I hate feeling like I’m missing out. This feeling is unhelpful because there’s no way I can do everything and be at every event. But somehow it persists. 

Originally I thought that an unstructured life leads to more FOMO, because the gaps and decisions about what to do next give time to wonder what I’m missing out on. However, I think this misses some of the nuance.

For me at least, the core feeling of missing out is triggered when I feel present, but not a part of, an activity that I want to participate in. The classic example of this is working out of a cafe on a Saturday. Everyone else is enjoying their weekend, but here I am, working. 

I tested this hunch last weekend by working out of my Wework office. I had drastically less FOMO and got vastly more done. The few other people crazy enough to be here on a Saturday were also working hard, and I surprised myself by staying the entire day.

FOMO is one of the worst feelings because it can give a good activity a sour taste, making life dramatically less satisfying. If you have your own methods for avoiding FOMO, I’d love to hear from you.