Step Away From The Blackberry...10 BlackBerry Commandments

Are you addicted to your mobile phone like I am? When you are not in the office is your phone attached to you and do you check it every 15 or 20 minutes to see if a call or email came in? As much as I love all of the technology available to help us grow our businesses, sometimes I wonder if we are too accessible. I mean people did buy and sell homes even before there were Blackberrys and IPhones. Real estate was a big business even before fax machines. The point is that when it comes to technology we must make a concerted effort to disconnect ourselves every once and a while. In this vein, I found a short article which lists the 10 BlackBerry Commandments. If we adopt even a few of these rules in our lives, it will result in richer relationships with friends and family, while at the same time offering us a small but much needed respite from our stressful careers. I hope you take something away from today's article. As always, I am dedicated to enriching the lives and businesses of the best real estate agents around.

Are your children jealous of the time you spend with your PDA? Step away from the BlackBerry - at least every once in a while.
By Joey Reiman

1. Thou shalt not take the BlackBerry to any table with food on it or family around it. A BlackBerry is not a fruit, nor does it come from a tree.

2. Thou shalt not use the BlackBerry as reading material in the event of insomnia. It will only worsen your situation.

3. Thou shalt not BlackBerry in lieu of responding to a child's request (e.g., "Wait a second, I'm reading something.").

4. Thou shalt not place the BlackBerry within distance of hearing its incessant beeps while at home. It is not a bird.

5. Thou shalt not check BlackBerry as if it were your baby. It will not cry or stop breathing.

6. Thou shalt not confuse number of e-mails with self-worth.

7. Thou shalt do everything possible to misplace your BlackBerry while at home on the weekends. "There's No Place Like Home" will never be the tagline for the BlackBerry company.

8. Thou shalt remember that a BlackBerry is not a body appendage. It is a device that belongs in your briefcase or on your desk, and not in social settings.

9. Thou shalt refrain from bringing the BlackBerry to events involving family interaction. Extraneous dialogue with this contraption in lieu of real conversation suggests addiction.

10. Thou shalt never, ever, ever bring the BlackBerry to bed. Do this and you are BlackBuried!