JOMO to Improve Your Writing

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for Southern Writers Magazine

JOMO stands for “Joy of Missing Out.” It means putting down your devices and rediscovering the joy of just being in the moment. Clearly, that can aid any author in sparking creativity by watching the world around you. It’s the opposite of being plugged in FOMO “Fear of Missing Out." which means being constantly connected and watching the world thorough all your devices. In author speak it's the easiest way to fall down "Alice's" rabbit hole of technology. If you have a crick in your neck you probably are doing FOMO instead of JOMO which may be the reason you may have lost your writing mojo.

Heads up. A new app MILK could help you and reward you for staying off your phone. “Milk the Moment” is to help you break from your electronics, especially your phone. It helps you live in the moment. Per the information on the MILK website, “Courtney ``Coko`` Eason is the Founder and CEO of Milk The Moment. Coko worked in the music and entertainment industry for many years. While hosting her own concerts, showcases and live events she noticed that the audience was becoming less and less engaged due to cell phone interruption. People were too busy scrolling, texting, snapping, taking selfies or recording the entire performance instead of being present and living in the moment. Coko was inspired to create the MILK App in order to encourage the world to return to real life connections and interactions. Her mission is to start a movement where people become more present by disconnecting from digital devices and reconnecting with one another.”

While this is not an endorsement for the app, it’s a reminder in the value of unplugging in order to actually write. If you never have time to write because you’re constantly plugged in, just put it in another room. If you use the MILK app, you could rack up some rewards.

So, enjoy what you are doing in the present. Write. Stop being a slave to your electronics. Stop being on social media, constantly, checking out other people’s lives, unplug daily to increase your productivity.

One pivotal quote throughout the 2018 "Christopher Robin" movie, the character, Winnie the Pooh says to Christopher Robin, "Doing nothing often leads to the very best kind of something." That Pooh bear knows a thing or two about JOMO. How do you find your JOMO?