1 May 2026: Italian Tutor/LLA Eva writes about work-life balance in Italy
1 May 2026: Italian Tutor/LLA Eva writes about work-life balance in Italy
American values may lead us to label certain habitual behaviors as “normal” or even crucial for full engagement with American life and culture. For instance, in the US, we trust that working hard for long hours will improve our chances at moving up the socioeconomic ladder. Americans trust that punctuality and productivity forge the path to success, even if this may lead us to neglect our creative selves. Living in fast-paced American society, it may be time to pause, reflect, and reset. We can start by looking at the Italian lifestyle. What can we, as Americans, learn from it and how can we begin to implement Italian cultural values to our own lives? Here are three Italian cultural values that may be of interest to you!
Practice work-life balance
From a structural standpoint, Italy approaches work-life balance differently than the United States does. Italy provides longer vacation times, longer lunch breaks, and generally shorter work weeks. Even so, individuals in the US can start to work on or even just think about how we can make small tweaks to our lives to better balance our duties on the clock and our time off it.
While easier said than done, trying your best to actively engage in your personal life as much as you do in your work life lets the things you truly enjoy develop and contribute to your wellbeing. It might seem like devoting your life to your work is the only “way” – after all, it is how you make a living – but when you set aside time to enjoy or even challenge yourself outside of the workplace, you keep your mental, physical, and emotional health in check. In the long run, this will benefit your work life too: good spirits work well in a work environment!
If you’re thinking about picking up that crochet project you’ve been neglecting, putting in some time at the gym, going on that short walk when you feel like it, do it! It doesn’t have to be a life changing shift. Life in America places different demands on people than life in Italy does, and not everyone can (or wants to) just move to a whole new country. Instead, Americans can begin to apply the Italian cultural value of work-life balance into our daily lives.
Build and appreciate a sense of community
One of the more well known values in Italian culture is that their sense of community is unmatched. Family time is highly cherished and even friendly intimacy, like greeting good friends and family members with a kiss on the cheek, is common.
To be clear, Italians are accustomed to this intimacy because it is in their culture and we can’t and shouldn’t expect the exact same from Americans – even some of my closest friends don’t love the idea of hugging/physical touch. Regardless, their strong sense of community transcends boundaries of social class and age/generation that often separate Americans from one another rather than connecting.
Slow down
Have you noticed that many Americans get their coffees to go? Maybe you do this too, but in Italy, it’s strange to do so! Italians at a restaurant or cafe will make a point to order, sit, and sip their coffee socially with loved ones. They savor good food, beverages, and time spent with friends as opposed to frantically trying to down a large coffee on the way to the next thing to be done.
Again, Italy’s and the United States’ cultures are different and we cannot expect to live the same due to certain variables and varying demands of each. Once you realize you can easily take out food and drinks to go, it’s hard to see that there would be any other reason to not do so because it’s easier and more time efficient. However, learning to slow down and appreciate the simple things in life can greatly impact the way you see the world and your own life. Slowing down can encourage you to reflect and practice gratitude for the life you are living now.
We can see that these Italian values are all connected: to realize that work-life balance and spending time with loved ones can be practiced takes time and reflection which in turn, means you have to slow down. There are cultural ways of living to be learned from all around the world and hopefully, by reading this, it will inspire you to look more carefully at how the world is living outside of your own, and that you can find wisdom all around!