I’ve been rereading It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried. The authors talk about bringing a sense of calm to their business, Basecamp, instead of the craziness that is associated with most businesses. Many of the principles discussed in the book have implications for school operations as well.
One of the chapters introduces the idea of JOMO, or the Joy of Missing Out. You may be familiar with its distant cousin, FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out. This is the attitude that keeps people constantly checking email or returning to social media throughout the day. For fear of missing something important, people try to stay constantly connected which impacts how they work. Fried and Hansson discuss their push to get people to experience JOMO. They want employees to not be directly tied to every little detail that happens in their business every day. They want people to be able to go ahead and do their important work without needing to be updated or clued in on everything else that all other employees are doing at the time.
JOMO is a philosophy in which you don’t feel the need to constantly worry about what others are doing or sharing. You can feel comfortable within yourself to do your own thing without worrying about what everyone else is doing. You can disconnect from your email after school hours and not feel like you are missing something.
As an administrator this year, I’m going to try to promote the idea of JOMO. I’ll try to disconnect after I walk out of the office at the end of the day. I’ll schedule emails to be sent during school hours rather than after hours. I’ll encourage teachers to step away from school related business for their own sanity.
The past year and a half has seen us lean into constant connectedness and a lack of distinguishing between work and home. It was nearly impossible to differentiate.
Let’s embrace JOMO this year. Who’s with me?!
Rich