Digital detox the way to escape from FOMO

A column I wrote for The Examiner about our ever-increasing digital dependence.

IN A battle against society's technological overload, a new trend has emerged - the digital detox. Designed to help those suffering from some form of connectivity compulsion, tech-free holidays aim to remind us that, without a WiFi connection, the world will keep on spinning.

While some may scoff at the idea of parting with their device of choice, frazzled by the thought of eating lunch without documenting it online, it's hard to deny our ever-increasing digital dependence.

Last year, while holidaying in New York, I embarked on my first day of sightseeing drunk on a cocktail of jet lag and joy. It was only when I reached Times Square (photo opportunity number one), that I realised my phone was dead.

The panic was palpable. Had common sense come to the party, I would've thought to charge it. But the jet lag had smothered my logic. How would I find my way without Google? And, sans a Facebook status update, would my friends even believe me when I told them I was there?

During an interview with ABC News in December, psychologist Jocelyn Brewer said that when people overused technology and were constantly connected, it could create a fear of missing out (FOMO). But with such a multitude of fantastic things happening online, Ms Brewer said, it was impossible for us to keep up. As exciting as constant connectivity may seem, it can create a burnout within our brain, adversely affecting our health and our wellbeing.

Eleven hours after discovering my dormant mobile in the bottom of my bag, I made it back to my hotel, having embraced my forced digital-disjunction as best I possibly could. With no apps to guide me, I had relied on the directions of native New Yorkers, most memorably a sassy woman with an afro, wearing crimson, heart-shaped glasses.

Sure, my heart broke a little at the missed opportunity to "check-in" at the New York Public Library, but what surprised me most of all was an overwhelming sense of relief. I didn't have any photos and, as far as Facebook was concerned, I was probably in a coma.

But devoid of the distraction of a vibrating, flashing handset, I was completely free.

It's this sense of liberation that more and more tech-users are eagerly hunting - and most probably googling - for. Flocking to digital detoxes in droves, determined to look away from their screens just long enough to see the light. To remember the person they were before their tweets, snapchats and hashtags somehow came to define them.

From hotels that offer WiFi-free "blackout" zones, to wilderness retreats in the depths of the Indian jungle, the tourism industry now offers a wide range of options to those wanting to log off and disconnect.

And though some might remain reluctant to logging off, at peace with their hashtagged, filtered and "liked" version of reality, I reckon there's a lot we can learn from switching off and looking up.

As Oscar Wilde once said, "life's too important to be taken seriously"; don't waste yours online.

The story was first published in The Examiner, 2016.