By Mark Lloyd, Adman

For those of us living in big cities, the overwhelming fear of missing out - shortened to FOMO by those who without the time for full words - has become almost unbearably prevalent in the modern age.

It’s not that you’d rather be scone-sharing and nicking the quaint, little jar the jam comes in or ‘Jagerbombing’ yourself into a stupor, but the nature of FOMO is such that your own decisions are questioned.Quite plainly, the main reason for this is the endless social networking newsfeeds, showing how people you no longer associate with spend their Saturday afternoons eating expensive scones or set up ‘Jager trains’ whilst you eat Doritos in your pants watching House of Cards.

As human beings, we like to have our life choices - from little ones like what trainers to buy, to the bigger stuff like career, where you live or whether to have children or not - reaffirmed by those close to us and wider society. But by being bombarded with the highlight reels of people you went to school with, these choices are consistently undermined. We are reminded that by choosing one path in life, we implicitly reject countless others. A fact that is capable of triggering crippling insecurity and self-doubt.

Much has been written about becoming conscious of this and finding ways to counteract the effects - digital detoxing or going to somewhere like Cambodia to ‘find yourself’ like that’s actually a thing.

But for those who live a happy life in a big city, the cause and effect of FOMO has gone beyond the filter-ous world of Instagram.

With demand for new and interesting activities sky-rocketing in London, novelty and hype have become a kind of pseudo-currency that pop-up restaurants and click-bait media outlets trade in, all fuelled by the dependable FOMO felt by city-dwellers.

The effect of this is a constant stream of ‘Things Not To Miss’ and ‘Last Chances To See’ spilling onto the streets of London. Our environment becomes like a real world BuzzFeed article - an instantly gratifying, completely disposable distraction from our own interests and self-development.

As competition hots up and areas of novelty run dry, we’re collectively getting quite creative with ‘new things to do in London this week’, with everyday activities now available to us in the ‘pop-up’ culture format. Its as if our entire existence is slowly being cannibalised by Time Out and YPlan, where you can’t even eat cereal or do laundry without the fear that, someone, somewhere (quite close by), is doing this in a much more interesting way. One worthy of a Facebook thumbs up from mum or a retweet from that bloke you worked with at Asda in 2006.

So its about time we tried to take the power back.

I’m not suggesting we march down to Boxpark and start tearing the place apart, or even that we stop reading about what’s going on at Southbank this weekend, but more that we try and find a balance between going to owl cafes or vintage fairs and taking time to find your own version of the city.

Without becoming a complete hermit, the occasional bout of FOMO is quite unavoidable. But there are some things you can do break away from the cycle of cocktails in jam jars and new burger joints. One thing that’s worked for me recently: massive Sunday runs.

The kind where its just you, the city streets and the odd near-miss with oncoming traffic.

Presuming you haven’t spent the Saturday night at ‘London’s craziest new cocktail bar’ tasting the whole menu - even the ones with chicken bones and whale serum in - resulting
in a hangover only a Brick Lane curry can wrangle in, then a mid-afternoon Sunday run is the perfect way to reconnect with London in a way unique unto you.

What you’ll soon find are hidden gems you never knew existed. Maybe a small park away from crowds, or an interesting shop on a local backstreet or just a sense of community you never managed to quite get from Borough Market.

Here’s five quick tips on getting the most from Sunday Runs:

1. Stay fresh: mix up the route as much as possible. Get to know your local streets but make sure you’re always on the hunt to discover something new.

2. Soundtrack: nothing quite keeps one foot charging in front of the other quite like a well-curated playlist. Keep away from the heavy beats and high tempo music, mind. It’ll send your heart rate through the roof, meaning you’ll find it much tougher to get further than your local chicken shop.

3. Head for water: there’s something about a great expanse of h2o that captures the imagination, heightens your appreciated for the city and distracts from the feeling of your leg about to fall off.

4. Take a friend along: whilst its good to discover your own ‘secret’ bits of London, having a run buddy can increase motivation. Get a run mapped out and you’ll be more likely to stick to the plan if you have someone relying on you.

5. Take some snaps: take a camera with you, even if its just a phone. make a log of things you’ve found on your Sunday Runs. It’ll keep you wanting more and provide small respites on the way. Maybe even post a couple online and instil a bit of FOMO in those who decided to tick off Time Out’s Top Ten instead.

It’s far too easy for us to get lost in the day-to-day, squeezing in a social life around everything else essential to our existence. Online lists and apps telling us what new pop-up is ‘unmissable’ that weekend are a quick and easy way to supplement this - and occasionally will throw out genuinely interesting activities - but taking time out to discover your own piece of this fantastic city, get closer to your local area and escape the FOMO cycle is often the most unmissable experience of them all.

Mark