Stevea Robbins here.

Welcome to the Get It Done Guys quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

Today's topic is setting boundaries with bosses who just don't know when to quit.

Listener Rusty wrote in,

How do I get my boss to stop ringing and texting me outside work hours?

Great question, Rusty. Some bosses don't respect employees. They take one look at you and the first thing they think is,

there is yet another tool to use for my own ends. The second thing they think is, I will use my

telepathic powers to take over his brain, steal his body, and live forever. For that second part, I recommend a steak through the heart at midnight, and garlic.

Garlic makes steak taste wonderful.

But when it comes to bosses who text you outside of work hours, you can try many things.

First, set your boundaries.

You have to set boundaries calmly.

State your boundaries in terms of your needs, and spell out the action you want your boss to take. Boss, to set boundaries calmly. State your boundaries in terms of your needs and spell out

the action you want your boss to take. Boss, I need to keep my home and work lives separate so I can do a

better job at both. Going forward, could you save your calls and texts for work hours? If you want to be

more assertive, don't ask your boss to change. Just say what you will do. From now on, I'll save your phone messages and texts and respond to them the first thing

when I get into the office. Is this risky? Yes. There are plenty of bosses in the world

whose own work habits are so unbalanced that they want their employees available every waking

hour. If you set boundaries with that type of boss, you could get fired, or when

review time comes along, you could get a bad review. In my fantasy world, however, bosses are

reasonable people who will respect your boundaries if you bring them up in a clear, non-threatening

way. You can also offer a compromise. Boss, I need to keep my lives separate, and I want to be responsive to you at the same time.

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