Article: Even if you don't want to discuss your private life with your colleagues, you can still develop good working relationships that make your time at work more enjoyable and productive. It's easy to find topics of conversation for lunchtime small talk that don't involve you talking about any intimate details of your private life.  If there is somebody at work who talks about their private life a lot, or there is a conversation that you don't want to be involved in, politely excuse yourself.  Talking about things such as sports, TV and film can be good ways to be friendly and chat to colleagues without bringing up your home life. If you find yourself in a conversation that is turning to your personal life, or a colleague has asked you about something that you would rather keep private, it's a good idea to tactfully sway out of the way of the question. Try to avoid saying something like "Sorry, but that's none of your business". Instead, make light of it and say something more like "Oh, you don't want to know about that. It's boring" and then change the subject to something you are more comfortable with.  These deflecting techniques can help you to maintain friendly relationships while avoiding certain topics of conversation. If you sway away from the question and change the subject, rather than just ending the conversation, your colleague will probably not think too much of it. If you switch the conservation back to your colleague you will politely avoid their questions without seeming aloof or disinterested. You could say, "Nothing interesting is going on in my life, what about you?"  If coworkers are persistent in asking about your personal life, you can set a boundary letting them know that you would rather not discuss it. You can say, “I know you guys really care about me to ask about my life, and I appreciate that about you, but I’d really like to leave that stuff at home.” While it is important that you have an idea in your head about the boundaries you have set between home life and work life, you should try to keep some flexibility. Having good boundaries needn't translate into you always shunning certain interactions, or isolating yourself away from your colleagues entirely. If your colleagues invite you for a 5pm drink, go along every now and again but stick to conversation topics you are comfortable with.

What is a summary?
Be friendly. Use tact. Maintain some flexibility.