Practical steps to stop FOMO madness
Do you have a case of FOMO? If you’re the parent of a teenager there’s a good chance they have FOMO. The Fear of Missing Out (or FOMO) is rampant in our society. How do we avoid the FOMO trap or help others escape its clutches? Welcome to Friday’s Food for Thought. This episode is brought to you by Open Mortgage, where better is possible. Please click on our sponsors ad below this video.
Fear is a powerful emotion, perhaps the strongest. The fear of missing out can lead to disconnection, poor choices, stress, and even heath problems. FOMO tears us between the extremes of optimism and pessimism leaving us in the purgatory of stress.
Is FOMO influencing your decisions when to buy or sell a stock? How about the habitual need to check your Facebook notifications? Did they like my post? Who replied to my comment? Have I received an email in the last five minutes? Oh my gosh! I had better check. If you’ve sat in a restaurant and seen a table of teenagers all on their phones, then you’ve seen FOMO. How can you gain back some control and not be controlled by FOMO? Here are some thoughts to consider.
1. Take back control. If your phone is beginning to feel like a shock collar its time to take action. Silence…
5 Comments
This is not what I wanted to spend my time on while at work. I did not feel this was a topic for Reverse Focus. Sorry to disappoint.
Thank you for your input. FOMO has dramatically decreased workplace productivity. Perhaps I could have made a connection to the professional workplace as well. Cheers.
Shannon,
Even when people like me criticize you, it is not because you are bringing us useless or unnecessary information. Your voice is important to the industry and should be heard by all even if it is on FOMO (which I believe needs even more exposure as to its resulting addiction to social media and eating up the most valuable commodity we have, TIME). There is no question that FOMO not only makes us less productive but by repeatedly redirecting our focus wears us out as well.
While at Fluor Corp. we watched production drop dramatically during a period when company stock was taking a nose dive. Most of the assets in our profit sharing plans and 401(k) accounts were company stock. Those who redirected their 401(k) and vested profit sharing account assets as the US engineering industry crash was coming, realized huge gains as a result. Those who did not redirect, saw the value of their retirement accounts drop over 40%.
The rules regarding redirecting were so complicated that if requested in mid month it would take 50 to 60 days to complete. Complaining, correcting false ideas, and even officers’ time spent in trying to find ways to stop price bleeding from employee retirement account actions created a bottle neck in work flow. The fear of missing out on key information was real but caused great loss in productive time at the office as well as time off due to anxiety and stress.
FOMO is real because most people are caught up in social media and email. Its costs are being felt more and more in US business.
About a decade ago, my wife asked me to assist her in some church work with young ladies in middle school. They were well mannered but you could not get their attention due to their use of their phones to reduce their FOMO. The decade before I spent years with a close friend doing the same sort of thing with young men of the same age. The boys were harder to control BUT their distractions were much, much fewer which I am certain is not the case today.
Good points Jim. Thank you. I always welcome your constructive criticism and counterpoints and I am wiser for it. Thanks again.
Shannon,
I am not so sure that FOMO puts people into the hell of what lies in between. That place is found in ultra optimism and ultra pessimism. You ever see the circle of politics with extremism on either side of the political spectrum ending up in the same place? So it is with ultra optimism and ultra pessimism. They both leave us unable to deal with reality.
Ultra optimism results in irrational exuberance while ultra optimism results in depression. Neither condition allows much room for rational thought when it comes to dealing with real issues. Both leave us like drunks incapable and incompetent.