Work–life balance

Work–life balance

Listen to a radio interview about maintaining a good work–life balance to practise and improve your listening skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Preparation

Transcript

Presenter: Good morning, everyone. On today's show, we've got Chris Svensson with us, the author of No more nine to five, the new best-selling book about work–life balance in the current working world. Good morning, Chris. Thanks for coming.

Chris: Thanks for having me, Anna.

Presenter: So, Chris, tell us about your book and how the concept of a work–life balance has been changing?

Chris: Well, in the more traditional workplaces, people's working lives and their private lives are, or were, clearly divided. People often work from nine in the morning until five or six in the evening. People sometimes stay late in the office and work in the evenings. This is called working overtime.

Presenter: OK, and what else?

Chris: Well, in these environments it isn't common for people to work at the weekend or while they're on holiday. They can clearly separate their working lives and their private lives. And the evenings, weekends and holidays are free to focus on non-work areas of life, such as hobbies, interests, sports, spending time with the family and friends, and so on. It's important and healthy not to spend all your time just working, right?

Presenter: Right! So what has changed? How are things different now?

Chris: Well, for a start, most people can now access their work emails from their mobile phones. So they are more likely to quickly reply to an important mail in the evening or at the weekend. The same goes for laptops. It's easier to access your work in the evenings from home or even from your hotel when you're on holiday.

Presenter: That doesn't sound like much of a work–life balance. It sounds like all work.

Chris: Exactly, but this new mobility brings a lot of advantages with it. More people are now able to work flexibly, so if they need to leave the office early one afternoon to be with their family, they can catch up on work that evening from home or somewhere else.

Presenter: That sounds good. So, what you're saying is that although traditional divisions between work and life are fading, many employees now have more freedom to do their work from different locations and at different times.

Chris: Yes, that's it.

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

Download
Worksheet92.63 KB

Language level

Average: 4.3 (51 votes)

Submitted by Sharif Tayyebi on Wed, 15/07/2020 - 06:49

Permalink
Hi Sir/ Madam: I haven't access to the audios since yesterday morning. Please help me. Thanks in advance.

Hello Sharif Tayyebi,

There is a technical problem with our audio. I'm sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for telling us. We are working on a solution and hopefully the audio will be working soon.

Best wishes,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Sharif Tayyebi on Tue, 14/07/2020 - 15:04

Permalink
Dear administer of site, I haven't reached to audios since this morning. I hope to solve my problem. Thank you

Hello Sharif Tayyebi,

There is a technical problem with our audio. I'm sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for telling us. We are working on a solution and hopefully the audio will be working soon.

Best wishes,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Tea

Submitted by wahbi baklouti on Fri, 03/07/2020 - 20:20

Permalink
in my opinion, I think to manage your work-life balance when you master how you organize your day. and what're the priorities about your life and your work. what you should to do now and it's relevant to the situation you live
Profile picture for user Rafaela1

Submitted by Rafaela1 on Wed, 17/06/2020 - 13:02

Permalink
The cooler, the more sleepy. :)

Submitted by iiiirx6 on Wed, 17/06/2020 - 10:05

Permalink
if you want a balanced life follow these tips; - make schedule for your assignments - keep your phone away to accomplish your work on time - the rest of day you must chill out

Submitted by Nguyễn Cường on Sat, 06/06/2020 - 09:39

Permalink
Nowsaday to get the success, we have to work more even though you're at home or on holiday. We have to develope ourself to adapt the standard in modern life.