We all have that ex. You know – the one who inevitably texts you every few months and turns your world upside down. The one who doesn’t ever totally go away. The one that’s stuck in a small corner of your heart.

So how do you know if it’s time to take the ultimate step and block your ex’s number? Here are some signs.

1. You find yourself drunk texting them and regretting it the next day.

If you can’t stop yourself from drunk-texting your ex, it’s time to block their number. It’s exhausting to deal with those emotions and you inevitably hate yourself the next day when the consequences catch up to your sober self. Of course, blocking their number isn’t a catch-all solution to this but I’ve found that having that extra layer of effort can be an incredibly easy way to keep your drunk self from ruining your sober self’s life.

2. Your ex hits you up on special occasions and it ruins your day.

You’re always getting a Merry Christmas/Happy Birthday/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Valentine’s Day text from your ex and it casts a shadow over your day. It’s a pattern and someone has to break it. Do it yourself by blocking their number.

3. It’s too easy to reach them when you’re emotional.

You’re having a bad day. You watched a sad movie and now you’re feeling really nostalgic. It’s totally time to text your ex, right? NO. It’s not. And if you block their number, it’s less likely you’ll go through the effort of unblocking them to hit them up with your sappy bullshit.

4. You’re dating someone new.

You’ve finally moved on and you’re dating someone new. The last thing you need is to have a text from your ex ruin a date with your new dude.

5. You’re still in love with them.

You haven’t moved on yet and that’s okay. These things take time. But you also don’t want to be that person that sends unanswered texts and leaves rambling voicemails on their ex’s phone. They don’t want to be with you anymore and that’s painful as hell but don’t make it worse by hitting them up.

6. You’re trying to get over them.

You’re trying really hard to move on from your ex. You don’t need to see a missed phone call from them that will set you back months in the recovery process.

7. You need a break from the emotional racquetball.

You and your ex can’t decide whether or not to call it quits for real. He’s constantly hitting you up trying to get you back one day then ghosting you then starting the entire cycle over again. It’s completely exhausting and it’s also time for you to take matters into your own hands.

8. It’s still too fresh for you to try to be friends with them.

Not everyone can be friends with their exes – I mean, I definitely can’t. If you can’t either or if it’s too early to consider that, it’s totally okay for you to block their number to get the space you need.

9. You need to free up some space in your heart.

You held onto hope that you and your ex would figure things out and get back together. Now, you know that’s not going to happen. Blocking their number makes everything seem final – which hurts, but is also a relief.

10. You just want to.

You don’t have to justify this to anyone. If you want to block your ex’s number, do it. You don’t even have to explain it to yourself. Happy blocking!