Overcoming the fears of missing out. Assuring yourself that its ok!

It’s been more than a month that I last wrote anything. It’s been busy and still is. People say you need to make time to do what you love. Yes, but I love a lot of things! I love binging on Netflix, I love my newly found passion of digitial illustration and I don’t intend to miss my afternoon siesta. These help me recharge my physical and mental batteries.

Many a times I feel that I suffer from FOMO (Fear of missing out) or like I’ve come to call it FOGU (Fear of going unnoticed). The latter one holds more truth, especially since I’ve branched out on my own and started my own little brand strategy and design consultancy. I felt the constant need to be in the eyes, in the limelight. I felt I need to keep writing, keep posting, keep my social media platforms active. And I know for sure a lot of us do feel the same.

Just like a lot of things in the world, social media too has its boons and curses. It allows us to be in touch with the world — from connecting with people to knowing what’s out there, what’s trending, what are people saying about you or your brand and so much more. But that’s the trap that we fall into. A trap that makes us feel lost or left out if we don’t connect with people or know what’s out there or don’t express what we feel every second day! I follow a lot of people of various platforms of social media and I realize the frenzy!

I know the importance of social media to stay relevant and I try and analyze various activities of people online across platforms. And some may or may not agree, but a lot of it stems from the fear of missing out or feeling left out. While some activities are spontaneous and relevant and also sometimes a product of their profession, a lot of the content is redundant, repetitive and recycled over and over to a point that it stops making sense or meets the blind eye.

In this lockdown especially, I felt the need to stay active on social media. A time when no one was able to meet anyone offline and when all physical activities had come to a standstill. I read, wrote, painted, posted pictures, and stories and it’s been fun — and I won’t deny so. But then as the work pressure increased my frequency of online activities dropped. I also noticed a drop and stagnation in my viewers, followers and new acquaintances. I felt dismayed and struggled to post, be active for atleast sometime during the day, but it was difficult.

I looked deeper and analyzed. Is it really worth it? Is the world really waiting for you to post something everyday! NO! Everyone has lives to live. Everyone has their battles to fight. Very importantly everyone has themselves to look after. So, it’s ok! I said to myself. It’s ok to go unnoticed at times, it’s ok to be in your own space at times. It’s ok not to feel the pressure of being active all the time. The world moves, time goes by. And people will see you when you’re ready. People will view, like & follow, and even if they don’t it’s ok!

Thanks to my wife for supporting me and putting sense into me when the mind is foggy and unclear. Lots of love!

Sid