Work-life balance

Having work-life balance is considered one of the most important factors in maintaining happiness. Work-life balance refers to having enough work to feel challenged, stimulated and active (but not stressed) and equally enough of a life away from work (family, leisure, interests) to also feel fulfilled and excited.

These days, in developed countries, work-life balance can seem like an impossible feat. Technology makes workers accessible around the clock. Employees work long hours because they are afraid of being fired. In fact, a whopping 94% of working professionals in the US and Europe recently reported working more than 50 hours per week.

Listen to a British Council podcast about work-life balance and complete the summary with the seven words.

holiday / advantages / divided / free / emails / locations / flexibly

I have highlighted the keywords in red. Listen for these keywords to keep track of the podcast.

The idea of work-life balance has changed. Traditionally, working and private lives were clearly (1)________ and it was unusual for people to work at the weekend or while on (2)_______, On evenings, weekends and holidays, people were (3)________ to focus on leisure activities, such as hobbies and sports.

Nowadays, many people access work (4)_____ on mobiles and laptops in the evenings or at the weekends. This new mobility does have some (5)______ ,for example, more people can now work (6)______ . Many workers now have more freedom to do their work from different (7)_____ and times.

When you are ready, enter your answers in the sheet below: