1. You’ve turned down multiple invites from someone you’re interested in because of competing obligations. It’s not that you don’t want to go out with this person. It’s that you can’t figure out which event to cancel on or which plan to break in order to make it happen.
2. Your plans and to-do list have a life of their own. You don’t have a free night to yourself for the next 3 months. This leaves no room for spontaneity during your week. If you met a special someone walking down the street, in line at the coffee shop, at a party, etc. you wouldn’t even be able to make plans.
3. There is no food in your fridge because you haven’t been home for any length of time to require food being there.
4. You’re too tired. Too stressed. Too sick. Too complicated. Too lazy. Too desperate to get a good night’s sleep over an up-all-night, electricity in the air, can’t-stop-smiling-because-of-a-new-romance-kind-of-night.
5. Your home is in a state of disarray. You couldn’t invite back someone to your place even if the chance came up. It’s been weeks since you’ve done laundry, you’re just about out of toilet paper and you can’t remember whether the dishes in the dishwasher, the same dishes that have been sitting there for at least two weeks, are clean or dirty.
6. You’ve got work coming out your ears with no end in sight. You’ve become so accustomed to the workday routine that you can’t pull yourself out of it. There’s comfort in the work – the safety of staying plugged into your Inbox, responding to your manager and focusing on your career. It certainly beats being rejected or heartbroken or having to go out and meet new people.
7. You’ve got excuses for days. Your family is visiting. You’re a bridesmaid in 4 weddings in the next 4 months. You’re out of town. You’ve got friends visiting. You’re moving. You think you’re going to be fired, so you’re job hunting.
8. You can’t remember the last time you could stay up past 9 PM. Your days are so early and action packed, you’ve left yourself little down time. You’re overscheduled, stressed out and jumping from obligation to obligation without an ounce of rest. It’s no wonder your eyes are ready to close at the first available sign of an exhale moment. Unfortunately, that can likely coincide with some rare social time where the opportunity to meet someone arises.
9. You travel for work consistently. This type of lifestyle is challenging for maintaining a new relationship (at least in your home town). If you do go out with someone interesting, you’re not consistently around to develop what’s brewing.
10. When your love interest invites you back to his apartment after a great night out, you turn him down. You’ve got an early morning and stuff to finish up that evening to prepare for the morning. You like this guy – really you do – but you’re BUSY. Only as soon as you leave, your guy thinks you’re not interested and it’s going to be weeks before you can find another night to meet up given your packed schedule. You can barely keep your eyes open and you know that an up-all-night kind of night will do you no favors when you have to be “on” the next day.
11. You’ve got 723 unread text messages, 200 unread emails and 10 unheard voicemails. Every time you start responding to any of these, another one pops up, making it impossible to respond, engage or have essential text flirting with any potential romantic prospects. Excuses will ruin your love life. If you want something, make time for it. Nobody is too busy to find love. You just have to be willing to make some time for it to find its way into your calendar. 
