Everything happens for a reason so if you are doing your daily activities and start to lose your goals then you need to pause and start to think again of your reasons.
What is the reason you want to have relationship with the man or woman you are approaching right now.
Is it only for fun, only for a friend to hang around with, or you wanted to get into a serious relationship? If it is just for a status, then it is better to just be friends but if you are willing to have a serious relationship then it is time for you start dating.
Dating is not necessarily about kissing, cuddling each other, hugging all the time, being intimate, or holding hands and other sexual oriented stuffs.
It is the perfect time to knowing each other.
It is the time to know the real characteristic of the person and to know the most about him or her as much as you can because that is the most important factor.
I personally think that it is okay to date two or three persons at a time if you are doing it in the sake to know more of the other person, and not just to have fun and fooling them around.
It is the time for you to dig deeper on the candidates so you know well about the candidates and can decide for the best, in the end.
Some things we like to see from the dating are his or her attitude, hobby, habits, friends, money management, like and dislike, their attitude and many more.
By the things I mentioned I think it can gives us more than enough description and a part of character that can help us to decide whether to keep going or start to slow down things.