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

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Task 2

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Discussion

How do you manage your work–life balance?

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Language level

B1 Intermediate

Nowadays I am trying hard to balance my professional and private life. I wake up early to go to the Gym, trying to eat heathy food instead of processed food. During my day when something is getting hard, I stop and have some coffee. When I arrive at home, I spend time with my family, eating together and going to church.

I've been trying to put my life ahead of work. When I manage to do that, I feel more balanced. Achieving this balance requires discipline and structure. It's important to have an active intellectual life, take care of your body and maintain healthy sleep habits. Most importantly, we need to challenge the idea that work is the most important thing in our lives. Personal development is fundamental. Developing our inner life and our abilities really matters. I believe (or at least I hope) that in the future we won't have to work in the way we do today. It won't be necessary. Our time could be used for personal growth while machines work for us.

I think that working is more important for people.
One fact above all: mental illness can usually happen in two situations, at work, or in emotional or romantic experiences.
Both of these situations are fundamental areas of our life, and when problems happen in these areas, it shows how deeply they affect us.

Work-life balance can be challenging, especially when trying to manage work and personal life at the same time. I think it is important to divide between work hours and personal life. Occasionally, working extra hours is acceptable, but it should not become the norm.

I work 5 days a week 9:00 to 6:00 and I am happy with that and spend my weekend with my family.

I work 5 days a week from monday to sunday or in the morning or in the afternoon, so free time sometimes is on monday, sometimes is on saturday, sometimes is on sunday. I would prefer work only from monday to friday but it is not possible

When I had my last job while trained and studied, always divided hours, days and time at the same time, but that is not a reason to avoid responsibility with my job responsabilities and become a work-life balance healthy

My work is not modern work-life balance, working hours is from 2pm to 11pm.But in the morning, I can enjoy my cooking time or learning time. No need to work on holidays or weekends also.

I'm a university student and I would say my study/life balance is getting better this year. Last year, I spent almost all my time in the library, which made me feel tired all the time.

Now, I've realized the importance of the "life" part. I strictly finish my studying by 8 p.m. every day and spend an hour listening to music or reading novels. On the weekends, I make sure to switch off completely and meet my friends.