Improve Your Relationship With Small Steps
Every relationship hits a point in the road where you're feeling uninspired, unhappy or things have lost a little pizzazz. It's so easy to slip into the routine of a mundane lifestyle and you may feel there's little time to focus on your relationship. Right now, maybe all your time is consumed by daily routines, professional responsibilities, and personal obligations. This can easily lead to things becoming stale in your relationship. You love your partner (that isn’t to be questioned), but perhaps you need to spice things up.
Check out some ideas below to help you add back the fire!
Date Night
If you don't already, it's important you designate a certain day and amount of time to you and your partner every week, otherwise known as a date night. Once you've picked a steady day of the week (like maybe Monday nights), write it in the calendar every single week. This will hold both of you accountable to that time.
Sometimes people think that date night activities should be the same each week. This isn't the case. Date night can look different every week. It may include a hobby you both enjoy, like photography. Maybe it's a past-time that you both love, such as going to the cinema or having a walk together through nature. Perhaps it could be something that not only benefits your relationship but also betters your health, like going cycling.
If you're at a point where you no longer know what you both enjoy (and this can easily happen with enough time and distance between a couple), then it's time to sit down, have a conversation and start to reconnect. Have a chat and plan out some activities. Perhaps you both enjoy walking around flea markets or love home improvement activities. Then hit the flea market or plan a project together you can do in your home. As long as you can stick to a day or a time of day that can be just for you, then any number of endless activities should help bond you together a little.
Getaway
One of the best things to do with your partner to help reconnect is to go away on a trip. Getting out of town and letting go of responsibilities to enjoy each other is incredible at bringing a couple back together. Maybe you can only spare a weekend. That's totally fine! A weekend getaway is definitely long enough to start the process of reconnecting. If you can't afford to go out of town, then plan a weekend staycation where you book a hotel in your city and spend the weekend as tourists would. If you're going the staycation route, you and your partner are not allowed to do any of your typical weekend responsibilities. The goal of the weekend is to focus on each other and have some fun!
Recreating Old Memories
How do you want to feel again when you’re with your partner? Those butterflies you first felt can come back again. Recreating old memories and the times in which you were courting can help spark old memories. Listen to the songs you used to enjoy, visit restaurants you used to love eating at when you first started dating, and reminisce about memories. This should bring back so much and make you both feel in tune with one another.
Be Spontaneous
Perhaps you feel you’ve lost the excitement of seeing your partner come through the door. That’s perfectly normal. When we live with someone for a long period of time, we can easily become complacent with how we feel and settle into a routine. Incorporating spontaneity into your week can help reconnect couples. Try to go out more as a couple, meet each other after work for a drink or do something a little differently. These can all be ways to break through relationship boredom and make you feel more in touch with each other and with the world.
Get Physical
The physical aspect of your relationship is very important (even if you've told yourself that it isn’t). How we physically connect affects our mental state and emotional connection. If you find that your sex-life has slipped a little or you're no longer enjoying those long cuddles and kisses, it might be time to make a pointed effort to physically connect, once again. It can start simply by holding hands or cuddling while watching television. From there, you can build up to reconnecting in the bedroom.
If you're having trouble reigniting your sex-life on your own, there's no shame with having a look at couples therapy. Sex Therapy can be a good alternative to explore yourselves and start to realize what you could possibly change up in your life in the best possible ways.
Final Thoughts
Relationships are hard work but you owe it to yourself and your partner to work at it. Make sure that your partner is on the same page as you as the work has to come from both partners. You can't force your partner into doing something they don't want to do. It’s vital that you both want to progress and feel good again. Don’t settle for anything less.