IELTS Writing Task 2

Work Life Balance Strategies

people images

Problem and Solution

people images

10 unique answers with expert feedback

Instructions

WRITING TASK 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Nowadays many people complain that they have difficulties in maintaining work-life balance.

Why is this the case?

What strategies do you recommend to maintain work-life balance?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Top rated answers

Here are the 5 highest scoring answers by real-users for this IELTS Writing Task 2 Problem and Solution topic.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

1 day ago

Nowadays, it was concerned that numerous people are struggling to maintain their work-life balance. This was mainly due to the increase in workload and inappropriate working hours. Firstly, in most of the fields due to limited working staffs, others had to work overtime, this results in people suffering from maintaining the work-life balance. This leads to mental stress and are not able to maintain a healthy lifestyle. For instance the nurses work for 12 hours daily which is not appropriate to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, in the fields of information technology, staffs had to learn new technologies which cannot be done during working hours, instead they allot sometime at home to update themselves and increase the quality of their work. There are several lifestyle modifications that helps to maintain work-life balance. Staffs should not bring home their work or carry the baggage from the working environment. Instead, they have to spend a lot of time with the family avoiding screen time. People have to consider going for picnics and tours to relieve from the stress of work. Despite these measures, the management has to fix the working hours and hire adequate number of staffs for comfortablework-life balance. The health care workers have to be given limited working hours for the sake of their mental pressure and stress. In conclusion, working professional has to be given a fixed working hours and the job has to be divided among the staffs equally and adequate number of staffs has to be hired for comfortable work-life balance.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

7 days ago

IN RECENT TIMES, MOST INDIVIDUALS COMPLAIN THAT THEY ARE FACING ISSUES TO MAINTAIN PRESONAL AND WORK LIFE. THE MAJOR CAUSE OF THIS ISSUE IS THE HIGHER MANAGEMENT PRESSURE AND EXTEND OF WORKING HOURS, BUT HAVING HYBRID WORK ENVIRONMENT AND FOLLOWING COMPANY WORKING HOURS CAN IMPROVE THIS SITUATION. NOWADAYS MOST OF THE POPULATION ARE FINDING IT DIFFICULT TO HAVE A WELL BALANCED WORK LIFE. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF REASONS BEHIND THIS. ONE AMONG THEM IS THE INCREASED PRESSURE FROM HIGHER AUTHORITIES. MOST OF THE COMPANIES ARE MORE FOCUSED ON ACHIEVING THE PROJECT DEADLINES THAN CARING ABOUT THE EMPLOYEES WELL BEING. INDIVIDUALS HAS TO STRICTLY FOLLOW THE DEADLINES AND MEET THE COMPANIES EXPECTATIONS WHERE THE EMPLOYERS EXPECT THE GOOD QUALITY OF DELIVERY WITHIN A PARTICULAR TIME PERIOD. MOREOVER, EXTENDING WORKING HOURS ON DAILY BASIS HAS ALSO BECOME A MAJOR CAUSE OF THIS ISSUE. EMPLOYEES HAS TO WORK FOR MORE THAN THE SPECIFIED TIME INORDER TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNED TASKS. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE SURVEY CONDUCTED BY WORLD TECHNOLOGY ORGANISATION, 70% OF THE PEOPLE PROVIDED FEEDBACK MENTIONING THEY ARE NOT GETTING ENOUGH TIME TO SPEND WITH FAMILY DUE TO THE WORK PRESSURE BEING EXPERIENCED IN COMPANIES LIKES MICROLAND AND AMAZON. A NUMBER OF STEPS CAN BE TAKEN TO HAVE A WELL BALANCED WORK LIFE. FIRSTLY, COMPANIES CAN IMPLEMENT HYBRID WORKING CULTURE. THIS HELPS EMPLOYEES TO EXPREIENCE FLEXIBILITY IN THE WORK THEY ARE DOING. ADDITIONALLY, INDIVIDUALS CAN WORK FROM HOME IN TWO DAYS A WEEK AND GET A CHANCE TO SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY. SECONDLY, RESTRICTING TO THE WORKING HOURS WITHIN THE COMPANY POLICY WILL HELP INDIVIDUALS TO PARALLELY MAINTAIN THEIR PERSONAL AND WORK LIFE. FOR INSTANCE, 60% OF THE COMPANIES IN BANGALORE PROVIDES HYBRID WORKING ENVIRONMENT WHERE EMPLOYEES STAY IN THE SAME COMPANY FOR LONGER PERIOD. TO CONCLUDE, INDIVIDUALS FACE MANY CHALLENGES TO HAVE A WELL BALANCED WORK LIFE. HAVING A PROPER WORKING ENVIRONMENT WILL PROVIDES PEOPLE THE FLEXIBILITY TO MAINTAIN THIER DAILY LIFE.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

12 days ago

Work life balance is a very importantant area to be maintained by each employed individual and nowadays many are failing in it. This depends on the organization we work or the attitude of employee and it can be easily adjusted if we decided. Mainly people who are living in developing country is facing difficulty to maintain a good work life balance because the country itself is aiming to grow in fast pace for their faster economical growth. Due to this, each employer will try to generate high returnns of income in short span of time. Hence the individuals who are living and working in such coutries will have to take extra efforts or to hold huge business pressure to achieve their organizational goals. Since people are concentrating more on their official matters, they will get only less time to spend with their families. This create problems in their personal life and loose the work life balance. This situation can be handled only if the concerned individual decides and planned well his official and personal duties. Organizational goals cannot be changed by an employee, hence we need to adjust accordingly. Solution for this problem is to finish the official works and need to reach home on time. While we are on office, focus less on personal responsibilities and when we are at residence avoid all kind of official works. On holidays we should spend some quality time with family by planning tour, watching movies, going for shopping, having food from good restaurants and make our dear and near ones very happy. Same like with family, we need to achieve our goals in the stipulated time period to get a better work environment. Also, we need to maintain a healthy relationship with our superiors, subordinates and peer colleagues. It is quiet necessary that we need to be adequately capable to keep the balance of work and personal life in a smooth way. We cannot change the attitude of our country or our company, hence an All working individual need to have a good plan how to maintain a strong balance between work and personal life.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

14 days ago

As new and new developments are happening all over the world,our life is also moving faster and busier in all aspects.Hectic work patterns have resulted in maintaing proper work life balance among people.This essay will deal with this topic in detail. The first and the foremost reason for the imbalanced work-life is the job pressure.Raising competition in all the sectors of bussinesses are putting extreme pressure upon the employees.Consequently,this have created an enormous amount of stress upon them.For instance ,in the field of sales ,meeting the target number within the time-limit is a heavy task for them.Overburning themselves indirectly shoots tension upon the employees forcing them to do overtimes.This is inhibing the time they need to spend with their family.In addition to that,individuals are not getting time for their own personal habits. However,this have not only resulted in poor work-life but also afftected their health both physically and well as mentally.Work holic people started arising which have contributed to deprived family releationships.Moreover,people started focussing on the financial aspects rather that personal family life and that have created a low quality of life. In order to overcome these issues,humans should start thinking from their personal aspects also rather than only focussing their work matters.Punctuality and disciplined way of finishing the things matters alot.We should try to focus on duty during the working hours after that target for the family life.Planning accordingly and doing things efficiently would helps much more.Replacing the old patterns with the new euipments and facilities with helps to finish a target within the allowed time. In conclusion,Work is trying to carve a human being both physically and mentally.Every individual is responsible for their own life and its balance is upon their hands.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

17 days ago

Work-life balance is key to enjoy a happy life. In recent times individuals find it hard to maintain this due to increasing work pressure. I will be outlining a few reasons and solutions to achieve optimal work-life balance.. Firstly, the primary reason disrupting ones work-life balance is due to the enormous pressure employers put on their employees to achieve certain goals and targets. In the competitive workforce, it is essential for each employee to deliver results in order to have a fruitful and successful career. For instance, within a sales driven organization each employee would be given a monthly target to meet their key performance indicators and be incentivised for their achievements. On the other hand, in a performance driven organization, employees must outperform their colleagues to scale up withing an organization. If one does not consistently meet these goals they can easily be replaced by another resource from the abundant pool of candidates looking for employment. In order to maintain a healthy work-life balance, it is essential to be skilled and passionate about your job. If an individual has sufficient training, qualifications and expertise in their field of work, they would be able to achieve any goals set by their organization with perseverance and determination. Additionally, employers need to hire the right people and empower them with the skills and tools to achieve their organisational goals. This can be achieved by conducting peer-to-peer trainings and upskilling opportunities for thier employees to keep up with the recent technological advancements and tools to stay ahead of curve within the current competitive landscape. It is both the employers and employees responsibility to ensure work-life balance is maintained by selective hiring, providing guidance and support for each indidual to excel in their careers and build a successful team. A balanced work environment will automatically result in happy employees and long-term relationships.

All Answers

Here are all the answers by real-users practicing writing for IELTS writing Task 2 Problem and Solution on our IELTS Prep App.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

2 months 25 days ago

In current era, more individuals have raised concerns in sustaining proper work-life balance. It can be due to several reasons. In my opinion, primary reason for this can be manpower shortage in companies. To illustrate with this, in my company, the admin department for whole unit is manned by a single individual. He has multiple job responsibilties to do in a limited time-frame which hampers with his work-life balance as he tends to work overtime on a frequent basis. Secondly, individuals are not having proper knowledge on effective time-management techniques & thirdly lack of policies & procedures in an organization on hybrid work culture which can promote wellness of employees and help in providing work-life balance are missing. There are some strategies which can help in maintaining work-life balance. Companies can do a manpower analysis based on job roles and responsibilities. They can also establish a system to track the working hours of employees and strict avoidance in employee working overtime to be avoided. Organisations can also follow 4 days work and 3 days off approach to promote work-life balance among employees. Learning modules on time-management tools like - Pomodoro technique, which helps in effecient use of time without reducing productivity, then Eisenhower matrix, which helps in priortizing tasks as per their level of importance and lastly an effective tool of delegating jobs to ensure effient use of time, can be widely promoted among employees. Post Pandemic era, I have seen a change in many multiple multi-national conglomerates and organisations wherein they have started adapting these hybrid work culture to promote wellness among employees. This have drastically reduced employee's attrition rate & it has not only contributed in maintaining a healthier work-life balance but have also increased productivity of employees.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

2 months 27 days ago

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance has become increasingly challenging in today's fast-paced world. There are several reasons for this issue, including long working hours, technological advancements, and societal pressures. To begin with, many workplaces demand extended hours to meet deadlines or achieve targets. This often leaves with little time for personal life. Moreover, the rise of digital technology has blurred the boundaries between work and home. Emails, messages, and tasks can now follow employees outside office hours, making it difficult to disconnect. Therefore, social expectations to excel professionally while managing family responsibilities add to the pressure, especially for working parents. To address this problem, several strategies can be implemented. Setting clear boundaries is crucial; for instance, workers should avoid responding to work-related emails during personal time. Employers can also promote flexible working hours or remote work to help individuals manage their time better. Furthermore, engaging in regular activity, medication or hobbies can help reduce stress and maintain mental well-being. Another effective strategy is prioritization. By focusing on essential tasks and delegating where possible, individuals can free up time for personal pursuits. Hence, organizations should foster a supportive culture by encouraging employees to take breaks, use their vacation days, and avoid overworking. In conclusion, while achieving work-life balance is challenging, adopting practical strategies and encouraging a healthier workplace culture can significantly alleviate the issue. This not only benefits staff but also improves productivity and job satisfaction. Employers and employees must work together to create an environment where personnel and professional lives can coexist harmoniously. Ultimately, prioritising mental well-being and setting boundaries will lead to a happier and more sustainable lifestyle.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

3 months 19 days ago

We all know that work plays a very important role in everyone's life as it helps to shape a person's identity, stucture our time and helps us to come in contact with others. In today's fast-paced society people in the work force are finfing it difficult to accomplish their targets within Friday and hence, donot find a breath of fresh air in the weekend. Unsatisfied by their weekend, they dread for another week of work coming up and the never cycle that continues henceforth. Work-life balance doesnot mean an equal balance, It means the power to remain competetive at work while maintaining a healthy and happy lifestyle at home. It means achieving the goals at work as well as having ample time for leisure. In contemporary societies, employees have started to work over a long period of time which leads to burn out, fatigue and irritability amongst them. Consequently, this is reducing their performance and credibility at work. Due to the inflexibility of work timings, employees are working for multiple shifts which in turn is making them lack interest and interaction with their own families. In today's world, both men and women enjoy high social recognition which is making them take unsolicited stress in their working environment. The strains are creationg irreversible negative impact on their psychological as well as physiological health which in turn is having a negative impact on cardio-vascular, respiratory systems. Their entire immune system is degenerating because mostly people are working on computers and leading a sedentary lifestyle. The most important way to handle this growing issue of job-life balance is to schedule time. Companies specially their Human Resource depatments should proactively fix weekly hours of service. Additionally, giving an extra day-off and having on-site meal availability can help the employees to keep a check on their health as well. Health and medical insurance should be offered to the employees and provision should be there for open spaces or a gym inside the office premises. Moreover, Employee Assistance program can be held from time to time to keep personal issues at bay and have a control over Mental health also. Lastly, paid vacations can help rejuvenate the employees and this should be a part of the package. Thus, work-life balance is about creating and maintaining an inclusive atmosphere so that work and personal life can be managed and employee performance and satisfaction can be improved.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

3 months 24 days ago

I agree with the idea that maintaining work-life balance has become a major issue for all working professionals. This has become one of the major reasons for people experiencing physical and mental issues like back pain, anxiety, and depression. Individuals don't have enough time to spend some personal hours with their friends and family, whereas vacations are considered a luxury. This leads to boredom among the office workers due to their monotonous life. Now, it's time to discuss the reasons behind the imbalance in the professional and personal lives of people. One of the major causes of this problem is the unfair working hours and inadequate salary. Most of the people work the usual 9-to-5 jobs six days a week, which makes up almost 50 working hours a week. Moreover, a large quantity of employees are asked to work overtime even on the weekends just for a mere amount of overtime pay. Nevertheless, most of the workers agree to do overtime to save more money, and they end up sacrificing their health for it. For example, one of my friends has been working as a data analyst at a renowned firm for a year and a half, and she has been working almost seven days a week so that she can put aside some money for her higher studies. I have always felt that she has not been receiving enough salary for the hard work she has been investing in this company. Hence, this proves my statement that insufficient pay and unhealthy working hours are the two major reasons for imperfect work-life balance. We can take several measures to maintain strong work-life stability. Firstly, companies can organize a field trip every month, which will help the employees freshen up their minds and have better performance at work. Secondly, employers should also consider providing a few paid leaves to their employees, so that they can spend some quality time with their loved ones. Lastly, the offices should also provide some incentives, like holidays, gift cards, or a small bonus to motivate their workers. To sum up, I believe that having a proper work-life balance will always prove to be helpful to the firms in the long run, as the employees are one of the crucial parts of its success. If the employees are not happy or satisfied, their performance will be affected, which will directly impact the company's goals. Therefore, providing adequate stipends and incentives, along with a healthy work schedule is very important for both the corporation and its staff.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

3 months 24 days ago

Maintaining work-life balance seems like a difficult task these days as work is prioritized over physical and mental well-being. This appears to be the case among several working individuals as workplace demands attention round the clock. This essay will present resons why work-life balance is difficult to manage, while stating solutions to how to overcome the same. The workforce experiences burn-out easily as they are unable to catch a break from work, this further grows into neglecting ones needs and only focus on work. As a result of growing in an reward-based education system, by the time children grow up, they suffer the need to take up work as a priority, similar to when studies were given more weightage as compared to extra-curricular activities in childhood. Furthermore, a lack of maintaining boundaries at workplace can also lead to exacting work. For instance, over-time is seen as a badge of honor in certain offices, and if one expresses resistance, it can lead to set-backs afterwards. Aother reason is employees who work from home can also experience stress from work throughout the day, as they cannot simply disconnect from work, this was the case during the COVID pandemic as well, which lead to a great deal of workers feel exhausted as home became their workplace. However, there are several practises that can help in maintaining work-life balance. Firstly, creating healthy work boundaries, this will help by restricting work to certain hours of the day. Secondly, practicing time-management and looking for activities outside of work. This will help build focus and boost productivity during work hours. For example creating hobbies and participating in community activities, will encourage individuals to take time out of work and maintain their mental and plysical health. In conclusion, even though work demands a lot attention and is important, it can be taxing at times. Hence, it is important to balance work and activities out-side of work. This not only improves one's work productivity but also builds a well-rounded lifestyle.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

4 months 2 days ago

Work life balance is of utmost importance if professionals have to live life to the fullest and be joyful. In today's scenario, stress is a term that has been increasingly used and mental health issues amongst working individuals is alarmingly increasing, almost exponentially. A tactical approach is most definitely required, to estabilish work life balance at different professional spheres. Every employee in every workspace, does face difficulty, at one time or another in maintaining harmony between their job and daily life. Firstly, if one does not enjoy and love the occupation he/she is in, then achieving stability and happiness becomes an arduous task for life in general. Going to work should be something one looks forward to on a daily basis, but this is easier said than done. So it is a personal responsibility, to select an appropriate field of work, tailored to ones own needs and interests. Nevertheless, many professionals are not at liberty to work at places they like. This being said, the work environment is crucial aspect in constructing a healhty mindset. Work incentives, bonuses, allowances with adequate off days from work, all help in an individual in spending quality time with family and pursuing ones own interests outside of work. Understanding and cooperative colleagues further aid this process. At an individual level, discipline is to be practiced in not over working or indulging in laziness. Techniques like meditation, sports and short vacations help in disseminating one responsibilities inside and outside of work more seamlessly as both mind and body are kept optimally functioning. To conclude, work life balance is something that has to be consciously worked at to achieve a more than satisfactory quality of living.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

4 months 3 days ago

These days various individuals grumble about the hardships they face in continuing work-life schedule.This can be seen as hectic work as well as pressure from the boss and many other things.Both the cases and strategies are discussed below. In my understanding as I have seen the growing number of adults struggling to make job and personal life fulfilment mainly due to tiring work time table.This has been the quintessential among workers as they are not able to give their time to their families,thus making them vulnerable to not only physical health problems as well as mental health problems.These days employees after coming from work have also been given tasks to complete them at their home just to meet their deadlines thus making it difficult for them to concentrate on their personal life.For example,if an employe is putting extra hours and not getting enough credit,however not only is he not being awarded but he is getting extra work to complete in his personal life and making him emotionally as well as mentally drained. There are various strategies to tackle this growing situation.First and foremost is to reduce the number of working hours so that worker can not be put under scanner for finishing the work before the deadline.When we reduce the time it gives them the sense of ease and moreover they can work more hardly as compared to before.Secondly,there should be few breaks during the day so that they can go and have some chat with their colleagues or call their family members,in that way they can feel relaxed,furthermore that will help them to concentrate on their job really well.For instance,if an individual will receive a sense of encouragement from his boss even though the task his employee achieved was really small but eventually that will help him to grow and in near future employee will work more efficiently. To conclude this workers struggling to maintain work-life balance is mainly due to hectic work schedule and pressure from the bosses.However,the strategies would be to reduce the number of working hours and not to give additional tasks while they are at home.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

2 months 23 days ago

Nowadays the global issues like unemployment, competitive environment, poor wages have caused several problems to the masses. In recent times, people find it challenging to maintain the balance in work and life ofter lead to issues like stress, avoid social interaction and being isolated. There can be many reasons but a few are discussed below. The definite reason for losing work-life balance is for the survival of the fittest as there is disproportionate between the jobs and population. The rise in population causes job scarcity which pressurise individual to work for long hours in the workplace. They often ignore the life after office. For example, threating the employees for overtime is a bad practice as they are being pressurise to work. Another cause can be achieving a luxurious life by working for more time even on week-offs. It deterioate their physical as well as mental health because they avoid social gatherings and they end up with stress and anxiety. However, there can be few solutions to these problems. Fistly, organisations shound encourage the employee to participating in physical activities to enhance their well- being and productivity. For instance, equiping the office with sports activity or by providing subsidized gym membership can improve their on work life. Secondly, allow them to take week-offs and spend time with family and interact with people outside the office. Prevent them from overtime so that the time can be spend at home or enjoy leisure activities like watching movies or shopping. To conclude, imbalance in work and life can cause disruption in individual's life and overall health in terms of stress, chronic diseases. To mitigate these challenges, organisations and employees have to work together and formulate the comprehensive plan of action to deal with it like providing rewards to finish work within the office hoursor arranging an outing with the peers. It will benefit the individual and society as a whole.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

2 months 22 days ago

Keeping a harmonious balance between office and home is the need of the hour. Especially after the pandemic, working from home became the new normal which definitely brought people closer to their families but also overburdened them with the dual responsibility. In this essay I will expand my view on these new ways of working and discuss some strategies on how to manage them. While working from home is a win-win for regular office goers as it saves their travel time and gives them the ease of working at the comfort of their homes but it also makes it difficult for them to define their working hours. Sometimes, people are so engrossed in their work that they even forget to keep a track of day and night. In this new set up, the office management also expects them to work some extra hours to compensate for the time they save in travelling. On top of that, managing the house while working from home is also not a easy task. The expectations of the family also paramounts to see their parents or partners around. They demand more time and sometimes forget that working from home doesn't mean that they can get more time together and the line between these aspects starts to blur. Therefore, it is imperative for professionals to strategize and strike the right balance between these two areas of their life. The most significant point is for employess to be disciplined even when working from homes and spend the stipulated office hours dedicatedly. They should not become lenient with the luxury and ease of home. It is pivotal for them to have a defined space in the house for work purpose only, so that they do not merge the two situations at home. Another important point is to have a quality time with the family. One should not be over indulged in ones work that they forget about the family and their needs. After all that's the silver lining in this entire scenario. I believe if one can just work on these two primitive yet very crucial aspects of this new work life, they will be able to find the solution to this problem. At the end, none of the aspects are complete in themselves. They are work best when in tandem and with harmony.

Band 6-7

IELTS Learner

2 months 18 days ago

In this fast-paced world that we presently reside, we can see advancements in every field, may it be technology, travel or food, the only aspect that has not improved is managing our professional career along with our personal lives. Work-Life balance is still a hot topic. In a recent study done to understand the root cause, researchers found out that during Covid 2020, most companies were forced to ask their employees to work from home, during this phase many of the employees found themselves distracted by the numerious activities happening all around them in their homes, due to which they were not able to focus on their jobs, the result of this was that they needed to extend their working hours to ensure their daily tasks were completed. A strategy that can be implemented in this situation is that the employee must create a schedule where they completely isolate themselves from all distractions at home and only focus on their work to ensure they are not compromising on their personal time. Another reason highlighted was that alot of employees would put in additional hours to meet the unrealistic timelines of their companies, which again caused them to lose out on their personal time. . Here the employees needs to again allign their goals at the very begining of their project lifecycles and create a timeline of every task along with a additional time, this will ensure their are not overworked and can maintain work-life balance. To conclude, work-life balance can be maintained provided a person is diciplined and implement a few strategies, where they remove all distractions and creating a timeline to ensure all tasks are completed on time.

ad
background image

Explore

47 Writing Topics

Latest Latest Writing Task 2 Topics

ielts logo

Get the IELTS Prep App

Star rating icon

4.2

1M+ Installs

app download banner image

Get the app link on your phone

+91

Or download app from

google play storeapp store
master ielts speaking ad