ฝึกพูดภาษาอังกฤษด้วยเทคนิค Shadowing จากวิดีโอ: Talking About Work & Life Balance in English | Easy English Podcast

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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Everyday English Academy,

where we make English simple and enjoyable.

I'm Sarah.

And I'm Mike.

Hello to all of our wonderful listeners,

wherever you are in the world right now.

Mike, I heard you took a day off last Friday.

Good for you.

Yes, I finally did it.

A full day off, just for me.

That's amazing.

So what did you do?

Did you relax?

Go somewhere nice?

Well, I cleaned my entire apartment.

Okay.

Then I did three loads of laundry.

Hmm.

Then I went to the bank,

the supermarket, and the post office.

Mike.

And then I answered a few work emails.

Just a few.

Mike, that is not a day off.

That is a second job.

What?

I was very productive.

That's the problem.

A day off means you rest.

You did more on your day off than most people do at work.

Okay.

Maybe I have a small problem.

A small problem?

You don't know how to stop.

And honestly, I think a lot of people listening right now have the same problem.

You might be right.

I just, I feel strange when I do nothing, like I'm wasting time.

And that is exactly what we're talking about today.

Work and life balance in English.

Yes.

How to talk about that tricky balance between working hard and actually living your life.

And this is such a useful topic because everyone deals with this.

Students, workers, parents, everyone.

True.

And today we'll learn how to talk about it in natural, everyday English.

So stay with us.

And if you enjoy learning with us,

please subscribe to Everyday English Academy me.

Yes.

Click that subscribe button and give this episode a like.

It really helps us reach more learners like you.

All right, Mike.

Let's start with something simple.

What does work-life balance even mean?

Good question.

I think a lot of people hear balance and they think it means exactly 50-50.

Half work, half fun.

Right.

Like a perfect scale.

But that's not really how it works, is it?

No. Some weeks you work more,

some weeks you relax more.

Balance doesn't mean equal.

It means you feel like you have some control.

Yes.

It means work is not eating your whole life.

you still have time for friends, hobbies, rest.

And for cooking pasta without burning it.

Hey, that was one time.

But yes, balance means your life doesn't feel like it's only about work.

And here's a useful word for this, juggle.

When you juggle, you try to manage many things at the same time.

Like in a circus.

Someone throwing balls in the air and trying to catch them all.

Exactly.

I'm juggling work, family, and my English studies.

It means you're trying to do everything at once.

And honestly, most adults are juggling something.

That's just normal life.

But the problem is when you're juggling too many things and you start dropping everything.

Yes.

When every ball falls on the floor,

that's when you know something is wrong.

Okay, so let's be honest.

What are the signs that your balance is bad?

Because I think a lot of people don't even realize they have a problem.

Oh, I have a good one.

Do you check work emails before you get out of bed?

Mmm, prefer not to answer that question.

That's a yes.

And listeners, do you do this?

Be honest.

Tell us in the comments.

We want to know.

Okay, fine.

Yes, sometimes I check emails in bed,

but only because I want to know if something urgent happened.

Nothing urgent happens at 6 a.m., Mike.

You don't know that.

100

What if my boss sent something important?

101

Then it can wait until you brush your teeth.

102

Fair point.

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But here's another sign.

104

Have you ever been at dinner with friends and you're thinking about work?

105

Oh, yes.

106

Your body is at the restaurant,

107

but your brain is still at the office.

108

Exactly.

109

Your friend is telling you a story and you're nodding,

110

but inside you're thinking, did I send that email?

111

That is so common.

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And it means you can't disconnect.

113

To disconnect means to mentally stop thinking about work.

114

Yes, like turning off a computer in your head.

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I need to disconnect from work when I get home.

116

But it's hard because our phones are always there and work follows us everywhere.

117

That's true.

118

And I think that is why this is so difficult for people.

119

Twenty years ago, you left the office and work was done.

120

Now your office is in your pocket.

121

Your boss can message you at 10 p.m on a Tuesday.

122

And you feel like you have to answer.

123

Do you, though?

124

Well, no, but it feels that way.

125

And that is where boundaries become important.

126

Right.

127

Boundaries are limits you set to protect your time and your energy.

128

Like saying, after 7 p.m.,

129

I don't check work messages.

130

That's a boundary.

131

Exactly.

132

She set clear boundaries with her boss about working on weekends.

133

Boundaries sound easy, but they're actually really hard to keep.

134

They are!

135

Because there's always that little voice saying,

136

just check one email, just one.

137

And one email becomes five,

138

and five becomes, well, I might as well finish this report.

139

And suddenly it's 11pm and you're working again.

140

I feel personally attacked right now.

141

Good!

142

But seriously, when you don't have boundaries,

143

everything starts to feel overloaded.

144

Overloaded means you have more work or responsibility than you can manage.

145

Like your brain is a backpack and someone keeps putting more and more things inside.

146

Yes, until the backpack breaks.

147

I felt so overloaded last month that I couldn't even enjoy my weekends.

148

And when you're overloaded, you also feel worn out.

149

Worn out means extremely tired.

150

Not just, oh, I'm a bit sleepy.

151

It's deep tiredness.

152

Like your batteries are completely empty.

153

After working six days in a row,

154

I was totally worn out.

155

Yes.

156

And when you're worn out, everything feels harder.

157

Cooking feels hard.

158

Talking to friends feels hard.

159

Even watching TV feels hard because your brain is just done.

160

I know that feeling.

161

You sit down to watch something and you can't even choose a show because your brain has no energy left.

162

You just stare at the screen for 20 minutes scrolling through options.

163

So true.

164

Okay, so here's a question for our listeners.

165

Are you a person who works too much?

166

Or are you actually the opposite?

167

Someone who maybe slacks off a little?

168

Be honest.

169

Tell us in the comments.

170

Oh, slack off.

171

That's a fun one.

172

To slack off means to do less work than you should.

173

to be a bit lazy.

174

Like when you're at work,

175

but you're watching videos on your phone under the desk.

176

Not that I would ever do that.

177

Sure, Mike.

178

He always slacks off on Friday afternoons.

179

That's actually very accurate for a lot of people.

180

Friday afternoon, the brain says, we're done.

181

Weekend mode.

182

The brain just leaves early.

183

But okay, why is it so hard to stop working,

184

even when we know we should rest?

185

I think sometimes people feel guilty.

186

Like, if I'm not working, I'm wasting time.

187

Yes, I definitely feel that.

188

If I'm sitting on the sofa doing nothing?

189

A voice in my head says,

190

shouldn't you be doing something?

191

But doing nothing is doing something.

192

Resting is not lazy.

193

Resting is important.

194

I know that.

195

In theory.

196

In practice, I still reach for my laptop.

197

And that's the trap.

198

Because when you never rest,

199

you start to feel on edge.

200

On edge means you feel stressed,

201

nervous, or tense, like you could snap at any moment.

202

She's been on edge all week because of a big project at work.

203

Yes, and people who are on edge are not fun to be around.

204

They get annoyed easily, they can't relax, everything bothers them.

205

I was definitely on edge last month.

206

My friend asked me a simple question,

207

and I almost got angry for no reason.

208

See?

209

That's your body telling you, stop, take a break.

210

Okay, so let's talk about things that actually help,

211

because we don't want to just complain.

212

True.

213

Complaining is fun, but not helpful.

214

The first thing that helped me was setting a log-off time.

215

To log off means to finish working, especially on a computer.

216

Like actually closing your laptop and saying, I'm done for today.

217

Exactly.

218

I now log off at 6 p.m every day, no matter what.

219

I log off at 6 and I don't touch work until morning.

220

And does it work?

221

Most days, yes.

222

Some days I cheat a little,

223

but having that time in my head really helps.

224

I think the problem is people keep saying, oh, I'll rest later.

225

I'll take a holiday later.

226

and they postpone it forever.

227

Postpone means to move something to a later time.

228

Yes.

229

I keep postponing my vacation because work is too busy.

230

And later never comes.

231

There's always more work.

232

So if you keep postponing rest, you'll be waiting forever.

233

That's very true.

234

Another thing that helps me is taking a breather during the day.

235

To take a breather means to take a short break to relax.

236

Just a few minutes.

237

I love that.

238

Not a big holiday.

239

Just five minutes of peace.

240

Exactly.

241

I'm going to take a breather before this next meeting.

242

Just step outside, drink some water, breathe.

243

Even five minutes can change your whole afternoon.

244

It really can.

245

And here's something I learned recently.

246

Having a hobby that has nothing to do with work is so important.

247

Oh, yes, because it gives your brain something different to think about.

248

I started cooking new recipes on weekends.

249

Nothing fancy, but it's creative and fun.

250

And my brain completely forgets about work for an hour.

251

That's perfect.

252

And it doesn't have to be cooking.

253

It can be walking, drawing,

254

playing games, learning guitar, anything that makes you happy.

255

Yes.

256

What do you do to relax after work, Sarah?

257

Honestly, I go for walks,

258

even just 20 minutes around my neighborhood.

259

Fresh air, some music in my ears,

260

and my brain calms down.

261

Simple but effective.

262

The best things usually are.

263

And listeners, we want to hear from you.

264

What is one thing you do to relax after work or school?

265

Write it in the comments.

266

Even one sentence is great English practice.

267

All right, Mike.

268

Should we do a quick review of the words from today?

269

Let's do it.

270

First, juggle.

271

Managing many things at the same time.

272

I'm juggling three projects right now.

273

Boundaries.

274

Limits you set to protect your time and energy.

275

It's important to have boundaries between work and personal life.

276

Worn out.

277

Extremely tired from too much work.

278

I'm worn out.

279

I need a long weekend.

280

Overloaded.

281

Having more work than you can manage.

282

My schedule is completely overloaded this month.

283

Disconnect.

284

To mentally stop thinking about work.

285

I try to disconnect from work after dinner.

286

Log off.

287

To finish working, especially on a computer.

288

I always log off at the same time every day.

289

Postpone.

290

To move something to a later time.

291

Don't postpone your rest.

292

You need it now.

293

Take a breather, to take a short break.

294

Let me take a breather before we continue.

295

On edge, feeling stressed, nervous, or tense.

296

He's been on edge because of work.

297

And slack off, to do less work than you should.

298

It's okay to slack off a little on Fridays.

299

Only a little.

300

So, remember everyone, balance is not about being perfect.

301

It's about giving yourself permission to rest sometimes.

302

Yes, work is important, but your life is important too.

303

And if you enjoyed this episode,

304

please subscribe to Everyday English Academy and give us a like.

305

Share this with someone who needs to hear it.

306

Maybe someone who is a little bit overloaded right now.

307

Thank you so much for spending time with us today.

308

Keep practicing, keep learning, and remember,

309

it's okay to log off sometimes.

310

Stay relaxed, stay happy, and we'll see you in the next episode.

311

Bye everyone.

312

Goodbye.

TRENDING

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