JOMO Is the New FOMO—so Fire up the Netflix, and Hygge It Up

Photo: Stocksy/Good Vibrations Images
Finding a balance between being a social butterfly and carving out self-care me-time to unwind at home isn’t so simple. But I'd venture to say I'm in good company in sometimes (okay, often) choosing to stay home rather than hit the town, only to lie in bed and hygge it the heck up. It seems that somewhere along the way, we, as a public, have learned to take the idiom "I'll sleep when I'm dead" with a grain of salt and "go hard or go home" as a direct instruction. The result? FOMO, the fear of missing out, has officially taken a back seat to its inverse, JOMO, the joy of missing out.

The "be present" spirit of this term is nothing new (in fact, trend-watchers were onto in back in 2013, Glamour reports)—but the 21st-century version of it is geared toward the current too-plugged-in world. "Missing an email could be a fireable offense, and deleting Bumble could mean you don’t go on a date for another three months," The New York Times notes. "Like it or not, we need our technology devices; we just don’t need them as much as we think we do. JOMO is about finding that balance." And few tech giants are feeding into the interest in balance: Google, with its digital well-being initiative and Apple's forthcoming software update, both of which aim to curb addictive social media habits that can lead to fear of missing out.

Stay home AND go to bed early ??? GOALS??? www.kaylaitsines.com/app

A post shared by KAYLA ITSINES (@kayla_itsines) on

But a huge unplugging aspect of JOMO has nothing to do with tech. As Kayla Itsines' recent Instagram so perfectly puts it, what was once a series of childhood punishments is now straight-up goals: an early bedtime, a night at home, and definitely no parties. See, adults need boundaries too, and after busy days hustling at work (and sometimes a side gig), staying in and socially disconnecting from the outside world by washing off your makeup, firing up Netflix, and gobbling down a bowl of (healthy!) popcorn is pretty much the crème de la crème. Now when a friend cancels plans—something that used to feel undeniably shitty—it feels like winning the lottery.

So the next time you crave getting cozy by turning yourself into a full-on human burrito with every blanket you own, do it. In today's crazy world, where everything is always go-go-go, detoxing from people and technology might just be the best way to spend your time.

Here are some affordable self-care products you can buy at Walmart. Or, find out four self-care practices busy runners can use to speed recovery.

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