Creating a work-life balance is critical to improving to people’s overall well-being, yet for many people in the modern age, to achieve such a balance is just a “mission impossible”. A few factors are responsible for the work-life imbalance, and the key to overcoming the imbalance is flexibility.

创造工作与生活的平衡对于改善人们的整体幸福感是至关重要的，然而对于现代的许多人来说，实现这种平衡只是一项“不可能完成的任务”。几个因素造成了工作-生活不平衡，克服这种不平衡的关键是灵活性。

Generally, more and more employees are experiencing conflicts between their career and personal roles. On the one hand, they are having excessive work responsibilities; while on the other hand, they are having responsibilities for other aspects of their lives. No matter how hard they attempt to reach equilibrium, they always fall short since employees everywhere are subject to the intense struggle between completing their daily work at hand and finding time for their loved ones. Meanwhile, those who wish to create a better life for their family often have to work extra hours in order to buy big houses and expensive cars, so that they can hardly find time for other aspects of life. 

一般来说，越来越多的员工正经历着职业生涯和个人角色之间的冲突。一方面，他们有过多的工作责任；另一方面，他们有对其生活其他方面的责任。无论他们多么努力地试图达到平衡，他们总是不能做到，因为无论哪里的雇员都在深陷于激烈的冲突中，即完成手头的日常工作与找时间与所爱的人一起之间的冲突。与此同时，那些想为家庭创造更好生活的人，往往需要加班才能买到大房子和豪车，因此很难为其他方面的生活找到时间。

While people may be suggested living a simpler life so that they can enjoy more time for activities outside of their work, for me, the ability to maintain a work-life balance depends on flexibility. People should learn that work-life balance is less aboutneatly dividing the hours of the day between work and life and more about having the flexibility to get things done in their jobs while still having time to truly enjoy their personal lives, which means that some days they might have to work longer hours in order to have time later in the week to enjoy other activities. It must also be understood that there is no such a thing as the universal model of work-life balance (for people have different lifestyles), so people should be encouraged to find the kind of work-life balance that best suits their own circumstances. 

虽然我们可以建议人们过更简单的生活，这样就有更多的时间从事工作之外的活动，但对我来说，保持工作-生活平衡的能力取决于灵活性。人们应该认识到，工作-生活的平衡指的并不是把一天中的时间在工作和生活之间截然分开，而是在工作中有足够的灵活性完成工作，同时还有时间来真正享受他们的私人生活，这意味着在某些天他们可能需要工作更长时间，以便有空在余下时间享受其他活动。人们还应该理解，没有一种普遍的工作-生活平衡模式(因为人们有不同的生活方式)，所以应该鼓励人们找到最适合自己境况的工作-生活平衡方式。

In conclusion, despite the world-wide quest for work-life balance, not many people are able to achieve a perfect equilibrium. Flexibility is the first step and it can go a long way.

总之，尽管全世界都在寻求工作与生活的平衡，但没有多少人能够达到完美的平衡。灵活性既是步，以后也还有用。

1. Creating a work-life balance is critical to improving to people’s overall well-being, yet for many people in the modern age, to achieve such a balance is just a “mission impossible”.

2. No matter how hard they attempt to reach equilibrium, they always fall short since employees everywhere are subject to the intense struggle between completing their daily work at hand and finding time for their loved ones.

3. While people may be suggested living a simpler life so that they can enjoy more time for activities outside of their work, for me, the ability to maintain a work-life balance depends on flexibility.

4. People should learn that work-life balance is less about neatly dividing the hours of the day between work and life and more about having the flexibility to get things done in their jobs while still having time to truly enjoy their personal lives, which means that some days they might have to work longer hours in order to have time later in the week to enjoy other activities.