What are you looking for?

Oftentimes, people make the mistake of thinking that they are ready for a serious relationship when in fact they aren’t.

Their full-time schedules and where they are currently at in life in terms of responsibilities simply won’t permit them the time to spend on nurturing a new relationship that could lead to something serious.

You have to really think about what you are looking for before trying your hand at online dating.

If your full-time schedule simply doesn’t permit you the time to invest in pursuing a serious relationship with someone, this isn’t the time to venture into online dating.

On the other hand, if all you are looking for is a casual relationship, you can get away with venturing into online dating with a full-time schedule.

Be diligent in how you go about selecting dating sites or apps to use.

There are certain dating sites and apps that are better suited for casual relationships than others.

All you really need to do is a little research and you should have no trouble finding one that serves your needs.

A casual relationship is flexible.

This means that you won’t have to worry about juggling that relationship with a full-time schedule.

A casual relationship has no commitment.

You can come and go as you please.

There is no need to communicate regularly.

The both of you have an understanding.

As long as they understand how often they can expect to be intimate with you, you should have no trouble finding someone that you can have casual relations with for an extended period of time.

Now, if you are looking for a serious relationship, things get trickier.

You have to do a real assessment of your full-time schedule and how much free time you have.

Not only that, you also have to do an honest assessment of how you feel physically and psychologically when indeed you do get some free time from your busy full-time schedule.

Are you mentally and physically exhausted all the time?

If you are, you absolutely need to hold back on online dating at the moment.

There is no point in getting involved in online dating when you know that you will both be mentally and physically exhausted whenever you chat with or meet up with someone of interest from a dating site.

Even if you tell yourself that you are able to tough it up and be present, you won’t be able to get away with that for long.

Your match will eventually perceive how mentally and physically tired you are during conversations or on dates and they will stop engaging with you.

There are too many other dating options on the dating site for them to expend the time and energy on someone who isn’t fully present.

You must be fully present in these conversations and on these dates, both mentally and physically, if you decide to plunge into online dating.

Take some time for now to work on getting yourself to a place where you aren’t mentally and physically exhausted by the time your busy day is done.

This requires that you get more sleep and start exercising.

Getting more sleep reduces your caloric needs by lowering your metabolic rate.

Aim to get at least 8 hours of sleep when you go to bed at night.

Research has shown that 8 hours of sleep a day saves as much as 35 percent of your energy.

Waking up with that amount of extra energy helps to keep you refreshed and alert throughout the cause of your day.

If your full-time schedule doesn’t allow those many hours of sleep, find opportune moments during your day, perhaps during a break or your lunchtime, to get some sleep.

Always set your alarm beforehand.

The more sleep you get, the better, even if you have to steal minutes of it at a time during your busy day.

Regular exercise gets your heart rate up and the blood flowing.

It releases endorphins that raises your energy level.

Once you have consistently gotten more sleep and exercise for a while and noticed that you are a lot more energized after your busy day, you are in a much better position to determine whether you should start online dating.

Figure out when you have the most free time during the course of a week.

If you are able to isolate several hours during the week that you have free time, signing up on an online dating site to find a serious relationship is lot more sensible.

You need to be honest with your matches early on.

Once you have had a few productive message exchanges, let them know what your schedule is like.

The sooner you do this, the sooner you know whether they are able to handle that schedule.

This way, you don’t spend weeks on end talking to a match who ultimately chooses to stop talking to you after learning that you have only a certain amount of free time during the week to get together.

The earlier you make them aware keeps you from developing too strong of an emotional bond with them, which would make it that much harder for you to accept a rejection if they were to tell you that they would much rather chat with someone who has more free time.

Though you may lose some good matches, be vigilant.

You will find matches that are compatible with your schedule.

Some of them will even have full-time schedules of their own and would be able to relate to you a lot better.