If you are finding it difficult to divide your time and energy effectively between your work and family responsibilities; if you feel stressed because you never seem to have enough time for yourself, you may be struggling with work-life balance.
In this episode, you’ll learn some words and phrases connected to work-life balance and we’ll talk about ways you may be able to manage your time.
Voice message from Morena from Nicaragua
How to get a job in a call centre
Customer service and call centre expressions: https://inglespodcast.com/396
Work Life Balance
Thanks to Mamen from Badajoz for suggesting this topic. We have touched on it before in this episode on success :
What is success and what are some ways of achieving it?
https://inglespodcast.com/481
Work-life balance is achieving a healthy division between your work and personal life.
How balanced do you think your life is?
How do you juggle the different aspects of your life?
Time management (organizing and planning how you spend your time)
How can we best use our time?
Do you use any time management tools?
-paper diary
-calendar apps like Google calendar
-time management apps like https://track.toggl.com/timer
Track how you spend your time to identify areas for improvement. What isn’t measured can’t be improved (toggle.com)
Productivity (efficiency in accomplishing tasks)
Parkinson’s Law: work expands to fill the time allotted f or its completion.
Prioritization (deciding which tasks are most important)
How can we effectively prioritize tasks without feeling overwhelmed?
Delegation (assigning tasks to others)
Delegating housework to your kids
Paying for work that costs less than your hourly rate.
Boundaries (limits you set on your work time and availability)
Block out time on your work calendar for ‘me time’
Do you draw a clear line between your work time and your leisure time?
How good are you at disconnecting (unplugging from work emails, messages and phone calls during personal time)?
What strategies can help us set healthy boundaries with work?
Burnout (emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged or excessive stress)
How do you know if you’re becoming a workaholic?
What are the signs of burnout, and how can we recover from it?
Multi-tasking (juggling multiple tasks simultaneously)
Is this a good idea?
What things can be multitasked effectively?
Are women really naturally better at it than men?
Self-care (activities that promote physical and mental well-being: exercise, gym, massage, sports and hobbies, going for a walk, meditation, reading, music etc)
Flexible work arrangements (options for structuring work hours and location)
How flexible is your job? How much control do you have over your work schedule?
Communication (discuss work-life expectations with your employer and family)
How can we communicate our work-li fe needs to our employers and families?
Setting realistic goals (avoid overcommitting and prioritize well-being)
Saying no (learn to decline tasks that overload your schedule)
How good are you at saying ‘no’ to things? How can you politely say no in English?
Apologise first: I’m afraid…. / I’m really sorry, but…/I’d love to, but…
Offer another option or suggestion: Let’s make arrangements when I’m not so busy, / I can’t help you with that, but you could….. / (to your boss) Yes, I can do that, but what would you like me to postpone so that I have the time?
…and now it’s your turn to practise your English. How well is your work and personal life balanced? Do you feel overwhelmed at times? What are the biggest challenges you face in achieving work-life balance?
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In next week’s episode: 8 common colloquial expressions – Part 12
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The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’