If you’re a city dweller who is living, working and breathing the city, you’d know that the pace of life is undeniably hurried.
There are always events to attend, baby showers to celebrate and catching up to go to. We typically make time for this due to social obligations. This phenomenon succinctly describes the term FOMO, or fear of missing out.
The question here is when do you make time for yourself?
In our hectic schedules, we may have forgotten to make ourselves a priority. When you say yes to others, you deny yourself the luxury of doing something purposeful.
I’m going to introduce the concept of JOMO, joy of missing out. I first heard this term from Anne-Laure Le Cunff, in her article, she shared a number of ways to disconnect and adopt JOMO.
In essence, JOMO is the act of being intentional with your time. It could be in the form of self-care, doing something meaningful, or spending time with the people you actually care about.
Unknowingly, I’ve been intentional with my time unaware that it was JOMO. Here are some things I did for myself and was rewarding. Try:
- Disconnecting from social media and other texting apps for a few hours each day. If it’s life or death, you shouldn’t be getting a text.
- Rejecting the events that you think are obligations, they are just that – social obligations. You have a choice not to attend.
- Taking action on that side hustle you’ve been dreaming of. If not now, then when?
There was one sentence in Anne’s article that haunted me. She shared that at the end of people’s lives, the thing they regret the most is,
“They regret not spending enough time with their families, not working hard enough to achieve their life purpose, or not being true to themselves.”
With the clarity that JOMO brings, I’ve made even more deliberate decisions with how I spend my time.