FOMO is the anxiety of missing something more interesting than what we're currently doing — the worry that something exciting is happening elsewhere while we're occupied with our own lives. It's a social disorder: the anxiety of choosing between equally appealing events, and an addiction and a phobia people may have without realising it. FOMO invalidates the experience we're having because we're fixated on experiences we're not having — and fearing it more only makes us miss out more.

Symptoms

Texting at a red light; checking Twitter over coffee with a friend; answering calls during family dinner; checking social networks while sitting with a friend at a café.

Why it happens

A strong urge to stay constantly connected, discomfort with being alone, the sting of seeing friends' party photos, and a craving for the social acceptance that many contacts seem to signal — all rooted in an extreme dependence on external approval. Social media fuels it: what's bad for us individually is good for the platforms, which thrive on people checking in to see what's happening in their absence. People exaggerate online to project their best image, so what FOMO sufferers envy “isn't even real.”

Becoming FOMO-free

• Stop worrying about what others are doing
• Stop stressing over other things you could be doing
• Don't worry about friends who haven't accepted a request
• Take time away from social media for work, home and real relationships
• Tell your network when you're busy, so absences read as prioritisation, not a slight

Turn the fear inward: figure out what you'd most like to do independent of others, focus on your own bucket list rather than someone else's, and work toward your own Purpose of Life.