Carrie Bradshaw and her friends popularized the “three date rule”—the idea that, when youre seeing someone new, there should be a short waiting period before you have sex with them. The goal is to give you a chance to evaluate the other person before hopping into bed.

How many dates should you go on with someone?

Three dates is a good rule of thumb. This isnt a hard and fast rule, but lets say you spend two to three hours together on each date, with some emailing, texting, or phone time in between. Thats a pretty fair amount of time together. If youre not feeling any sense of chemistry or attachment, its OK to give up.