If you absolutely must stay in touch with the office or clients while you're out having fun, schedule a specific time to squeeze in the work.

While on vacation, arrange to return phone calls or check e-mails for a few hours each morning. If you're out of the office for a day, devote just one hour to handling work-related tasks. Then get back to having fun.

"I wouldn't give up my laptop or cell phone for anything," says Gil Gordon, author of Turn It Off: How to Unplug from the Anytime-Anywhere Office Without Disconnecting Your Career (Three Rivers Press, 2001). "But we simply can't go on with a work style that drives out our lifestyle. There are ways to make them fit together."

Taking your work to a different location even for a few hours can break the stress of a daily routine. So haul your notebook computer to a lounge chair on the backyard deck. Grab your cell phone and go to Starbucks. Treat yourself to a latte while you pour over the latest industry newsletters.

Libraries make good spots for combining work and fun. You take your paperwork, spread it out across a library table and dig in. After an hour or so of uninterrupted concentration, you stretch your legs by wandering through the stacks. If you're lucky, a slick travel magazine or the latest Stephen King thriller catches your eye. Give in. Give yourself the next hour to enjoy some light reading.