21 Reasons to Take a Break From Your Cell Phone

With no disrespect to Steve Jobs, we all need a break from our electronic toys from time to time. Last week, my husband forgot his BlackBerry while on a business trip and did not miss it except for e-mails. It was like the old days: he would just call me from his hotel-room phone. If you feel the need to take a break from your cell phone, read on for a list of good reasons to do so:

1.Checking your e-mail night and day is exhausting. Besides, unless you're President Obama, you're not that important!

2.It feels good to give your fingers a rest.

3.Watching the previews at a movie theatre isn't so bad.

4.Talking on a cell phone is disruptive to others in public.

5.It's more fun to hold someone's hand than a phone.

6.Cell phone use may cause brain tumors.

7.It just feels better to hold the handset of a landline phone.

8.No more dirty looks at church or the grocery store.

9.You'll decrease your risk of car accidents.

10.Think of all the money you'll save!

11.You won't have to rudely and sometimes unknowingly drop calls.

12.You won't have to be accessible 24/7.

13.Your kids won't be begging you for a phone at eight years of age. (Monkey see, monkey do.)

14.You won't miss so much of what's going on in the world around you.

15.You won't have to spend hundreds of dollars to replace a lost phone.

16.You will decrease the chance of someone eavesdropping on your conversation.

17.You are more likely to have an accident while talking on a cell phone while driving than if driving drunk.

18.It's good to slow down sometimes and smell the roses.

19.You'll no longer be a prime target for thieves.

20.Quite simply, cell phones are distracting, both to their users and to those around them.

21.21 is my lucky number. It's the year of the Dragon!

Lisa Mirza Grotts is a recognized etiquette expert, an on-air contributor, and the author of A Traveler's Passport to Etiquette. She is a former director of protocol for the city and county of San Francisco and the founder and CEO of The AML Group (www.AMLGroup.com), certified etiquette and protocol consultants. Her clients range from Stanford Hospital to Cornell University and Levi Strauss. She has been quoted by Condé Nast Traveler, InStyle Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times. To learn more about Lisa, follow her on www.Twitter.com/LisaGrotts and www.Facebook.com/LisaGrotts.