Time-wasting is not just an irritating habit. It is an affliction that ruins millions of lives and often requires therapy and other treatment for sufferers, psychologists have warned.

According to new research, one person in five now suffers from the problem so badly that their careers, relationships and health are threatened. Many researchers blame computers and mobile phones for providing too many distractions for people.

The art of doing nothing at all (at least nothing productive) has taken a new form thanks to our present-day gadgets, the Internet and our insatiable appetite for the latest news and information.

If you spend many hours in front of your computer screen and yet struggle to accomplish your daily tasks because you keep running out of time, you may have caught the disease already.

My good friend Dave recently blogged about his inability to remain offline and unplugged for more than a few minutes. I quickly chimed in and exposed my own Internet-dependency problems. I think this 2 seemingly unrelated issues (i.e. always-online obsession and chronic procrastination) are actually interrelated. Most of us have this urge, this inexplicable desire, of being online and a few clicks away 24/7. I believe therein lies the problem.

Is your constant Twittering consuming too much of your time?

Source: Stepcase Lifehack

You are online. You feel relieved. Now what? What are you doing during your recurrent Internet expeditions? Are you maximizing your time in front of the computer to achieve meaningful, constructive goals? Are you sure you are not Facebooking too much?

Lately, I’ve realized I usually spend most of my online time doing nothing relevant. Frequently, I just browse, read, watch videos, play chess, read, browse, watch some more videos, read, read, read, read, read… You could argue all that reading is a good thing. However, I focus exclusively on RSS feeds (e.g. technology, finance, writing and blogging) and the traditional news sources. Evidently, there’s hardly anything you could consider productive work from this list (although this can easily be attributed to the fact that I’m not taking classes during summer and I’ve found myself with lots of free time after work).

This illness could affect anyone. Even someone like Chris Guillebeau is not impervious to it (and the occasional kick in the behind is oftentimes required in order to rectify the situation):

In my case, some days I am hopelessly distracted. The Gmail window is open, and I’m eagerly watching for any sign of the next message. There it is! Oh… it’s just a notice from a mailing list. Then I go over to CNN.com, which in many ways is worse than being completely uninformed, to spend more minutes reading the latest non-news.

This is called WASTING PRECIOUS TIME. I could be doing all kinds of productive stuff like writing and planning my world takeover. Instead I am reading the same things over and over and daydreaming about my Frequent Flyer miles.

Obviously, you and I are not alone, dear reader (yes, I know you are sick too!). Rest assured though. There is hope! We can fight off technology-induced procrastination in many ways (starting by eliminating distractions and working in bursts to get more done).

Do you have any tips? How do you fend off procrastination in these modern, constanly-in-flux times? Please, share!