JAKARTA: Galuh Ambar Sasi, 38, a university lecturer in Salatiga, Central Java, often leaves her phone untouched during lectures, fieldwork and writing, sometimes long enough that her husband has to email her to get a reply on the messaging app WhatsApp.
Galuh mostly uses email, accessed through her laptop, for communication and responds to WhatsApp messages only from family members or close friends, as she finds her phone distracting.
In a digital age when people rely on their devices for news updates, social connections and entertainment, some are choosing to spend less time on their phones to have a more balanced life, including Galuh.
She mainly uses her phone for practical purposes, such as getting directions from a map application, making digital payments or taking notes.
“I rarely check my phone because I find that when I’m in one place, I’m not just focusing on myself, but also my mind and heart. And that requires focus,” she said.
“It feels strange, doesn’t it, when you’re talking to people and your eyes keep looking away?
Amid various social media platforms, Galuh maintains only an X account, formerly known as Twitter, which she uses to follow current events. She prefers the platform for its text-based format, which she finds quieter than image- and video-heavy platforms.
She once had an Instagram account but deactivated it after feeling uncomfortable with how her life appeared online and how little it reflected who she really was.
“At the peak of that discomfort, I checked my screen time. There was a day when I spent 5 hours and 26 minutes on social media,” she said.
That amount of time, she said, could have been spent with her son, chatting with friends or doing something productive, such as writing.
“So that day, I decided to stop using Instagram,” she said.
Quieter digital life
Galuh’s experience reflects a broader shift in how some people are beginning to engage with digital life.
Researchers have increasingly examined the impact of heavy social media use on mental well-being.
A study titled Social Media Detox and Youth Mental Health, published in JAMA Network Open late in 2025, found that reducing social media use even for a week can help lower symptoms of anxiety, depression and insomnia.
The study followed nearly 300 volunteers who gradually cut their daily social media use to 30 minutes from nearly two hours.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has also raised concerns about excessive device use.
In its report on digital wellbeing released on Dec 4, 2025, the organisation found that individuals who spend more than five hours per day on their devices for personal use are significantly more likely to report poor well-being outcomes compared with those with moderate use of up to three hours per day.
As awareness of these effects grows, a new way of thinking about digital life has gained attention: the joy of missing out, or JOMO.
JOMO describes the decision to step back from the constant flow of updates and notifications and instead engage with digital information more deliberately.
Rather than feeling anxious about what might be happening online, people practising JOMO focus on what is happening in the present moment.
The concept serves as a counter-balance to the more widely known fear of missing out (FOMO), the sense of anxiety or restlessness that often accompanies social media use.
Dr Annisa Utami Seminar, a lecturer at the Department of Communication Science and Community Development at IPB University in Bogor, West Java, said in a recent university podcast that the term JOMO first appeared in 2011.
It gained wider attention around 2015 as smartphones and social media became deeply embedded in daily routines, prompting many people to reconsider how much information they really needed to engage with.
JOMO was also referenced by Sundar Pichai as an antithesis to FOMO when introducing Google’s Digital Wellbeing features at the company’s annual developer conference, Google I/O, in 2018.
“JOMO is about not feeling anxious when you miss what others are experiencing. It is about having autonomy over how we engage with information,” Dr Annisa said.
Presence over notifications
For Galuh, stepping back from her phone has not meant disconnecting from the world. Instead, she says, it has helped her feel more in control of her attention.
Without the constant urge to check notifications, she finds it easier to stay present during conversations, lectures and daily activities.
She also feels less pressure to respond instantly to messages and less anxious about what she might be missing online.
The change, she said, has helped her focus on what matters most in her everyday life, including time with family, work and personal reflection.
Galuh added that she does not mind if her decision to limit digital distractions leads others to see her as cupu, an Indonesian slang term sometimes used to describe someone as socially awkward or withdrawn.
“Everyone has their own way of judging and labelling. It doesn’t really add to or take away from who we really are,” she said.
For her, the point is not to reject technology entirely, but to use it in ways that support rather than overwhelm daily life.
“I find my way of using digital devices works for me. It makes me more present at the moment,” she said.
“I already have enough noise in my head and around me. I don’t need to add more from a screen.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
