FOMO – the fear of missing out can be a big reason as to why people are getting disturbed sleep.
FOMO isn’t only the fear of missing out on social events due to being a social butterfly but also a feeling of you can’t miss work events as it’s linked to work so you feel you must attend.
There is also the more subtle fear of missing out such as not wanting to miss out on an episode of a programme being watched or thinking you need to finish a film as you can’t leave it half watched or wanting to read more of your book or scroll a bit more on social media or messaging friends with different sleep patterns and thinking you cannot miss out on ‘conversation’.
Also we take our phone to bed so to say, as we may be concerned that we miss out on notifications or feel that we have to always be available for work and/or family.
What to Ask Your Client
- What do you think you are missing out on?
- Can you leave earlier?
- Do you have to stay to the end?
- Can you go to less events?
- Can you prioritise sleep over going out and see the value of going to bed?
- What is the story you are telling yourself about sleep?
- Think about how long something is going to take and adjust accordingly to a boundary of bedtime.
- What ways can you boundary your availability with regards to work notifications?