My love/hate relationship with my iPhone

I have had an iPhone 3G for quite a while now - about two years or so - and in that time she and I have developed quite a relationship with her {I am not sure why but my phone is definitely a female}. When I ordered her, it was the anticipation that comes with the start of a new relationship... the exhilaration when she arrived and I got her working and downloaded my first messages...

In the two years I have had a smart phone, the relationship has certainly changed, like all relationships, I suppose. It has matured and the newness and excitement that was there early on has grown into something different.  The phone has in two years gotten scratched, has more than a few cracks, doesn't hold a charge as long... but none of that has dampened my love for her - it's just that I have learned to hate her as well.

The iPhone is a great device - one where I can stay connected 24/7/365 - and this is where the trouble comes in.  With technology like this comes the expectation that you are always available to answer emails, respond to texts, take calls... whatever happened to "time off"?  I know, I know... you say "just don't take it with you" but that is not really a possibility given that (1) I am a parent of a young child and (2) I don't have a land line...  So, she is always with me, ready at an instant to alert me of incoming emails asking/telling me what I need to do/should be doing/should have done...  I never thought I'd be "one of those people" who incessantly checks their phone for emails, but I have certainly become one.  I was at a conference a few weeks ago and during one of the talks looked around the audience and saw at least half the people at any point in time suffered from a similar malady.  Rarely, can I sit though a meeting or seminar without checking the phone at least a few times. Sometimes, I think if I could get away with it during my own lectures, I would...

But I have made strides in curing this addiction - I changed the settings so that it doesn't alert me when a new email arrives (it was buzzing incessantly!) and this has been a plus since I don't need additional prompts for me to look at my Inbox...  Before I changed this, when am email arrived I felt I HAD to look at it immediately. What was I expecting, an email saying I had been made Head Coach of the Denver Broncos, but only if I replied within the next 30 seconds?  I do, however, get emails from Nigeria saying I can get several million dollars from the estate of a prince if only I send them my bank account information... you see, it seems they need to move some money and I apparently am their only option... makes perfect sense. But I digress.

Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I admit I made this change because having it constantly pushing email to my phone was eating battery life, and, god knows, I couldn't let it run out of batteries!!! Recently, I also have been trying to "forget" it on my desk in my office when I go to some meetings so I am not tempted to peek at it... just where is my self-discipline? So, how do I unplug and get some time away from the office?  I dunno... but I am working on it.  Until then, if you email me, chances are I'll see it pretty soon after you send it.