1. Recognize that you have an addiction. Make a commitment to change your life.
2. Stop lying to yourself. You tell yourself you are sitting down to "check my email and calendar" and then promise yourself what you really want, which is to "maybe do one or two things that I "need" to take care of". Clearly, if you are staying up until 2 a.m., you didn't really "need" to do all those those things. You are lying and making excuses to give yourself a chance to feed your addiction.
3. Recognize the difference between a 'want' and a 'need'. What do you really NEED to get done? What will happen if it does not get done?
4. Write a card describing how excessive computer use is affecting your life. Headaches. Cranky. Sleep deprived. Other things not getting done. Tape it to you monitor, right at the top, so it hangs down a little over the screen. Make a habit of reading it each and every time you sit down to the computer.
5. Quit sending so many emails. The more emails you send, the more responses you get, and the more time you spend answering them.
6. Consider switching to a cell phone which will support email and calendar software. If you can do that email and calendar on the phone, then you no longer have that excuse to sit down to the computer.
7. Consider switching to a paper calendar that hangs on the wall. If your calendar is on the wall, there's no need to log on at all in order to view it.
8. Set aside a time when you ARE allowed to spend hours on the computer. Remind yourself when you sit down at the computer that your scheduled time for web surfing is Saturday at 1 p.m, or whatever time you decide on, and that this session is ONLY for email and calendar. Set limits on how long email should take. If you aren't done in 15 minutes, then save it for tomorrow.
9. Consider checking email only every OTHER day, so that you are at least getting sleep every other day.
10. Start using the phone to actually call the people you really care about, and cut back on your email use.
11. Consider taking a break from FaceBook, if you are using it.
12. Reassess your lifestyle. Are you trying to do to much? Take a hard look at all that you do in a day, and find three things that you can get rid of. Are too involved with your electronics.
13. Consider a new rule that ALL electronics, TV's, computers, ipod's, video games, ALL of them, are turned off by 9 p.m.
14. Buy a cheap electrical timer, and set it to turn off every night at 9 p.m. Make a rule for yourself that you will log off and shut down your computer by 9 p.m. If you fail to follow your rule, the computer will shut itself off while you are still logged in.
15. Get on the internet and do some research on computer addiction, and get further tips on managing your addiction. Consider seeing a counselor, or possibly even a psychiatrist, to see if there is something bigger going on in your life. It is possible that you are coping with depression or using the computer to help you to avoid thinking about something that you don't want to deal with.
16. Set up another user on your computer, one that has access to an email client like OUTLOOK or MOZILLA THUNDERBIRD, and one that DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO INTERNET EXPLORER. When you log in to the computer at night, login with this user id, and then you will not be able to get to the web in order to browse.
Best Wishes and Good Luck!!