Let me be upfront about the fact that I hate telephones. The phone rings when it wants to and rarely when I want it to. I can't control who's on the other end of the phone; even when I place the call, there's no guarantee who or whether anyone will answer. When I'm talking to someone on the phone, I'm bereft of facial expression, "body language," dozens of cues that will help me best make my case. And the sound of a telephone ringing late at night will boost my blood pressure until I can convince my kids to live at home --and be in by 10:30 --the rest of their lives.<注1>

　　So I could hardly be expected to be happy about the insidious propagation of cell phones. But I'm not the only one who's cranky about cell phones ringing in theaters, restaurants, airports, trains, and shopping malls. You know how little kids think they're hiding from you if they cover their eyes? That's how cell phone users strike me when they put the phone in front of their faces and pretend I can't hear the details of their latest conquest--business, social, or private.<注2>

　　But I'm beyond a casual crankiness about the lack of social skills of the average cell phone user. I think we're so carried away with the ostensible convenience of the communication that we're overlooking the effectiveness we're losing.

　　I've been a sucker for time management books for years--still hoping to add four hours before 5 p.m. and four hours after. In The Time Trap<注3>, originally published in 1972 and republished in 1990, Alec Mackenzie lists 20 top time wasters cited by managers around the country. And I see that cell phones are exacerbating<注4> four of the five problems office workers have put at the top of the list for decades:

　　Management by crisis: Number one on Mackenzie's list. What's a cell phone for except to make you aware of the latest crisis? Unless you're a heart surgeon or an obstetrician<注5>, do you really want to live crisis to crisis?

　　Telephone interruptions: One telephone on the desk wasn't enough to keep us from doing our work? Management books recommend reserving an hour or two a day specifically for phone calls--and relying on voice mail or an assistant to cover--or at least delay--the rest.<注6> (I've heard of one exception to the rule that phone interruptions are time wasters: a man who fakes receiving a cell phone call insgroupsto escape from deadly dull meetings.)

　　Attempting too much: Like being in two places at the same time? If you're in my meeting, please be in my meeting. If you really need to deal with something else, go do it--but don't be upset if I make some decisions and move along without you.

　　Drop-in visitors: What's a phone call if not a drop-in visitor? And now we can't even leave our offices to get away from the phone calls--we have to take the phone with us!

　　Inability to say no: Remember when status wasshavingsa secretary who would answer Mr.Bigshot's phone and say, "I'm sorry, he can't be disturbed." What's changed about the human race to justify a complete reversal? Does it really make any sense to say "I'm so important, I need to be distracted all the time"?<注7>

　　As a working woman and a parent of three, I'm a big fan of multi-tasking--doing several things at the same time. But I think it's time to admit that we can't really think about one thing and talk about another. I can think about a work problem while I cook. I can think about work while I mow the lawn.

　　But to say I'm participating in a meeting to solve one problem while talking on the phone about another is dishonest. What I'm doing is ducking out on the person who invited me--whose invitation I accepted, or I wouldn't be there--to talk to someone who just happened to call. It takes time--and attention--to collaborate. It takes time--and attention--to think through an issue, even all by yourself.

　　We humans seem to repeatedly forget our nature: that time for contemplation and focus is part of what makes us healthy. Sooner or later, we'll catch on that all this intrusion and interruption is nothing we should live with. So give full attention to the task or person at hand rather than being distracted by future concerns or past pains--just be here now.Are we experiencing what we would choose to? Because we can, in fact, choose. And I choose to leave my cell phone, turned off, in my glove box. And finally, to the guy talking on his cell phone while walking on my heels<注8>: "Hang up. Take a rest. Hush up and think for a while."