In college, one of the worst things to experience is FOMO. For those who don’t know, FOMO is short for fear of missing out, and essentially every college kid goes through this not just once but multiple times in college. It is a hard thing not to have Fomo in college because every day is something different. Weekends are filled with tailgating and bar crawls with friends along with weekdays consisting of endless drink deals at different bars. You never want to miss any of this because it is better than just sitting at home either doing nothing or homework. Sometimes though, exams or classes cause this to happen and it can be annoying to go through.
Missing a Thursday night out in college is the worst, I mean it’s the craziest night of the week because everyone has been cooped up in their houses or dorms and are ready to just let loose and have fun. I’m sure you can agree to this, waking up on a Thursday morning is always the best, knowing that all you have to do is make it through the day and then you can start drinking as soon as class is over.
In the early years of college, missing just one party or even a tailgate seems like the end of the world. Trust me, I get it, missing any sort of hangout with your friends feels awful. Your friends come home drunk after a night having a good time, talking about the girls they flirted with, the people they saw, or even the funny moments they experienced together. All of it seems like you are missing everything that college has to offer, but in reality, you’re just missing yet another night out in college and there are so many more.
Here are three tips you can live by in order to survive FOMO:
#1 Limit social media use:
If you are trying to avoid having FOMO, then going on any sort of social media is the worst thing you can do, especially snapchat. If you have to stay in and study, or you have class early the next morning, then just avoid using snapchat because the second you see a video or picture of your friends out having fun, the inner hell of FOMO will begin. Instead, for the night, just avoid any use of social media and do something else.
#2 Distract yourself:
Distracting yourself from the hype of going out is simple. Activities such as watching a movie or tv show, going to the gym, organizing your room etc are all things you can do to distract yourself and avoid picking up your phone. Now I know it is easier than it sounds, but once you’re able to control the urge to care about what is happening at the bar or party, then it’ll be so much easier and you won’t care about missing a night out here and there.
#3 Develop a balance
Balancing going out and focusing on school is super important in college. Having this is healthy and it can give you a moment to reset your social battery sometimes. Now this might sound cliche but it’s honestly a good way to look at the social scene in college. To put it into perspective, there are 16 weeks in a college semester. Weekends consist of thursday-saturday night, which is 48 nights a semester. Multiply that by two and it is 96 nights in a school year, and then over the course of four years, there are 384 days that are dedicated to going out. That is over one full year of being at a bar, tailgating, or party. So I think having times where you don’t go out or are unable to isn’t the end of the world.
Like I said, at the end of the day it is just missing a few hours where your friends are all together having fun, but once the night ends and a new day begins, you won’t feel so bad once it is over and you can join your friends the next time.