While many people often worry about feeling FOMO, Google’s executive productivity advisor Laura Mae Martin is encouraging more people to feel JOMO – the joy of missing out.
“The idea is that sometimes we’re actually happier when we miss that email, text, podcast, or program we didn’t want to watch,” Martin said in her book, Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity . and well-being”.
For Martin, whose job it is to help Google’s top leaders achieve peak productivity, she began practicing JOMO through a weekly tradition that first began with her husband.
Every Tuesday, they put their devices away for the night and instead do other activities and hobbies like board games and spending time outside.
“Those Tuesdays ended up being some of our favorite nights,” she said.
Martin said those unplugged hours are crucial to recharging your brain, which ultimately leads to more productivity in the long run. And that mental “quiet time” is getting shorter and shorter.
According to DataReportal’s 2024 Global Digital Report, an annual publication on worldwide digital trends, US internet users spend an average of 7 hours and 3 minutes per day on each device. Increased screen time has also been linked to possible vision impairment and poorer mental health.
Martin’s personal success with the challenge inspired him to bring the tradition to the Google offices. However, getting the tech bros to stay away from their tech—even for just one night—required a strategic introduction.
“I had to create the Swiss cheese and decided to focus on a manageable goal, like turning off the phone for a few hours,” she said.
Tuesday was also another calculated choice. Martin said she intentionally called her challenge with quick alternation and clear direction.
“Pick one night a week is much less powerful than No tech Tuesday“It’s attractive,” she said. it gives direction, rhythm and structure.”
Finally, Martin took up the challenge in January, as starting a new initiative can “feel more natural” at the beginning of the year than in a random month. She said people are “ready to make a bigger difference because it’s the start of something new.”
And Googlers were very willing. For the past five years, Martin said more than 2,500 people have accepted the challenge each year.
“Almost all the feedback I hear is that it’s hard at first — but it’s worth it in the end,” she said.
Participants reported sleeping much better at night, finding themselves more energetic the next day, and having time for creative hobbies as well as “richer human connections that wouldn’t have happened when technology was present.”
Others said they were surprised by the number of times they checked their phones and how much their families loved them and even joined in on their unplugged evenings, Martin wrote.
“Suddenly my kids love it. I realized the main reason they’re on their devices in the evening is because I’m on mine,” said one participant, according to Martin. “I sat down and did a puzzle with my 13-year-old son and we had a meaningful conversation, which can be rare these days.”
She wrote that another participant said they were able to solve a work issue because of the challenge. After their no-tech Tuesday alarm went off, they stopped the problem instead of continuing to spend hours on it like they normally would.
“I woke up Wednesday morning and thought about the best solution,” they said, according to Google counsel. “I’m convinced it was because I let my brain rest.”
At the end of the challenge, Martin said that 97.2% of participants reported that they felt that technology-free Tuesdays in some way positively affected their work performance and/or stress levels, and 92% said they planned to continue the challenge.
“Some participants have been doing the challenge for five years and have continued every Tuesday night since I first held it,” Martin said.
If a full evening digital detox sounds like too much of a commitment, Martin suggests taking smaller steps, such as doing one thing before checking your phone in the morning or finding short periods of time without your phone. like during a walk or during lunch.
“Digital detoxing—even just that one evening each week—creates the mental space we need to thrive in our work and our lives,” she said.