How To Manage Social Media FOMO, Jealousy, and Anxiety

Q: What is something that people can do to get out of their “social media funk” or “FOMO”?

1. Connect to what inspires you

Dive into the activities that give you a sense of joy and live in person connection, which we all need. The Dalai Lama said that we can all survive without religion or meditation, but we can’t survive without affection.

2. Look within

Instead of adding more stuff, people or even new places to travel, sometimes the farthest destination we need to go to is to get quiet and still within ourselves. One of my teachers, Loch Kelly, asks “What is here if there is no problem to solve?” What if we were not trying to get, achieve or change anything? But to simply be with what is in this moment – this second?

3. Help others

And never forget the healing power of being of service to others. When we take our attention off of our selves and our personal problems and dedicate ourselves to helping someone else, we gain so much in return.

4. Take a break

At times, you may need to take a social media break such as by being in nature, or to only engage in social media at certain times of the day. You can also self select how you use social media and prioritize your time to connect to the people who inspire you to feel good about yourself and to move closer towards your own aspirations and goals, rather than only promoting themselves.

Q: What is something that people can do to lift themselves out of the social media fog?

All of us need to create space to hit the pause button in our life, even if for brief moments of time. This can be done in many ways, such as meditation practice, going for a walk in nature or some other activity that promotes calm and well being and greater connection to oneself.

1. Take a step back

The social media fog can create a disconnect from the life we are curating online and the actual felt sense and lived experience of our life unmediated by technology. We can start to occupy a virtual landscape where it can be challenging to distinguish reality from fantasy—life without a filter, the beauty and the mess. We know it is time to take a step away, if we are noticing more self judgement, criticism and disconnection.

2. Reconnect

Is there a way that you can slow down to reconnect to the reason why you want to use social media in the first place? For many people, it may be in the drive to connect, to reach others and help to contribute to the world in some way. Sometimes it can also help to reconnect with our original intention for engaging with social media and how that can support us from a larger perspective.

3. Be Authentic

Are there ways to bring more meaning to your online presence in which you feel that you are less likely to bash yourself for taking risks, showing up and perhaps being vulnerable and revealing more of your humanity? Perfection is not a reality, as I see in my office, it is just an idea generated by the thinking mind and what the media portrays as possible—if we just have the right thing to wear, buy, consume etc. However, the reality is that the goal is progress not perfection and one key step in connecting with this is to bring some self compassion to your experience which is imperfect by nature. We are all human and we can relate and connect online from a place that does not hold us accountable to an idealized version of who we are, or how others think we should be. I love when people make fun of themselves or show their eccentricities online, it is such a breath of fresh air and authentic reality!

Originally Posted on Damsel in Dior