How long do you sit surfing the posts that pop up on your Facebook news feed, Twitter scope, or reading email forwards? Do the minutes turn to hours even without your noticing? Do you find yourself addicted to checking the last posts added? If you are over using the internet there is a good chance that you are becoming a bit more forgetful than others around you.

A researcher from the De Montfort University in Leicester conducted a study which found that the more time a person sat on the internet via laptop or mobile phone, the more likely he was to develop cognitive failures. These included behaviours such as a range of blunders, a lack of general awareness of what’s happening around them and even slip ups in speech.

If you think you are spending too much time on the never ending streams of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media websites, you may like to ease off the habit for a bit. You may just realize that you have become distracted from the real world and its going on without your help. If nothing else, this science study sure highlights the need for us to step away from the digital world for our own health.