Quick! A relationship pop quiz:
1. Do you think about your ex too much?
2. Do you look at your ex's Facebook profile too often?
3. Is your ex interfering with your current love life?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you're not alone. In fact, a recent survey* of over 1,000 people conducted by YourTango.com found that:
•71 percent of people say they think about their ex too often;
•48 percent admit to checking their ex's Facebook page too frequently;
•57 percent of single people say their ex keeps them from finding new love;
•36 percent of married people say their ex interferes with their marriage.
In short, there is a good chance that you need to break up with your ex. Yes, you read that right. With today's endless Facebook updates, tweets and Foursquare check-ins, truly detaching from an ex has become a tremendous challenge.
When I launched YourTango, a website focused on love and relationships, I wanted to help people with exactly this kind of problem. With that in mind, we anointed February 13th as the first annual Break Up With Your Ex Day to help people free themselves from unhelpful contact with their exes.
If you're obsessively checking your ex's Facebook profile or are tired of seeing him in your news feed, join us in unfriending former boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses and partners. You can take the digital-cleanse even further with these steps:
•Unfollow your ex on Twitter, Foursquare and any other social networking sites;
•Untag and/or delete photos of yourself and that person online, on your computer and phone;
•Delete songs and play lists that remind you of the person;
•Block or erase the person on Google chat, AIM and other instant messaging services;
•Delete their numbers from your phone and their email addresses from your address book;
•Enlist the support of friends and community to detach and stay detached from your ex;
•Share your experiences at BreakUpWithYourEx.com and via hashtag #DumpYourEx;
•Get back into the dating scene to complete the moving-on process.
To help, we've created a Break Up With Your Ex hub at BreakUpWithYourEx.com. Is your best buddy obsessed with the guy that dumped her by text? Try giving her a "Facebook Stalker Star" and she'll get the message. Just unfriended your ex? Tell the world by posting the "Bridge Bomber" badge--because some bridges need to be burned.
Not convinced this is a real problem? Check out all the ways people remain attached to their exes:
•Photos: 86% of people admit to looking at photos of their ex; 14% of married folks admit to doing so often.
•Contact: 50% people have called, texted, emailed or IMed an ex when they shouldn't have.
•Sex: One-third of people have had sex with their ex, and 20% have done so multiple times.
Read 20 Shocking Breakup Statistics to learn more.
And check out the following content:
What His Dating Past Says About Him (from our partners at Glo)
And finally, this video offers a gripping first-person account of a woman breaking up with her ex-fiancé, featuring Dr. Diana Kirschner.
What about you? Is there an ex lingering in your life that deserves to be dumped? Who else needs to break up with their ex?
*Conducted on YourTango.com, Facebook.com/YourTango and SurveyMonkey.com the survey questioned a national sample of 1,047 people. Polling took place over December 22, 2010 - January 5, 2011.