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THE BLUE TREE
Personal
Productivity
CEFR B1
Intermediate
warm up
Answer the questions below. Listen to some model answers and report back what you heard.
| Why do many people find it difficult to switch off from work in the evenings? |
TRANSCRIPT
From a practical perspective, modern technology is probably the biggest reason. Smartphones constantly deliver emails and messages, so the workday never really ends. There’s also a psychological factor — people often feel that being available shows commitment. The problem with that idea is that the brain never gets proper recovery time. Without clear mental separation, work thoughts continue running in the background, even during dinner or family conversations.
| What’s best when work and home overlap — strict separation or flexible boundaries? |
TRANSCRIPT
In my experience, flexible boundaries usually work better than strict rules. Life rarely fits into neat categories, and sometimes important matters appear outside office hours. However, flexibility only works when people clearly decide when they are available and when they are not. Without that clarity, flexibility quickly turns into being always on duty. The key is being intentional rather than reactive about when work enters personal time.
| Advise a friend whose job has no clear boundary between work time and personal time. |
TRANSCRIPT
The practical question is when the workday actually ends. I would suggest defining specific hours and treating them as fixed appointments, just like picking up my daughter Sally from her activities. It also helps to write a short end-of-day summary, so the mind can let go of unfinished tasks. Communicating these limits to colleagues is essential — otherwise people will assume that being available late is acceptable.
LISTENING
LISTENING FOR GIST
Listen to the article. What is the main message?
Summary
What’s the best summary for this listening?
What's the best summary of what you have just heard?
reading
READING
Read the article. Move your mouse over the underlined words to see Polish translations.
Protect Your Non-Work Time
Some jobs have very clear lines between when you’re “on” and when you’re “off.” But when you work in a role where the lines are 1. blurred — or potentially non-existent — it’s important to protect your non-work time.
If you feel like work is taking over most of your waking hours, start by clearly defining what “after hours” means for you. 2. Take into account the number of hours you’re expected to work each week, as well as personal 3. commitments like taking your kids to school, making a certain train, or attending an exercise class you really enjoy. When do you need to start and stop to put in the appropriate amount of work time?
Then, develop mental 4. clarity about what needs to get done and when you will do it. 5. Keep track of your tasks and plan them out. Make sure you block off time for an end-of-workday 6. wrap-up, where you review and make sure you did everything you needed to do for the day.
Lastly, communicate with your colleagues about how (or if) you want to be contacted during your off hours. Really guard your time. If you don’t, you won’t get the mental break that everyone needs.
zamaać, zamazywać, rozmazać
Wziąć pod uwagę
zobowiązanie
czystość, jasność, klarowność
być z czymś na bieżąco, kontrolować coś na bieżąco
podsumowanie
COMREHENSION
Now answer the questions below. Refer to the information from the article.
- When is it especially important to protect your non-work time?
- What should you take into account when you define your “after hours”?
- What strategies can you use to protect your non-work time?
- Do you have a personal system or strategy to keeping track of your tasks and duties?
- Why do you think it is a good idea to tell your workmates how you want to be contacted after hours?
- What does the expression “guard your time” imply?
POLL
Cast your vote in the poll.
DISCUSSION
DIALOGUE
Friday afternoon. Alita and Kat are having coffee after a long week.
Read or role-play this dialogue.
Alita: Kat, can I ask you something? How do you actually manage to disconnect from work in the evenings? I’ve been struggling with it lately.
Kat: That’s something I had to learn the hard way. When Sally was younger, I realised I couldn’t keep checking emails during family dinners. So I started setting a clear cut-off time — 6 p.m., no exceptions.
Alita: Just like that? Doesn’t it feel difficult when something urgent comes in?
Kat: In real life, most “urgent” things can actually wait until morning. The practical question is whether replying at 9 p.m. really changes the outcome. Usually, it doesn’t.
Alita: That makes a lot of sense. I never thought about it that way.
Kat: Another thing that helps me is a short end-of-day routine. Before I close my laptop, I write down three priorities for the next day. Then my brain knows the work is parked somewhere safe.
Alita: Oh, I like that. It sounds almost like closing a door behind you.
Kat: Exactly. And the third thing — I told my colleagues clearly how to reach me after hours. Only emergencies, only by phone. Emails can wait.
Alita: And they respect that?
Kat: Most of them, yes. People usually follow the limits you set, but only if you actually set them. If you stay available all the time, they assume you’re fine with it.
Alita: That’s really helpful. I think my main problem is that I never made those rules clear — not even to myself.
Kat: That’s where it always starts. Once you know your own limits, it becomes much easier to protect them.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Discuss these questions. Refer to the ideas from this lesson and your own experience.
| 1 | Why do many people find it difficult to set clear limits between work and personal life? |
| 2 | What’s best for long-term wellbeing — being constantly available or having strict non-work hours? |
| 3 | Many people believe that replying to messages quickly shows commitment. Why might this attitude actually harm a career? |
| 4 | Advise someone who feels guilty whenever they ignore work messages in the evening. |
| 5 | How can a short end-of-day routine change the way people experience their free time? |
MIND-MAP
Dive deeper into this topic with the help of this interactive MINDOMO mind-map.
COMMENTS
How important is to protect your non-work time? Have you found a way to balance work and life?
Share your views and experience here.
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