Balance. It’s something you’ll see me write about a lot on here. It’s something you’ll hear me talk about a lot. I have found that since I started working from home and working online, finding that balance has been hard.

I realized at one point, that I was spending all of my free time online. I stopped reading, stopped having people over for dinner, stopped getting involved in activities outside of my online world and felt like I stopped being human. When I started feeling like I didn’t want to ever leave the house, I knew something needed to change.

Like I said, you’ll see me write about balance a lot. I have a series of articles planned on the topic, but for now, let me ask you one question: Do you have a life outside of your online world?

I found this list of “20 Signs You’re Online Too Much” on a forum a couple of years ago. Check it out and see if you can relate:

  1. You keep begging your friends to get an account so “you can hang out.”
  2. You know more about your online friends’ daily routines than you do your own spouses’.
  3. You would rather tell people that your bloodshot eyes are from partying too much than the truth (you were online all night).
  4. You start using Internet memes in real life, “John for the win!”
  5. You tilt your head 90 degrees to smile.
  6. You have monitor “tan”.
  7. Your spouse/parents have to IM you for dinner.
  8. When you find yourself engaged to someone you’ve never actually met; except through e-mail.
  9. You ask a friend, “What’s that big shiny thing?” He says, “It’s the sun.”
  10. Three words: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
  11. You look online to see if it’s raining outside.
  12. When you are reading something printed, you wish you could use a search function to get to the point.
  13. You type messages to people while you are on the phone with them at the same time.
  14. You set your kitchen on fire while cooking dinner because you wanted to check your mail and while there you “just wanted to see who was online”
  15. You look at an annoying person off-line & wish you had your ignore button handy.
  16. You bring a bag lunch & a cooler to the computer.
  17. You get up at 2am to go to the bathroom but turn on the computer instead.
  18. You dream in “text”.
  19. You go into withdrawals during dinner.
  20. You actually enjoy the fact that you are addicted.