My smart phone addiction is getting disturbing

Richard:  Take a look around you ... you're not alone!  I think cell phones are like crack.  Totally and completely addicting ...

Gene

An OMG where's my phone panic moment!  I agree & usually I come around like you did saying if I can't get a furnace filter at the hardware store without freaking out I've got a problem.

Interesting post, yet there's more to life than devices like cell phones, so take a break and you'll discover that there's still life after you leave your devices unmanned.

Just like blackberries were once dubbed crackberries - It's time to call it a Crack Phone!  LOL

I am with Bill's (#54) partner, I have taken the attitude that the cell phone is for my benefit, not everybody elses.  I cut mine off every evening, and most mornings remember to turn it back on.

I have an office phone that has been the same for 25 years and a home phone for the same time.  Everything is not an emergency.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an old fogy, I am the first one to jump on new technology and I love it.

My cell phone is my life line for my real estate business. Being that I am only 24 years old and have been doing this for nearly 5 years, this is the only way I know. Calls, texts, emails, social media updates are all part of the circle of providing better customer service to our clients!

Richard, I have forgotten my phone for a day. After I got over the initial shock of it, it was kind of refreshing not being connected for a while.

I love leaving my cell phone at home, you might find that you can actually enjoy a couple of hours of peace and quiet. Relax!

I am so sad after reading all the posts from people who are afraid to be anywhere without their Smart phone attached to them. There are, indeed, times when having a phone available for a true emergency, is a must, but is everyone and everything so important that returning a call within minutes is critical. I find it almost impossible to communicate with people when attention to their phone is more important than even looking at me and being present. I feel very disrespected. I agree with the people who commented on trying to have a life and being present in the moment now and then without your phone.

I'm of the younger generation, which you would expect to have a smart phone on them at all times, with no exceptions.  As a general rule, I turn off my phone at about 8pm at night and turn it back on at 7am.  This helps to keep me from becoming a slave to my phone.  I've gone on week long cruises and never turned it on.  Of course, I assigned other agents in the office to help out any of my clients, should an emergency arise.  Also, make sure you say that you won't be available in your voicemail until such and such date.  Set up an automatic reply in your email, to let people who are emailing you know who to reach out of in case of emergency and what date they can expect to hear back from you if it isn't an emergency.

Feel the same way.  I am never without my iphone, except when I leave it in the car.  Then I have to go back and get it.  Truth is, it wasn't so long ago that I didn't have a smart phone.  If I was showing homes, I'd be gone several hours and only be reachable by a phone call.  I look back and think how many emails waited for me to return and respond to them.  I didn't understand what text messages were and didn't use them.  Wasn't on Facebook or Twitter.  Then I got Smart!  or Not!

Rich (and all the other repsponders),

I am a home inspector and I have the same issue with my phone. But I know why I feel like I can't leave it alone, even for a minute. LOST INSPECTIONS! I have found that people looking for a home inspector do not leave messages they just gon on to the next guy on the list.

Twice during Christmas holidays, I went out without my phone for about four hours -- on purpose!  It was bliss.  So what, I had a few missed calls.  I don't answer calls when I am on an appointment, and those days were no different.  I had an appointment with myself!

For many people phones have become an extension of their hand. I was in the grocery store today and more people walking,texting, shopping, and emailing at the same time....

Smart phones are good and bad. I am a recent convert to a smart phone. I work at my office most of the time and for a long time rationalized I did not need it. I must admit now if I'm out of the office it makes my life easier to check emails to see if I need to rush back to the office.

My biggest complaint is the parents ignoring kids while they facebook and song pop. I tell my daughter and son in law all the time to put their phones down. They are great parents, but it makes me think many youngsters are being ignored a tad too much.

I had a panic moment a couple of weeks ago when, as I was driving, I realized I forgot my cell phone at home.  The horror!  Luckily, I was only 2 minutes away from my house and went back to retrieve my life-line. lol! 

I spend about an hour each day in the pool - disconnected and I love it.  But there are people there with the cell phones setting near by so they can check it and things!!!!