3 Ways to Make Your Online Dating Efforts More Efficient

Online dating requires patience. After years of waiting patiently, however, the repetitive process might start to wear you down - if you can relate to this scenario, it might be time to streamline your dating efforts. This quick guide offers three ways to cut down on your time spent opening messages and get to the part that matters: finding a compatible partner.

1. Commit to a Level of Involvement

How much time can you realistically dedicate to emails and instant messages each day? If the answer is, "Are you crazy?" then you probably don't have much time at all between a career and life's little responsibilities. On the other hand, perhaps you are on the other end of the spectrum, perhaps trapped in a cubicle with unlimited time to check the inbox.

There is no need to sign up to dozens of sites if there isn't any hope of keeping up with them all. There is no reason to limit yourself if dating is your first priority and the way you'd prefer to be spending your time. Prioritize your efforts between big sites and smaller specialty profiles. The other two steps will help you narrow or enlarge your selection.

2. Decide on the Absolutes

You can save a whole lot of time and effort by deciding which traits are necessary. Religion is one of the most common, vegetarianism is another popular all-or-nothing category, but there are also more important ways to narrow the field, like location. Location might include both where you are and where you'd like to be in the future.

Here is a relatively common example: If you're moving to China for a new job, you may have a good reason to try generalized Asian dating websites or, for even better chances, dating websites specifically for the city or region of China that you are moving to. The same concept applies no matter where you are moving to - Asian dating sites, and other ethnic / location based sites, are rising in popularity as globalization continues to promote a more mobile population.

3. Consider Going Niche

Niche dating websites are sites that focus on a specific area of interest - whether it is religion, philosophy, hobbies, values, etc... Niche sites can be extremely specific, catering to anybody from dedicated pet owners to fans of metal music. Niche sites are of value to people who don't have much time for dates, thus a need to get specific, but they're just as valuable to those who want to get their profiles on as many relevant dating websites as possible.

Don't be afraid to change up your routine. Online dating doesn't have to be repetitive or monotonous; making the search more efficient opens up more time for the fun part, the real dates.