Online Junkie Addicted to the Net.

There's a fine line between being distracted by the Net andactually being addicted to it. Either way, your productivity--andbusiness--suffers. "With a start-up business, there's athreat of playing rather than working," says Kimberly S.Young, owner of the Center for On-Line Addiction in Bradford,Pennsylvania.

Young says the warning signs of Internet addiction are similarto those of other addictions: "a preoccupation with theInternet while offline, a constant anticipation of the next onlinesession, lying about the extent of use to others. For compulsiveusers, their whole life becomes the Internet."

Bellingham, Washington, entrepreneur Heather Martin says thedepth of information available online cut into her productivity."I would research articles [online] and start surfingcompletely unrelated sites," recalls the 30-year-old writerand marketing consultant. "Hours later, I realized I had noarticle, but my butt was sure sore! Suddenly, I was working nightsand weekends [to make up for time wasted online]."