What the Experts say 1

The Best Way to Overcome Fear of Missing Out 

    An article by Eric Barker in Time Magazine brilliantly explains where does FOMO come from and how to fight with it. The author states that such anxiety is totally unpleasant for people, mainly for their self-esteem and feeling of happiness. So, one of the most common ways to fulfil the unhappiness we experience sometimes, is to check social networks' feeds. It is constantly happening throughout the day, because even not realising that we are not feeling great, we try to increase our mood by surfing the web, which appears to make the situation much worse. Barker mentions that we can't stop comparing our lives to others', even though everybody is aware that Facebook users are not showing a 100%-real picture of their living. Results of one of the studies by Times suggest that users of social media are more likely to compare their success to those of others, and the effect on our mental health is equivalent to looking at your bank account after reading the Forbes list. The authors key-point is that it matters a lot what people pay and do not pay their attention to. So FOMO is about lack of happiness, and happiness comes from how you allocate your attention. According to the statistics, those with FOMO avoid paying attention to real life and seek enjoyment through social media. Students with this anxiety tend to make less effort at school due to continuously checking their phones. It is suggested in the article to try gratitude in beating this fear - trying to appreciate what one already has rather than wishing for more.