Seven Signs You Might Be Too Plugged In.

Do you ever wonder if maybe you’re relying on the internet and its array of addicting toys and tools a little too much? I sure do. Here are ten signs that you might need to unplug:

You see the world through tweet-covered glasses. Ever been out to dinner with your husband and had to fight the urge to pull out your phone and tweet something important like, “Thinking of feeding the waitress my dinner. She is scary skinny.” No? Me neither.

Your google reader  regularly tells you your unread items number in the hundreds. Mine currently says I have more than a thousand posts to read. Now, I love you all. And I want to keep up to date with each and every blogger who visits me (and many who have never heard of me). But, people? This is out of control.

You want to hashtag everything. Everyone knows that twitter hashtags can make the difference between a mediocre tweet and a super funny one. So it’s no wonder that you might want to extend that form of prose to your facebook status updates. But when you start signing birthday cards, “damn, you’re getting old. #dontworryjustkidding” you might have a problem.

You  spend gorgeous summer evenings and beautiful weekend afternoons on the couch with your laptop. I know I was  guilty of this one. Until I figured out that I could take my laptop outside and still get a signal. A firefly show and an active twitter stream? Yes, please.

You have ever excused yourself to go to the restroom so you could check your twitter/facebook/gmail. I’ve been known to just “sneak a peek” while at the grocery store, in the mall—even while in the doctor’s office. But if you find yourself excusing yourself from children’s birthday parties or family dinners, you’ve crossed the line (I haven’t yet).

You know more about what’s going on in the lives of your online friends than with your real life buds. When this starts to happen? It’s time to use your phone to make actual calls, people.

When without internet access, you start to feel twitchy. I’ve never been addicted to drugs, but I think internet withdrawal has some similarities. I know when I couldn’t figure out how to get access while at BlogHer, I started to get a little bug-eyed. And the sense of relief when I finally saw those little bars pop up? Was a little crazy.

You know, I was going to make this a top ten list. But I think I’ve made myself sound pathetic enough, so I’m going to go call my mom instead. While I’m gone, tell me how you know you’re spending too much time online.

Tagged as: signs you need to step away from the computer, top ten list