Efter en stressig vecka försöker hon hitta bättre balans mellan jobbet och familjen.

Efter means after. It introduces a time phrase: Efter en stressig vecka = After a stressful week.

Swedish often puts a time expression at the beginning of a sentence to set the scene. That is very natural. You could also put it later, but fronting it gives it a bit more emphasis.

This is because of the Swedish V2 rule (verb-second).

When something other than the subject comes first in a main clause, the finite verb must still stay in the second position.

So:

• Hon försöker hitta bättre balans ... = She is trying to find better balance ...
• Efter en stressig vecka försöker hon hitta bättre balans ...

Here, Efter en stressig vecka takes the first position, so the verb försöker must come next, and the subject hon comes after it.

This word order is one of the most important patterns in Swedish main clauses.

Because vecka is an en-word in Swedish: en vecka.

The adjective must agree with the noun:

• en stressig vecka
• ett stressigt jobb
• stressiga veckor

So with an en-word in the indefinite singular, the adjective usually has its basic form here: stressig.

Yes. Stressig means stressful or hectic, and it is clearly related to the English word stress.

It is a common Swedish adjective built from the noun stress plus the ending -ig, which often makes adjectives.

Examples:

• en stressig dag = a stressful day
• ett stressigt jobb = a stressful job

Försöker is the present tense of försöka, which means to try or to attempt.

So:

• försöka = to try
• försöker = tries / is trying

In Swedish, the present tense form is the same for all persons:

• jag försöker
• du försöker
• hon försöker
• vi försöker

Unlike English, Swedish verbs do not change for I / you / she / we.

Because hitta depends on försöker.

The pattern is:

• försöka + infinitive

So:

• försöka hitta = try to find

Here, försöker is the finite verb, and hitta stays in the infinitive.

You may also learn försöka att + infinitive, for example:

• hon försöker att hitta balans

But in everyday Swedish, leaving out att is very common, and försöker hitta sounds very natural.

Bättre is the comparative form of bra (good).

So:

• bra = good
• bättre = better
• bäst = best

This is an irregular adjective, just like English good → better → best.

So bättre balans means better balance.

Because Swedish often omits the article with abstract nouns when speaking in a general sense.

So hitta bättre balans means find better balance in a broad, general way.

You can also say hitta en bättre balans, and that is grammatical too. The version with en can sound a little more specific, as if you are talking about achieving a better balance as a particular result.

Both are possible, but in a sentence like this, hitta bättre balans sounds very natural.

Mellan means between, and the usual pattern is:

• mellan X och Y = between X and Y

So:

• mellan jobbet och familjen = between work and family

The conjunction och means and, just like in English after between.

Because Swedish often uses the definite form when talking about familiar, understood parts of someone's life or situation.

Here:

• jobbet = the job / work
• familjen = the family

In context, this really means something like her work and her family life.

You could also hear more general versions such as mellan jobb och familj, but mellan jobbet och familjen sounds more concrete and personal, as if these are the two known areas she is trying to balance.

Also notice how Swedish usually marks definiteness with an ending:

• ett jobb → jobbet
• en familj → familjen

So instead of a separate word like English the, Swedish often adds the definite ending to the noun.

It can do both, depending on context.

In many everyday sentences, jobbet does not just mean one specific job in a narrow sense. It can also mean work, the workplace, or one's job situation more generally.

So in this sentence, mellan jobbet och familjen is best understood as between work and family, not necessarily between the one specific job and the one specific family in a very literal way.

This is very common in Swedish.

Yes, absolutely.

That version is grammatical and natural too. The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Efter en stressig vecka försöker hon ... puts the time background first.
• Hon försöker ... efter en stressig vecka starts with the subject and feels a bit more neutral.

So both work, but the original sentence highlights the fact that this is happening after a stressful week.