东西方文化中工作与生活平衡的差异_风闻

正文翻译

When it comes to work-life balance, Asian and Western cultures usually have different ways of discovering it.

当涉及到工作与生活的平衡时，亚洲和西方文化通常有不同的方式来表现它。

For many years here in Australia, I’ve juggled working a day job, chasing a writing career and making time for things on the personal and home front. Sometimes it feels like I’ve got too many things work and play-wise to do.

在澳大利亚的许多年里，我一直在平衡着日常工作、追求写作事业和腾出时间处理个人和家庭事务之间的关系。有时候我觉得我有太多的事情要做，要工作，也要玩乐。

Finding a work-life balance is arguably about juggling needs and wants. Finding a work-life balance often means organising time for things you want to do, and have to do whether you like it or not because it may impact the former and vice-versa – and trying to discover that ever elusive feeling called satisfaction all round.

找到工作与生活的平衡可以说就是要平衡需求与欲望。找到工作与生活的平衡通常意味着为你想做的事情安排时间，并且无论你喜欢与否都必须去做，因为这可能会影响前者，反之亦然——努力去发现一种难以捉摸的被称为全面满足感的感觉。

There’s no definitive means to measure the ideal work-life balance. Each of us has different priorities. At different points in our lives we’ll have different priorities. Each of us will live out the notion of work-life balance differently at different times in different parts of the world among different cultures.

没有绝对的方法来平衡工作与生活。我们每个人都有不同的优先事项。在人生的不同阶段，我们有不同的优先事项。我们每个人在不同的时间，在世界不同的地方，在不同的文化中，都会以不同的方式追求实现工作与生活的平衡。

In Asian cultures, there seems to be a strong focus on working to make a living. It’s not uncommon to hear of longer working hours in the corporate world in Asia compared to the Western world. In 2016, UK-based B2B marketplace Expert Market looked at 71 city hubs around the world: those in the 10 lowest work-life balance cities (Dubai, Bangkok, Hong Kong) work over 2,000 hours per year in the office, whereas those in the top 10 cities which are all European cities work around 1,600 hours per year.

在亚洲文化中，似乎非常注重为谋生而工作。与西方国家相比，亚洲公司的工作时间更长的现象并不罕见。2016年,英国的B2B市场专家观察了71个世界各地的城市:排名最低的10个城市(包括迪拜、曼谷、香港)，每年在办公室工作超过2000小时,而在排名最高的10个欧洲城市，每年工作1600小时。

原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

Similarly, not-for-profit organisation Catalyst surveyed 1,834 multinational female and male employees across South-East Asia and found 64% of them stressed the importance of furthering fledging careers. Commonly among Asian cultures, working hard to attain job security and earning one’s own stripes – by showing up and doing the work – are markers of professional achievement, pride and status.

同样，非营利性组织Catalyst在东南亚地区调查了1834名跨国公司的男女员工，发现64%的人都强调了开发新技能的重要性。通常在亚洲文化中，努力工作以获得工作保障和获得自己的地位是足以自豪的。

原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

The more hours one works on the job to earn a living, the more one might be labelled a workaholic. Growing up in Singapore, I watched my dad come home late from the office most nights and work Saturdays – it’s all part of the job, he always said. Maybe this work-to-the-bone-autopilot-mode is ingrained in my genes. At one point I worked 11 hour days so as to get the job done on time, emailing my team at midnight what I finished, and functioning at work the next day without coffee. Most jobs I’ve worked, most days I’ve clocked up more than the standard working hours.

一个人为了谋生而工作的时间越长，就越可能被贴上工作狂的标签。我是在新加坡长大的，我看着父亲大多数晚上很晚下班回家，周六也要工作——他总是说，这是他工作的一部分。也许这种忘我模式在我的基因中根深蒂固。为了按时完成工作，我一度每天工作11个小时，在午夜时分还在给我的团队发邮件，第二天不喝咖啡就开始工作。我做过的大多数工作，大多数时候我的工作时间都超过了标准工作时间。

Consequently, some Asians typically lean towards upholding a hardworking ethic and getting things done – perhaps getting things done as soon as possible too. Conversely, Westerners are commonly regarded as more relaxed, just like how many Australians are regarded as laid-back. Today in parts of modern Spain, Italy and Mexico, siestas or naps in the middle of work are still common, which is usually unheard of in Asian cities. This is not to say other ethnic groups don’t care about working hard; to be hired for any job, you have to do that job to stay hired. However, you can work hard and work smart, and still get the job done.

因此，一些亚洲人通常倾向于保持一种勤奋的职业道德，把事情做完或尽快把事情做完。相反，西方人通常被认为更放松，就像许多澳大利亚人被认为是懒散的。今天，在西班牙、意大利和墨西哥的部分地区，在工作中午睡仍然很常见，这在亚洲城市通常是闻所未闻的。这并不是说其他民族不注重努力工作;要想被雇佣，你必须把这份工作做好才能被雇佣。然而，你可以高效率的工作，聪明地工作，仍然能把工作完成。

Doing things now is my motto. If it’s possible, I’ll get things done right now, ASAP, way ahead before deadlines at work – even if I don’t like what my boss gave me to do. To me, this is a good use of time: show up to work, finish things now, move on to something else at work or go home.

现在就开始做是我的座右铭。如果可能的话，即使我并不喜欢老板给我的工作任务，我也会立即、尽快地在截止日期之前完成这些任务。对我来说，这是一个很好的时间利用方式:上班，尽快完成工作，可以开始做别的事或回家。

In Western cultures there seems to be more of a focus on looking after one’s health and well-being on the job. While sick leave entitlement is the norm across the world, it’s those in the Western world who are more likely to use it. A study by PwC shows Australians take the most ‘sickies’ a year at 10 days (some using these days for non-legitimate reasons), with those in the UK taking an average of 9.1 sick days and in Asia 2.2 days.

在西方文化中，人们似乎更注重在工作中关注自己的健康和幸福。虽然在世界各地，请病假是一种常态，但在西方国家，请病假的人更多。普华永道的一项研究显示，澳大利亚人平均每年请病假10天(有些人是出于非正当原因使用这些假期)，英国人平均请9.1天，而亚洲人平均请2.2天。

原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

Then there is also personal, maternity and compassionate kinds of leave (varying across the world), and many of us take them when we have to. No matter who we are, sometimes we work because we have and want to. But sometimes we simply can’t because other parts of life calls with stronger conviction.

此外还有事假、产假和体恤假(世界各地各有不同)，我们中的许多人在必要的时候会休这些假。不管我们是谁，有时候我们工作是因为我们拥有和想要工作，但有时我们就是做不到，因为这时我们对生活的其他方面有更热切的想法。

The Western world seems more enthusiastic about taking time off work to enjoy doing what they want. Office workers in New York, Sydney, Moscow and Helsinki take more than 25 days of vacation days on average a year, while 15 vacation days is more common in Jakarta, Taipei, China and Bangkok.

西方世界似乎更热衷于抽出时间来做自己想做的事情。纽约、悉尼、莫斯科和赫尔辛基的上班族平均每年有超过25天的假期，雅加达、台北、北京和曼谷的上班族平均每年有15天的假期。

Notably, how much annual leave one gets to take at a stretch depends on individual job requirements and whether it’s peak period in the industry one works in. Some of us might work multiple jobs or do shift work, for instance work in a café by day and club by night – which might mean keeping both jobs to make ends meet may be more important than taking an extended vacation.

值得注意的是，一个人可以连续休多少年假取决于个人的工作要求以及是否处于所从事行业的高峰期。我们中的一些人可能做多份工作，或者做轮班工作，比如白天在咖啡馆工作，晚上在俱乐部工作——这可能意味着做两份工作来维持收支平衡可能比休长假更重要。

For around three years after finishing university, I worked contract and casual jobs. These kinds of jobs didn’t come with leave entitlements but once I finished up a contract, there was time before the next one. One could call this my ‘gap years’, which is usually defined as taking a break in between studies; it’s something many Australians like to do. In between jobs, I drafted my first book and got this blog going. Living life this way, I felt like my own boss – much to the excitement of my friends who thought it cool to be a blogger with a bit of a following, and much to the disappointment of my Chinese-Malaysian parents who kept telling me over and over to get a ‘proper job’ to set myself up.

大学毕业后的三年里，我做了一些合同工和临时工。这类工作没有休假的权利，但一旦我完成了一份合同，在我开始下一份合同之前就有时间了。你可以把这段时间称为我的“间隔期”，通常定义为在学习之间休息一段时间;这是许多澳大利亚人喜欢做的事情。在工作之余，我撰写了我的第一本书，并开设了这个博客。过着这样的生活，我感觉自己就像自己的老板——这让我的朋友们兴奋不已，他们认为写博客很酷，还能有一些粉丝。但这让我的马来西亚华人父母很失望，他们一遍又一遍地告诉我要找一份“合适的工作”。

How hard one decides to work or play depends on what they want out of life. For instance, today many employees in Singapore value work-life balance more: millennials here want to travel and spend weekends doing non-work activities. On the other hand, these days more and more Australians work overtime and more prefer payment over time in lieu – finding it harder to achieve a work-life balance.

一个人决定努力工作还是娱乐取决于他们想从生活中得到什么。例如，如今新加坡的许多员工更看重工作与生活的平衡:这里的千禧一代想去旅行，周末做一些与工作无关的活动。而相反，如今越来越多的澳大利亚人超时工作，更倾向于按时间获取报酬，很难实现工作与生活的平衡。

Most of the time we need reasons to live ‘life’ if we were to get away from the fair bit of hours we put in in the office. We might work certain hours or days so we can care for someone. Or study to better our skills on the job or elsewhere. Or take part in cultural occasions. What might be ‘work’ to someone might not be ‘work’ to others, and the same thing can be said about ‘life’.

大多数时候，如果我们想要避免在办公室里投入的大量时间，我们需要找些理由来过“生活”。我们可能会工作特定的时间或天数，这样我们就可以说我需要照顾某人，或去学习以提高我们的工作或其他方面的技能，或参加文化活动。对某些人来说可能是“工作”，但对另一些人来说可能不是“工作”，“生活”也是如此。

However the line between work and play can be a fine one, especially when it comes to doing something you love for a living. Work can be play and play can be work. For some this might be the ideal life: work at something you love, feel productive with a sense of purpose and feel good about yourself. We could be a full-time freelancer working odd hours making a living from stimulating passion projects. Or an entrepreneur who built their booming business passionately from the ground up.

工作和娱乐之间的界限是很微妙的，尤其是当你以做自己喜欢的事情为生的时候。工作可以是娱乐，娱乐也可以是工作。对一些人来说，这可能是最理想的生活:做自己喜欢的工作，有干劲，有目标，有满足感。我们可以成为一名全职自由职业者，在业余时间工作，通过能激发自己激情的项目来谋生。或者是白手起家、充满激情地建立起自己的企业。

On the other hand, some of us might prefer work and play to be distinct: show up to a routine day job we might have half a heart for, turn up to practice passion elsewhere after hours. Two different worlds, two different worlds to learn from whether we like them or not.

另一方面，我们中的一些人可能希望工作和娱乐是截然不同的:去做一份我们可能不太喜欢的日常工作，下班后通过其他的方式寻找快乐。两个不同的世界，两种不同的人生，无论我们喜欢与否，都可以从中学习到一些经验。

原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

When I was a kid and teen, I dreamt of becoming a full-time radio presenter and writer, working as a creative for a living. As I got older and worked in different industries, I realised non-creative jobs are the more stable kinds of jobs that help afford certain luxuries which are also very much needs. And I find a lot of writing inspiration from working 9-5. In other words, my Chinese-Malaysian parents were right. But they were not entirely right about what makes me entirely happy.

当我还是个十几岁的孩子的时候，我梦想成为一名全职的电台主持人和作家，以创意为生。随着年龄的增长，我在不同的行业工作，我意识到，非创造性的工作是更稳定的工作类型，可以让我挣钱来买某些奢侈品，这也是非常需要的。我从朝九晚五的工作中找到了很多写作灵感。换句话说，我的马来西亚华裔父母是对的。但他们对什么能让我完全快乐的看法并不完全正确。

The notion of ‘balance’ is subjective. The Oxford Dictionary defines balance as a ‘situation where elements are in harmonious proportion, and presence of mental and emotional stability’. However, nothing is perfect and so ‘balance’ is arguably an elusive illusion, and so is satisfaction too as we go after the shadow of perfection. Entrepreneur William Vanderbloemen suggests our life happens in seasons, in work-life rhythms. Some moments will be better than others. Almost anything that we do work or play-wise might turn out how we never imagined. As author Alain de Botton said:

“平衡”的概念是主观的。《牛津词典》对平衡的定义是“元素比例协调，精神和情绪稳定的状态”。然而，没有什么是完美的，所以“平衡”可以说是一种难以捉摸的幻觉，当我们追求完美和满足时也是如此。企业家威廉.范德布洛曼认为，我们的生活是四季更替的，是工作与生活的节奏。有些时刻会比其他时刻更好。我们在工作或娱乐方面所做的几乎所有事情都可能变成我们从未想象过的样子。正如作家阿兰.德.波顿所说:

‘There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.’

工作与生活的平衡是不存在的。任何值得你为之奋斗的东西都会扰乱你的生活。

At different times of our lives, we’ll have different priorities, different definitions of success and so different wants and needs. Working full-time I get to afford to eat and pay the bills and learn how the world works and how people think. Writing, which is something I never fail to look forward to, I get to reflect on what I’ve come across and express how I truly feel and figure out how to make things and most importantly other people feel better.

在我们生命的不同阶段，我们会有不同的优先事项，不同的成功定义，不同的愿望和需求。全职工作可以让我吃得起饭，付得起账单，学习这个世界是如何运作的，人们是如何思考的。写作，这是我一直都很期待的事情，我可以反思我所经历的，表达我真实的感受，并找出如何让事情，最重要的是让别人感觉更好的方法。

原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

There are days when it’s a bad day at work but then I’ll come home to an inspiring writing night. Other nights, there’ll be disappointingly no writing done but the next day work would be amazing. Sometimes both worlds would be disappointing at the same time, other times both flying on a high. Each world so different, each one reminding me of the good and bad in the other, each world keeping me grounded. And so I’ll keep on keeping on with both worlds – work to work, work to play, play to play, and play to work.

有些日子工作不顺心，但回到家就会迎来激动不已的写作之夜。而某些晚上，你可能会因为没有写出任何东西而失望，但是第二天的工作却会非常棒。有时两个世界会同时令人失望，有时两个世界都会让人心情愉悦。每一个世界都如此不同，每一个世界都让我想起另一个世界的好与坏，每一个世界都让我无法自拔。所以我将继续保持这两个世界——工作是为了工作，工作也是为了娱乐，娱乐是为了娱乐，娱乐也是为了工作。

There’s meaning in everything you do if you commit to it, work or play, like it or not.Do you juggle work and play well?

不管你喜不喜欢，无论你是投入到工作还是娱乐中，你做的每件事都是有意义的。你能兼顾工作和娱乐吗?