Constantly Connected

I remember when Blackberrys were getting popular at around the turn of the 21st century (sounds weird saying that :P). At that time, I was just finishing up university, and the thought of getting e-mail anytime and anywhere was pretty exciting. Now that I'm in the workforce, the thought of being so connected makes me cringe.

While I'm at work, I have no problem answering work-related e-mails and phone calls. When I'm at home, however, my personal time does NOT belong to my employer and I therefore feel that I am under no obligation to answer work-related calls or e-mails. Yet now with devices such as RIM's Blackberry and Palm's Treo, people at work can and WILL try to reach you anytime, anywhere. And it doesn't even take a Blackberry or a Treo to be bothered by work people after hours. It can happen if you mistakenly give out your cell phone number at work.

So where do we draw the line between work time and personal time? In my humble opinion, it's up to the employee to help draw that line. Employers won't often decline an employee's offer to work extra hours. Who doesn't like a good work horse? The hardest thing to do is to tell an employer NO when they call you in the middle of a family dinner on a Saturday night. But it's okay young Padwan...telling them no will show them who's boss.