Some people like to spend their leisure time with their colleagues, while others prefer to keep their private life separate from their work life. Discuss both sides and give your own opinion.

Sample 1:

After finishing work, many people strive to carve out an independent private life and therefore eschew meeting colleagues socially. In my opinion, strong bonds with co-workers are justifiably common but it is more important to have a stable network of friends outside work.

The main advantage of fraternising with other employees after work is convenience. Employees get off work at the same time and it is easy to make plans. Most workers chat with each about their plans for the evening and then invite each other to get a drink, go to dinner, play sport or catch a movie. Since colleagues work together all day, they have a good idea of each other’s personality and will naturally congregate with the characters and groups they are predisposed towards. This organic process of meeting up with their close friends at work can quickly become an entrenched habit to look forward to at the end of the workday.

Nonetheless, a varied social life is crucial in order to maintain better mental health. Conversations with co-workers inevitably turn to office related gossip and gripes about work. These self-serving and repetitive dialogues do little more than weakly reinforce one’s self-esteem. When talking with an old school friend or former co-worker one is more likely to forget about work and delve into other subjects. The result is relief of work-related stress and freedom from reinforcement of your inner drives to compare, belittle, gossip, and complain. Over time, the mental toll of being immersed in work the entire day can lead to feelings of depression and frustration, while the opposite is true of those who compartmentalise work and social life.

In conclusion, spending one’s leisure time with a wider sphere of friends is key to good mental health. As people today become increasingly isolated, it is especially important to have a secure group of friends beyond the workplace.

Sample 2:

While some people prefer to spend their free time with their colleagues, others like to keep their personal life private. I agree with the former point of view because spending leisure time with colleagues is a great way to bond with them.

On the one hand, many people hate their job. They only stay in it for the sake of the salary and, therefore, do not want to discuss any work-related issues with their colleagues after work. However, I think with modern communication technologies, it is very easy for a person to be contacted by their colleagues outside working hours. So, instead of trying to keep their private life separate from their work, they should find a job they are truly passionate about so that they can stop living for the weekend.

On the other hand, colleagues can bond by doing leisure activities together. For example, when hiking, they may talk about their families and hobbies. This allows them to get to know each other as people and, as a result, they may become good friends. I think this way of spending one's leisure time is preferable because building good relationships with colleagues can lead to improved cooperation and collaboration at work.

In conclusion, I think only those who hate their jobs would separate their professional lives from their personal lives, and this is not a lifestyle I support. It is better for a person to do a job that coincides with their passion and spend some leisure time with their colleagues to form bonds.