Shadowing Practice: Talking About Work & Life Balance in English | Easy English Podcast - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Everyday English Academy,
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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Everyday English Academy,
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where we make English simple and enjoyable.
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I'm Sarah.
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And I'm Mike.
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Hello to all of our wonderful listeners,
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wherever you are in the world right now.
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Mike, I heard you took a day off last Friday.
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Good for you.
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Yes, I finally did it.
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A full day off, just for me.
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That's amazing.
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So what did you do?
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Did you relax?
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Go somewhere nice?
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Well, I cleaned my entire apartment.
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Okay.
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Then I did three loads of laundry.
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Hmm.
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Then I went to the bank,
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the supermarket, and the post office.
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Mike.
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And then I answered a few work emails.
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Just a few.
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Mike, that is not a day off.
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That is a second job.
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What?
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I was very productive.
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That's the problem.
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A day off means you rest.
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You did more on your day off than most people do at work.
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Okay.
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Maybe I have a small problem.
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A small problem?
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You don't know how to stop.
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And honestly, I think a lot of people listening right now have the same problem.
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You might be right.
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I just, I feel strange when I do nothing, like I'm wasting time.
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And that is exactly what we're talking about today.
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Work and life balance in English.
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Yes.
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How to talk about that tricky balance between working hard and actually living your life.
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And this is such a useful topic because everyone deals with this.
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Students, workers, parents, everyone.
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True.
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And today we'll learn how to talk about it in natural, everyday English.
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So stay with us.
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And if you enjoy learning with us,
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please subscribe to Everyday English Academy me.
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Yes.
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Click that subscribe button and give this episode a like.
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It really helps us reach more learners like you.
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All right, Mike.
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Let's start with something simple.
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What does work-life balance even mean?
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Good question.
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I think a lot of people hear balance and they think it means exactly 50-50.
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Half work, half fun.
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Right.
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Like a perfect scale.
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But that's not really how it works, is it?
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No. Some weeks you work more,
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some weeks you relax more.
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Balance doesn't mean equal.
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It means you feel like you have some control.
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Yes.
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It means work is not eating your whole life.
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you still have time for friends, hobbies, rest.
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And for cooking pasta without burning it.
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Hey, that was one time.
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But yes, balance means your life doesn't feel like it's only about work.
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And here's a useful word for this, juggle.
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When you juggle, you try to manage many things at the same time.
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Like in a circus.
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Someone throwing balls in the air and trying to catch them all.
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Exactly.
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I'm juggling work, family, and my English studies.
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It means you're trying to do everything at once.
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And honestly, most adults are juggling something.
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That's just normal life.
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But the problem is when you're juggling too many things and you start dropping everything.
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Yes.
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When every ball falls on the floor,
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that's when you know something is wrong.
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Okay, so let's be honest.
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What are the signs that your balance is bad?
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Because I think a lot of people don't even realize they have a problem.
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Oh, I have a good one.
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Do you check work emails before you get out of bed?
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Mmm, prefer not to answer that question.
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That's a yes.
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And listeners, do you do this?
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Be honest.
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Tell us in the comments.
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We want to know.
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Okay, fine.
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Yes, sometimes I check emails in bed,
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but only because I want to know if something urgent happened.
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Nothing urgent happens at 6 a.m., Mike.
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You don't know that.
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What if my boss sent something important?
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Then it can wait until you brush your teeth.
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Fair point.
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But here's another sign.
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Have you ever been at dinner with friends and you're thinking about work?
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Oh, yes.
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Your body is at the restaurant,
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but your brain is still at the office.
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Exactly.
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Your friend is telling you a story and you're nodding,
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but inside you're thinking, did I send that email?
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That is so common.
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And it means you can't disconnect.
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To disconnect means to mentally stop thinking about work.
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Yes, like turning off a computer in your head.
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I need to disconnect from work when I get home.
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But it's hard because our phones are always there and work follows us everywhere.
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That's true.
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And I think that is why this is so difficult for people.
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Twenty years ago, you left the office and work was done.
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Now your office is in your pocket.
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Your boss can message you at 10 p.m on a Tuesday.
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And you feel like you have to answer.
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Do you, though?
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Well, no, but it feels that way.
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And that is where boundaries become important.
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Right.
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Boundaries are limits you set to protect your time and your energy.
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Like saying, after 7 p.m.,
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I don't check work messages.
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That's a boundary.
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Exactly.
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She set clear boundaries with her boss about working on weekends.
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Boundaries sound easy, but they're actually really hard to keep.
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They are!
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Because there's always that little voice saying,
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just check one email, just one.
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And one email becomes five,
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and five becomes, well, I might as well finish this report.
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And suddenly it's 11pm and you're working again.
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I feel personally attacked right now.
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Good!
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But seriously, when you don't have boundaries,
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everything starts to feel overloaded.
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Overloaded means you have more work or responsibility than you can manage.
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Like your brain is a backpack and someone keeps putting more and more things inside.
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Yes, until the backpack breaks.
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I felt so overloaded last month that I couldn't even enjoy my weekends.
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And when you're overloaded, you also feel worn out.
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Worn out means extremely tired.
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Not just, oh, I'm a bit sleepy.
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It's deep tiredness.
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Like your batteries are completely empty.
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After working six days in a row,
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I was totally worn out.
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Yes.
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And when you're worn out, everything feels harder.
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Cooking feels hard.
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Talking to friends feels hard.
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Even watching TV feels hard because your brain is just done.
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I know that feeling.
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You sit down to watch something and you can't even choose a show because your brain has no energy left.
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You just stare at the screen for 20 minutes scrolling through options.
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So true.
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Okay, so here's a question for our listeners.
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Are you a person who works too much?
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Or are you actually the opposite?
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Someone who maybe slacks off a little?
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Be honest.
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Tell us in the comments.
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Oh, slack off.
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That's a fun one.
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To slack off means to do less work than you should.
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to be a bit lazy.
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Like when you're at work,
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but you're watching videos on your phone under the desk.
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Not that I would ever do that.
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Sure, Mike.
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He always slacks off on Friday afternoons.
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That's actually very accurate for a lot of people.
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Friday afternoon, the brain says, we're done.
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Weekend mode.
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The brain just leaves early.
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But okay, why is it so hard to stop working,
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even when we know we should rest?
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I think sometimes people feel guilty.
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Like, if I'm not working, I'm wasting time.
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Yes, I definitely feel that.
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If I'm sitting on the sofa doing nothing?
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A voice in my head says,
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shouldn't you be doing something?
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But doing nothing is doing something.
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Resting is not lazy.
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Resting is important.
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I know that.
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In theory.
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In practice, I still reach for my laptop.
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And that's the trap.
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Because when you never rest,
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you start to feel on edge.
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On edge means you feel stressed,
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nervous, or tense, like you could snap at any moment.
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She's been on edge all week because of a big project at work.
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Yes, and people who are on edge are not fun to be around.
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They get annoyed easily, they can't relax, everything bothers them.
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I was definitely on edge last month.
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My friend asked me a simple question,
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and I almost got angry for no reason.
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See?
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That's your body telling you, stop, take a break.
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Okay, so let's talk about things that actually help,
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because we don't want to just complain.
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True.
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Complaining is fun, but not helpful.
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The first thing that helped me was setting a log-off time.
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To log off means to finish working, especially on a computer.
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Like actually closing your laptop and saying, I'm done for today.
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Exactly.
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I now log off at 6 p.m every day, no matter what.
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I log off at 6 and I don't touch work until morning.
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And does it work?
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Most days, yes.
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Some days I cheat a little,
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but having that time in my head really helps.
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I think the problem is people keep saying, oh, I'll rest later.
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I'll take a holiday later.
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and they postpone it forever.
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Postpone means to move something to a later time.
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Yes.
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I keep postponing my vacation because work is too busy.
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And later never comes.
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There's always more work.
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So if you keep postponing rest, you'll be waiting forever.
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That's very true.
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Another thing that helps me is taking a breather during the day.
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To take a breather means to take a short break to relax.
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Just a few minutes.
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I love that.
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Not a big holiday.
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Just five minutes of peace.
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Exactly.
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I'm going to take a breather before this next meeting.
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Just step outside, drink some water, breathe.
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Even five minutes can change your whole afternoon.
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It really can.
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And here's something I learned recently.
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Having a hobby that has nothing to do with work is so important.
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Oh, yes, because it gives your brain something different to think about.
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I started cooking new recipes on weekends.
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Nothing fancy, but it's creative and fun.
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And my brain completely forgets about work for an hour.
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That's perfect.
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And it doesn't have to be cooking.
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It can be walking, drawing,
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playing games, learning guitar, anything that makes you happy.
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Yes.
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What do you do to relax after work, Sarah?
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Honestly, I go for walks,
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even just 20 minutes around my neighborhood.
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Fresh air, some music in my ears,
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and my brain calms down.
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Simple but effective.
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The best things usually are.
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And listeners, we want to hear from you.
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What is one thing you do to relax after work or school?
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Write it in the comments.
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Even one sentence is great English practice.
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All right, Mike.
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Should we do a quick review of the words from today?
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Let's do it.
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First, juggle.
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Managing many things at the same time.
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I'm juggling three projects right now.
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Boundaries.
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Limits you set to protect your time and energy.
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It's important to have boundaries between work and personal life.
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Worn out.
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Extremely tired from too much work.
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I'm worn out.
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I need a long weekend.
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Overloaded.
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Having more work than you can manage.
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My schedule is completely overloaded this month.
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Disconnect.
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To mentally stop thinking about work.
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I try to disconnect from work after dinner.
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Log off.
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To finish working, especially on a computer.
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I always log off at the same time every day.
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Postpone.
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To move something to a later time.
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Don't postpone your rest.
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You need it now.
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Take a breather, to take a short break.
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Let me take a breather before we continue.
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On edge, feeling stressed, nervous, or tense.
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He's been on edge because of work.
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And slack off, to do less work than you should.
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It's okay to slack off a little on Fridays.
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Only a little.
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So, remember everyone, balance is not about being perfect.
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It's about giving yourself permission to rest sometimes.
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Yes, work is important, but your life is important too.
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And if you enjoyed this episode,
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please subscribe to Everyday English Academy and give us a like.
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Share this with someone who needs to hear it.
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Maybe someone who is a little bit overloaded right now.
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Thank you so much for spending time with us today.
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Keep practicing, keep learning, and remember,
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it's okay to log off sometimes.
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Stay relaxed, stay happy, and we'll see you in the next episode.
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Bye everyone.
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Goodbye.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice discussing the important topic of work and life balance in English. You'll learn how to express thoughts and feelings about managing work responsibilities while also enjoying your personal life. This dialogue illustrates a common situation many people face—finding time to relax amidst busy schedules. By actively engaging with the language used in this context, you will improve your English speaking practice and gain confidence in discussing similar experiences in your daily life.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Day off - A day when you do not work.
- Productive - Achieving a significant amount of work or results.
- Balance - A state of equilibrium between different aspects of life.
- Wasting time - Spending time in a way that is not useful or productive.
- Feel strange - To experience discomfort or unease about a certain situation.
- Living your life - Engaging in personal activities and enjoying time away from work.
- Emails - Messages sent electronically, often related to work.
- Tricky balance - A challenging situation where two opposing factors must be managed.
Practice Tips
To effectively practice the content from this lesson, consider using a technique called shadowspeaks. This method involves listening to the conversation and mimicking it by speaking along with the podcast at the same time. The tone and speed of Sarah and Mike are approachable yet natural, making it an excellent exercise for shadow speech. Here are some tailored tips to enhance your practice:
- Focus on rhythm: Pay attention to the way Sarah and Mike emphasize certain phrases. Try to match their rhythm when you speak.
- Listen and repeat: Isolate short segments from the transcript. Listen closely, pause, and repeat what you hear to build confidence in your pronunciation.
- Practice with a partner: If possible, share your reflections on work-life balance with a friend or language partner. Take turns practicing the conversation using key vocabulary!
- Recording yourself: Consider recording your shadowing session. This will help you identify areas where you excel and where you might need more work.
- Engage with real-life scenarios: After practicing, think of your own experiences regarding work-life balance and practice discussing them using the new vocabulary.
By integrating these strategies into your English speaking practice, you will not only sharpen your language skills but also gain valuable conversational tools to handle discussions on work and life balance effectively.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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