Under no circumstances should you give into FOMO, and here’s how not to

FOMO, aka Fear of Missing Out, is something we have all felt at one point or another in our student lives. We can all relate to the jealously watching friends on Snapchat having a banging time without you which, according to them, turned into the “best night ever”.

You find yourself compulsively scrolling through Instagram watching your feed fill with photos from your friends at a party that you just couldn’t make it to.

Feeling like you’re constantly missing out is just one less stress students don’t need, on top of everything else we have to deal with.

So, if you're reading this and suffering with FOMO, don't worry because you are not the only one. In an effort to make your boring night bearable, here are five ways you can overcome FOMO.

Prioritise

Drowning in work

Let’s face it, there just are not enough hours in the day to do everything. If there were we would be able to finish all our assignments, go to work and spend time with our family and friends. But, alas, it’s impossible too.

Make a list (we all love lists) of all the things you have to do and then prioritise by importance, adding ‘me time’ into the mix. Prioritising and focusing on those important tasks allows us to feel better about saying ‘no’ and makes us let go of feeling guilty.

Be able to say 'no'

Not only does saying ‘yes’ to everything add extra stress and pressure, but it’s physically impossible to do everything and be in different places at the same time.

Being able to accept this and say ‘no’ to certain things, takes the weight off and allows us to evaluate what we really need to do. Spend time investing in things that you love and will be beneficial to you.

Take time off social media

Yes, we know, as students we hear this ALL THE TIME. Seriously though, it affects us a lot more than we think it does and is the main cause of FOMO. It’s no secret that social media is addictive and even though its main role is to connect people, spending all of our time on social media can make you feel more disconnected than ever.

We’ve all found ourselves struggling to stop looking on Snapchat at photos from that one pre's we just couldn’t make it too. Taking a couple of hours off of your phone will make you feel so much better and will subside your missing out worries.

Realise it may be a shit night after all

Someone just get this guy and his cuppa to bed

As strange as it may seem, we may not actually be missing out. It is no secret that a lot of what we see of people on social media is exaggerated, and gives an unclear view of who people really are.

So, while you have that one friend who is posting amazing videos of that one “amazing” night, what you did not see on that video is her throwing up in the taxi home.

Before you get too upset about missing out, remember that people use social media to show the ‘highlights’ of their life and omit the bad parts.

Recreate the fun you missed

Wine always helps

Just because you couldn’t go out that one night with your mates, doesn’t mean you can’t do something equally fun another time. Make up for lost time and have a messy night next week.

It is not the end of the world, so don't worry – the sesh is going nowhere.

Live your best life

Through following these top tips in preventing FOMO, hopefully you will be feeling a lot better about missing out on stuff. Not only does the fear of missing out make us all unhappy but it stops us from being productive and doing things that we really love or need to do.

So while it might be hard to begin with, try not to feel left out and remember tomorrow is a new day – which is a much better way to live.