Work–life balance
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.
I remember I worked overtime quite often when I had an important tasks. In the past, hard work was considered a good value in Korea, so many workers worked late or even at weekends, particularly when they were about to be promoted.
However, work-life balance has become more important over time and many companys have created various environment where workers can manage their time flexibly. In my case, I clearly separate working time from my private time. I am trying to finish my tasks in working days even if I work late. After that, I spend most of the time with my family. Childcare is another kind of work that requires lots of energy, so I sometimes think I hardly have any free time of my own. That's why I usually take a day off and relax at home by eating sweets or watching Utube. It helps me feel refreshed and start a new week.
Work-life balance — most companies write these words in their job descriptions, but do they all implement it? Work-life balance exists to separate work and private lives. This helps employees a lot to recharge their energy, go back to their work, and keep doing good things. But nowadays, after the new AI and LLMs — which bring a lot of advantages — there are also disadvantages. One of them is that requirements have increased because managers think that AI should increase employees' productivity. But actually, AI is not magic. Humans should review and improve the results, so I think this will burn out employees. Do you think AI is one of the things that broke work-life balance, or do you see it making it better?
For me, it's very important to mantain a difference between my personal life and my work. Although my job gives me flexibility I don't work on holidays or weekends. I'm a person who needs to clear my mind to become calmer and prepared. For that reason it's very important for me to maintain a healthy routine rather than focusing only on my obligations.
i work 24 hours a day! i hate my life :P
Work-life balance depends on the type of job sometimes it should be overtime or even work from home. I remember when I was working I did not have right to choice the amount of working-hour or having holidays. The type of work and with who determines the flexibility of work-time. For example, one day my boss called me at 11:00 pm to make a change in an official letter and resend it to him as soon as possible. The probability to tell him I would do it at morning was so difficult. However, it was nice job and enjoyed each moment.
I manage my work–life balance by combining both traditional and modern approaches. Sometimes I work from home, so I make sure to set aside time for myself because when I have a flexible schedule, I feel like I end up working all day. However, if I have an important task, I can work all day to finish it. After that, I usually take another day off or work fewer hours to recover. Overall, my approach is closer to the modern style than the traditional one.
I manage my work–life balance by organizing my time carefully and setting priorities between study, work and personal activities. I try to finish my university assignments on time so I can also spend time with my family and friends. In addition, I avoid spending all day working or studying because having time to relax and rest is important for maintaining good mental health.
hi everyone, ı am research assistant and whole my day is full of learning new things or remember olds. thats way ı spend so much time with my works. But on the contrary ı try to add new routuine things make me relax and give me peace like a charcoal, gym, walking, listening personel growth materials... And intercalarily ı have a try stay with myself because ı want to hear sound of my soul. summary after of work a little research new information but more than explore yourself
At my company, we maintain a healthy work-life balance which allows us to manage our weekly schedule effectively. We typically work from 7am to 4 pm so this is great because we have the whole evening to do other activities or responsibilities. I think this approach boosts our happiness and make us more productive during office hours.
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.