跟读练习: Talking About Work & Life Balance in English | Easy English Podcast - 通过YouTube学习英语口语
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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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常见发音陷阱
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