Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Do You Suffer From These Symptoms of Internet Addiction?

Sure, you're not addicted to the internet. You just enjoy surfing the web and checking web sites, don't you.

Check how many of these internet addiction symptoms you have if you dare!

  • You simply must log onto the internet first in the morning, even before you've brushed your teeth.
  • You eat your meals or regularly snack whilst surfing the web.
  • You check your emails every minute or two and start getting nervous if there are no emails to download because it's so soon since you last checked them.
  • You've got one or more instant messenger chat windows open at any given time.
  • Hours pass whilst your surf the web yet it seems like minutes.
  • Your social life takes second place to your mouse and keyboard.
  • Sneaking onto the internet when others aren't looking.
  • Chatting online and surfing the web whilst you're supposed to be doing work.
  • You're computer desk is surrounded by "stuff" because you haven't had the time to clear things up - you've been too busy checking out the next "must see" website.
  • You've never met your circle of friends in person - they're all (or almost all) people you've met on the web.
  • You check your Facebook page every few minutes, just in case you've got a new friend or someone's poked you.
  • Your first thought when you take a movie on your cell phone is "this would make a great YouTube video".
  • You fall asleep at the keyboard and get woken by the bleep of your instant messenger.
  • Your first instinct when you meet someone face to face is to type them a message.
  • The internet is your only form of "escape".

The more of these symptoms of internet addiction that ring true for you, the more likely it is that you're becoming addicted to the internet. Get help while you can!

Find out how to easily deal with your internet addiction and regain your life again. Check out how to overcome your addiction to the internet.

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Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Relaxation Tips for the Internet Addict

Are you an internet addict? Do you compulsively check your inbox 30 times per day? Is your main social communication making comments on forums and blogs? In theory, the internet is supposed to make our life easier and save time. However, increasingly people realise the internet provides countless opportunities to waster time. If we are not careful, several hours can fly by and we have achieved nothing other than watch some old comedy on youtube, and read an endless number of articles on "the top 10 ways to stop wasting time on the internet." Here are some tips to make better use of your internet usage, this will you have a more relaxed attitude to the internet.

1. Have a clear Focus to achieve something.

One problem is that when we switch on the computer, the first thing we like to do is to browse our favourite sites - Newspapers, stumbleupon, webstats, our email e.t.c. We are spending time browsing the internet, but we are not achieving anything useful. In the back of our mind, we know we are doing nothing useful, so we cannot relax. When we achieve are doing something useful, we feel much better and more relaxed. Before opening our laptop we should try a have a clear idea of what productive thing we are going to do.

2. Don't Waste Those 15 minutes slots.

Another problem is when we only have 15 minutes; if we have only a short time span, we feel we don't have time to "do anything". Therefore, we use those 15 minutes for just browsing and checking mail. The problem is that there are quite often several 15 minute slots in the day. Either, we can try to do something productive in 15 minutes, - even if it is to just write half a blog post; alternatively, we could do something else other than use the computer.

3. Do one Thing at a Time.

With tabbed browsing it is quite possible to try and do several things at once. - Write a blog post, upload content, and be surfing other blogs. The problem is that when we do this, it is easy to get distracted and we make mistakes in doing some task. If we do one thing at a time, we can have more focus; if we are more concentrated we will makes less mistakes, and also we will get a greater sense of achievement. Trying to juggle several things is usually stressful, we should try to avoid this.

4. Switch off Internet Access.

It's hard to believe but society used to function perfectly adequately before the advent of the internet. If the internet was unavailable for a day, you might be surprised at how much you might enjoy it.

5. Check Email Once a day.

This might be a bit radical for some people. But, if you check email once a day, you will save alot of time. You can also be focused in replying to all emails. Sometimes we check email, but don't have time to respond properly. We then either forget to reply, or we rush a reply that we later regret.

6. Write Emails only when necessary.

Email can be a way to save time, but it can also create unnecessary communication. Always bear in mind the limitations of email. Words cannot convey expressions. It is easy to send a message that can be misinterpreted. If possible communicate in person or through video conferencing. It makes communication much easier and more natural.

7. Take a Break every Hour.

If we are not careful several hours can fly by, we feel tied to the computer and the unending amount of things we can do / read on the internet. If we can pull ourselves away from internet we will be able to get a wider, more detached perspective.

Listen to: Online Relaxation Music

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Sunday, January 4, 2009

Shop for Post Holiday Gifts

Holiday Season was over but in my case, I am still engrossed on how our holiday celebration went through. It was superb, really. And up until now I am still thinking of giving gifts to those special someone whom I've not given gift on Christmas day. It's not yet too late. After all, it's better late than never, right?

Oh well, too much for holidays as I need to make myself busy from now on. But then again, I am still giving myself a quick time to shop for some gifts. And since it's gonna be a quick shopping I won't have enough time to go to the mall to search for unique gift items. It's just a good thing that while I was browsing the net a while ago, I've stumbled upon shopwiki.com. It has been the ultimate online shopping source of many people all over the world. Aside from a wide array of options to shop for, you could also enjoy great discounts which you may seldom experience at the mall.

As for my choice, I am thinking of giving my newly born godson with a Stroller since my son's stroller was already given to my little boy cousin-inaanak a month ago. I've seen a lot of designs to choose from and I guess I'll go for that boyish look stroller. I am also eyeing on that PSP which I'll be giving as my gift to our youngest brother. He just turned 12 last December 30 and I haven't bought him anything as my present except for a big box of chocolate.

But I promised him that I'll buy him a video game soon. And that's gonna be real soon since I already decided to save for it in the coming days and hopefully purchase it online at shopwiki.

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