined to happen at some point.There is just too much going on at the same time and you are unable to focus on anything properly.Oh God. Now I am starting to feel that I too am in the firm grasps of FOMO. How can I escape from its clutches?See, bringing about a change, especially in you, requires a lot of hard work, as well as time. Furthermore, now that gossiping has become a part of your lifestyle and is ingrained deep into are brains, the hard work required gets doubled. So, in all, you require lots of energy, time and most importantly, WILLPOWER to get rid of FOMO. The following are the best ways of bidding goodbye to FOMO.1) Be aware of it: First thing is to be aware of the feeling. Stop for a moment and acknowledge when you are having a feeling of FOMO. Understand that this is a natural (although undesirable) way of reacting in a certain situation (in other words, when you feel that you are missing out something important and you feel you have to say “yes”).
2) Be honest to yourself and others: Honesty is one of the best ways to deal with the situation. First, you have to be honest to yourself. If you say “yes”, you have to understand that you may be spreading yourself too thin. Second, it is also important to be honest to others too. They have to be aware that you may not be 100% committed to their requests, if you have plenty of action going on at the same time.
You can still be updated - but within a limit!
3) Make a quick decision regarding the situation: One of the worst things to do to be on the fence on a decision. As long as something is left undecided, it is using your brain capacity for nothing. That’s why it is imperative to say “no” to an opportunity as quickly as possible, if you feel you are unable to commit to it 100%. When you say “no”, you may even start to regret your decision at first. On the other hand, if you are meant to experience the opportunity at all, it will come available to you at some point later.4) Change the perspective: Lastly, one step in defeating the FOMO is to see if a situation or event supports your goals. For example, suppose everyone around you has a watch of some renowned company, while you have one of an almost unknown company. You may feel that you are behind others in this matter, but change your perspective. Stop for a moment and think, what does everyone use their expensive watch for? To tell time. What does my watch do? It too tells time. Do I need the expensive watch? You yourself will arrive to an answer.
So, finally to conclude this article, I would just say, Fear Of Missing Out can make you do things, sometimes even something that you don’t want to do. However, there is a way to overcome the fear. Once you learn to handle it, you will feel better and happier than before.
By: Aditya and Shivam