Please help

Hello. My name is Rick and . . . well . . . I’m a bit of a Social Media addict. I’ve been able to resist Farmville, but I still check in frequently to see what’s up on Facebook. I follow amazingly fascinating and informing people on Twitter and have connected with them on Facebook as well. Many of them are in far away locations on the planet, so there’s almost always a conversation going on; at any time of day or night. Today it became clear to me just how much of a problem this is for me.

I have an iMac, an iPad, and (I know this probably seems heretical, but what can I say?) an HTC Hero running Google Android. I use or have used Twitter’s web app, Nambu, Osfoora, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Twitter for iPad, and maybe some services I can’t even remember using. I ran my iPad’s battery down by about 3:00 pm PST today and had to switch over to my phone exclusively while it’s recharging. The process has me twitching a little bit. The alternative is to sit in my home office, tethered to my Mac, but the weather is gorgeous and at least I can be somewhat ambulatory with either of my other devices.

It’s not that I’m on Twitter all the time; it’s just that I feel compelled to at least pay attention. I also find myself checking in using Foursquare or Facebook Places, and writing reviews on Yelp. I’m fascinated with the quality of information available via Twitter or, lately, Quora.

I can’t seem to disengage, and I don’t even work in Tech or a large enterprise (at least not anymore). What can I do? My children are begging me to help them be less bored. I should get them their own smart phones I suppose, but they’re only 7 and 9. Still . . . the temptation is strong.

My name is Rick. I’m 63 years old, semi-retired, and wondering what to do with this addiction. Please help!