<human>: I started seeing "Dave" at the beginning of November, despite my previous intentions of being single for a while to get my professional and social life on track. We just had so much in common and had a connection that I'd only ever felt a couple of times before in my life, and only ever with girls. (An "instant connection" kind of feeling).

So I went against the initial plan and we started seeing each other. It was fun and intense and we connected over our values and professional ambitions which are similar, but despite this we did not do much work while together, so being with him made my work suffer as well as my social life. Now after the holidays I'm hoping to get those back on track and find a balance between focusing on work, friends and him. We're both self-employed and studying park-time so inevitably we are both very flexible in how we spend our time. This means that in theory we could be spending almost 24/7 together. He tells me that's not what he wants either but he always seems to want to spend more time with me, and he takes it personally whenever I mention alone time. I don't like feeling as though I'm kicking a newborn chihuahua out into a -20 degree blizzard, and he's made me feel like this twice now.

I've been clear with Dave from the start that I'm not a 24/7 kind of person (I am introverted and like my independence) and verbally he agrees with me, but his actions speak differently.

How do I talk to him about my need for a balance between him, friends, alone time and professional pursuits?

Can you succinctly summarize the text in 1-3 sentences?
<bot>: After an initially intense start to a relationship, I'm ready to get my work and social life back on track. How can I talk to my SO about reducing time together for a more balanced lifestyle?