Avoid Internet Addiction: Limit Your Time Online

Avoid Internet Addiction: The Internet age has brought so many advantages to daily living. Life has undoubtedly become more convenient and fast-paced: letters that used to take weeks or months to deliver are now sent in a single second thanks to the email service. Information is right at your fingertips: you can travel the world without having to leave the confines of your room.

As long as you have an Internet connection, you will be able to research anything: from academic subjects to simple queries to restaurant reviews to Hollywood gossip. The Internet has been such an amazing resource that it has become not only a single aspect of life but a lifestyle on its own. There are people who have to be online 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Being online is as important to them as breathing.

The development of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. has added to the pressure of having to be online as often as one can. Individuals – both young and old alike and regardless of race and stature – have acquired personal accounts on these social media platforms and they have made it a part of their daily existence to always go online in order to check what’s going on in the cyber world.

They keep track of their friends and family members, even colleagues and mere acquaintances, through social media. But some people have gone past the normal hours of being online. There are people who only go offline when it’s time for a bathroom break or for sleep. There are individuals who still stay online during their mealtimes. This can prove hazardous not only to one’s well-being but also to his or her real social life. Below are some reasons why you should limit your time online.

What Do You Mean By Internet Addiction

Spending too much time online can lead to dangerous Internet addiction. And like any addiction, this can have fatal effects on one’s physical, mental, and emotional health. The inability to detach oneself from the world wide web can have serious effects on one’s life. Internet addiction can affect the way a person consumes his or her meals in a day, therefore posing a lot of health risks.

How internet addiction affecting real-life

This addiction can also affect real-life relationships—this is explained further below. And similar to any other addiction, being glued to the Internet is something that needs to be cured. It is something that an Internet addict will need to work on. And the longer they stay addicted to the internet, the more difficult it is to recover.

Reduced Productivity

People who stay online all the time for reasons other than completion of work will eventually face a problem with productivity. The amount of time a person should be spending doing his job is now utilized as Internet time. This leads to a worker’s failure to complete his job. This will lead not only to Internet addiction but also to an unfortunate case of unemployment.

Lack of Focus

There are several things in a person’s daily routine that he must pay attention to. From hygiene to nutrition to getting rest and relaxation, an individual must focus on getting his daily needs met in order to be in good health. Some other priorities include paying one’s bills, completing house chores, keeping appointments, etc. When a person is spending too much time online, he neglects these things and this can have disastrous consequences.

Affected Relationships

Perhaps one of the most compelling reasons for a person to cut back on his Internet usage is the loss of quality time with loved ones. Real relationships are affected in such a way that Internet addicts would rather spend time conversing and interacting with netizens. They fail to nurture the relationships they have – be it family or friends or romantic partners – because they are too busy keeping track of people on Facebook or reading celebrity tweets on Twitter.

They would rather sit at home and go online instead of going outside and actually having dinner and spending some quality time with their loved ones. Keeping up this kind of practice will eventually lead to breakups and separations.

Internet addiction can create so much irreparable damage to one’s life. You must act now before it is too late.

Also Read: Digital Detox: Why it is necessary?