Today’s knowledge workers are normally assumed to be working on company business well after they went home for the night; they are always reachable by cellphone and email. Of course they could turn off their devices when they exit the office, but most are afraid to do so in case of a real emergency, which in our global economy can come at any hour and demand their attention. What can they do?

I was heartened to hear an original solution from a woman who juggles the tasks of managing a group in a high tech company, raising two kids, and having a life. She told me that she simply leaves her computer in the office when she leaves; her coworkers know that she never works at home. However, because her role does involve responding to urgent situations, she makes it known that she’s always available on her cell. But – and here is the twist – if anyone calls her with an urgent action item after hours, she tells them she has no computer with her, so she’ll be happy to drive to the office – which is not far from her home – and deal with matters there. Guess what: 90% of callers beg her to stay at home; the urgency suddenly evaporates and it turns out that the task can wait until morning.

What this smart lady did is put in a filter: she’s really willing to make the trip, but when confronted with this higher threshold of inconveniencing her the callers are forced to make a serious judgment call on whether their need justifies the intrusion. True emergencies make it through this filter; the rest are withdrawn.

Many lessons in this story!