"So many people,
 so little time!"

Knowing who's right for you (and who's not!)

During your first few days on a dating website, you might feel like a kid in a candy store. You enter your search criteria such as 'age' and 'location', and check the box that says "photo profiles only"..and out pops a list of matching dates for you. With every click they get more attractive, sexy, funny and witty. And there you are, wondering, 'Why didn't I meet them before?"

Before you start typing out messages, think about how much time you can reasonably devote to dating every day?

You might be tempted to stay up late, getting to know as many people as possible. But that, dear virtual dater, is a sure-shot recipe for burnout. If you're messaging too many people back and forth, you might notice a certain sameness that starts to creep into your messages. You tend to generalize, you forget to answer questions, you forget to ask the right questions, and you might mistake someone for somebody else!

What's worse is that a few people who are genuinely interested might 'slip through the cracks' and you might not notice till it's too late. Ouch!

You don't want to get into the "cyber dating rut" - spending too much time chatting or emailing each other, instead of getting to know the 'real person' by spending time offline.

So what can you do to guard against these 'newbie' mistakes?

First, take it easy. You don't want to get married TODAY, do you?

Use your time wisely and judiciously. More profiles should lead to better judgment, not more confusion.

Budget your time, money and energy. You don't want to show up half-asleep at work. Nor do you want to blow up an entire paycheck on casual dating. 

Most people will ask you to be very flexible while looking for a date. My advice is just the opposite. We all know we're capable of being flexible, but only up to a point. If you get into a relationship with someone you can't love or respect, that relationship is likely to fall apart soon.