Is your balance so bad that you answer your phone on the toilet?

What about taking a work call while out to dinner with a date? Or how about when you're back at home, in the bedroom, canoodling with said date?

According to a new survey released by Nokia, which I found mentioned on TMCNet.com this week, 53 percent of Americans said they "have been interrupted by a work-related phone call or e-mail" while in the loo. But that's not all. Twenty-four percent have been interrupted while on a date, and 23 percent while engaging in some hanky-panky. 

Color me retro, but I have to ask: Why would anyone even check to see who's calling or pinging them while on the toilet or "entertaining" a romantic partner in bed? Are we that addicted to our iPhones? Doesn't anyone remember the good old days when you could, er, do your business or steal a smooch uninterrupted, the land line a blissful 20 feet down the hall?

Apparently some of us do, and some don't. According to this Nokia survey of 500 U.S. workers ages 18 to 54, a full 59 percent of us never turn our mobiles off.

As TMCNet.com reports:

"The survey says work often seeps into leisure time, with 62 percent of Americans having their personal lives interrupted by work at least 10 times a week. On the other hand, 65 percent have had their work lives interrupted by a personal matter."
 
But maybe this isn't really news. Maybe it's to be expected. Now that work/life balance is something we're constantly blathering on about and perpetually trying to chase down, it's become more acceptable to admit that you closed a deal on the can and IM'd your kids from the conference room. Right?

Freelance writer Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail her at ninetothrive@nwjobs.com.