Work-life balance — ready-made English lesson, C1

Lesson goal: Students can discuss stress, burnout and well-being at work, and argue for changes using inversion and cleft sentences for emphasis.

Add the lesson to get your own copies of the word set and exercises; the lesson opens in the builder, where you can adjust the steps and teach it.

Lesson plan

1
Warm-up
Questions to get the student talking and lead into the topic.
- How many hours a week do you think it's reasonable to work?
- What do you do to switch off after a long day?
- Do you check work messages in the evenings or at weekends?
- Have you ever felt completely exhausted by work or study?
2
New words
Meet the words and practise them in games.
FlashcardsMatch the pairs
well-being · burnout · resilience · sedentary · nutritious · chronic · recuperate · immune system · mindfulness · withdrawal symptoms · holistic · overexert · underlying condition · relapse · a wake-up call
All words in the set
3
Exercises
The lesson's words in context. Only you see the answers.
1. Fill the gap
  After three years of sixty-hour weeks, she was suffering from ___ and had to take six months off.
  Answer: burnout
2. Fill the gap
  Sitting at a desk all day is a classic example of a ___ lifestyle.
  Answer: sedentary
3. Fill the gap
  Not until he collapsed at his desk ___ he realise how serious the problem was.
  Answer: did
4. Fill the gap
  What really helped me recover ___ learning to say no to extra work.
  Answer: was
5. Multiple choice
  The panic attack was ___: he finally understood he had to slow down.
  a wake-up calla relapsean underlying conditiona withdrawal symptom
6. Multiple choice
  Which sentence is correct?
  Rarely do employees take all the holiday they are entitled to.Rarely employees take all the holiday they are entitled to.Rarely employees do take all the holiday they are entitled to.
7. Multiple choice
  A holistic approach to health means treating ...
  the whole person, body and mindonly the symptomspeople with herbs instead of medicine
8. True / false
  Read: "Several companies have trialled a four-day week with no loss of pay. Productivity stayed the same or rose, while sick days fell sharply. Critics argue, however, that the model is hard to apply in hospitals or schools." The trials showed that productivity fell.
  Answer: False
9. True / false
  Read the text again. Critics believe the four-day week may not work in every sector.
  Answer: True
10. Discussion question
  Should employers be legally responsible for their staff's mental well-being? Give your view with reasons, using at least one inversion or cleft sentence.
  Sample answer: To some extent, yes. What employers control is workload, and an unrealistic workload is the most common cause of burnout. Only when companies are held responsible will they take the problem seriously. That said, personal resilience matters too, and no law can create it.
4
Speaking
The student answers using the new words.
- Is a four-day working week realistic in your country? Who would benefit most?
- Does working from home improve or damage work-life balance?
- Should people have the legal right to ignore work messages after hours?
- Is mindfulness genuinely useful, or just a fashionable trend?
- What was a wake-up call in your own life, and what did you change?
5
Review
A quiz on the lesson's words. With a student, it's homework on their link.
Quiz

Lesson plan

Warm-up

Questions to get the student talking and lead into the topic.

How many hours a week do you think it's reasonable to work?
What do you do to switch off after a long day?
Do you check work messages in the evenings or at weekends?
Have you ever felt completely exhausted by work or study?

New words

Meet the words and practise them in games.

FlashcardsMatch the pairs

well-being · burnout · resilience · sedentary · nutritious · chronic · recuperate · immune system · mindfulness · withdrawal symptoms · holistic · overexert · underlying condition · relapse · a wake-up call

All words in the set

Exercises

The lesson's words in context. Only you see the answers.

Fill the gap
After three years of sixty-hour weeks, she was suffering from ___ and had to take six months off.
Answer: burnout
Fill the gap
Sitting at a desk all day is a classic example of a ___ lifestyle.
Answer: sedentary
Fill the gap
Not until he collapsed at his desk ___ he realise how serious the problem was.
Answer: did
Fill the gap
What really helped me recover ___ learning to say no to extra work.
Answer: was
Multiple choice
The panic attack was ___: he finally understood he had to slow down.
a wake-up calla relapsean underlying conditiona withdrawal symptom
Multiple choice
Which sentence is correct?
Rarely do employees take all the holiday they are entitled to.Rarely employees take all the holiday they are entitled to.Rarely employees do take all the holiday they are entitled to.
Multiple choice
A holistic approach to health means treating ...
the whole person, body and mindonly the symptomspeople with herbs instead of medicine
True / false
Read: "Several companies have trialled a four-day week with no loss of pay. Productivity stayed the same or rose, while sick days fell sharply. Critics argue, however, that the model is hard to apply in hospitals or schools." The trials showed that productivity fell.
Answer: False
True / false
Read the text again. Critics believe the four-day week may not work in every sector.
Answer: True
Discussion question
Should employers be legally responsible for their staff's mental well-being? Give your view with reasons, using at least one inversion or cleft sentence.
Sample answer: To some extent, yes. What employers control is workload, and an unrealistic workload is the most common cause of burnout. Only when companies are held responsible will they take the problem seriously. That said, personal resilience matters too, and no law can create it.

Speaking

The student answers using the new words.

Is a four-day working week realistic in your country? Who would benefit most?
Does working from home improve or damage work-life balance?
Should people have the legal right to ignore work messages after hours?
Is mindfulness genuinely useful, or just a fashionable trend?
What was a wake-up call in your own life, and what did you change?

Review

A quiz on the lesson's words. With a student, it's homework on their link.

Quiz