Stevea Robbins here. Welcome to the Get It Done Guys, quick and dirty tips to work less

and do more. About a year ago, I wrote an article that answered Reader Rusty's question

about how to get his boss to stop calling him after work. The transcript to this episode

has a link to that episode. But what if you just have trouble

setting work boundaries? In general, this podcast is for you. Technology has freed us. Once,

we were chained to our desks. We had to be serious at work. Smiling was frowned upon, and frowns

were smiled upon, which, of course, were then frowned upon.

Outside of work, that was where we could play and laugh and have warm, meaningful relationships.

Thanks to cell phones, the Internet, and laptops, all that has changed.

Last night, I was at a birthday party.

One of the guests, Sam, was on call. He kept hopping on and off

his laptop, complaining the whole time. I wanted to hop on his laptop, too, only I'd hop on it

with spiked boots. The internet lets us work at a party, or while dining with our boyfriends, girlfriends,

significant others, and polyamorous family units.

Marketing people call this progress.

Get out your spiked boots, my friends,

because we're going to do a river dance on quote-unquote progress.

Guess what?

If you wait for your boss to help you separate work and play,

you're out of luck. Your boss's only goal is to get you to devote your entire life to slaving

for the company without being paid extra. That's called being on salary. It's your job to

assert yourself, starting with yourself. Choose your rules. Will you take any work-related calls or interruptions in

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