Key Methods for Helping the Communication in Your Relationship
If you feel as though the communication in your relationship has been neglected recently, here are some important ways to improve the situation.
Lifestyle Communication
Your everyday life with your partner should be built within a supportive and honest atmosphere. Especially if you live with your partner, everyday routine should be openly discussed.
- Form a Supportive Routine
You will both have working and life patterns, and these may be opposite routines. It’s therefore important to always keep each other in the loop. If you’re going to be working late or held up, inform your partner. If you’re not going to have time for household chores, ask your partner for support, or form a household chore schedule which works for both of you. It’s often better to express your wish rather than hoping your partner will think to do it, and then getting angry if they don’t.
- Discuss Anything Which Needs to Be Changed
As you grow as a couple and develop a routine, undoubtedly there may be things which aren’t working as well as you thought. It’s important not to let these fester. If you don’t like anything about your lifestyle and as a couple, then sit down with your partner and talk it out.
Intimacy Communication
Individuals express intimacy in different ways. It can cause problems if intimacy isn’t openly discussed between partners.
- Talk About Your Expressions of Intimacy
You may be someone who says ‘I love you’ ten times a day, but your partner only says it once. You may also be the first to instigate kisses and cuddles, whereas your partner might be more reserved. From your point of view, this may begin to feel as though you are making more of an intimate effort. However, your partner saying ‘I love you’ even just once may be a big step for them.
Not everyone is overly intimate, but that doesn’t mean that their affection is any less. Only by being open and honest can you understand, rather than wondering the worst.
- Communicate Wants and Needs Regarding Physical Intimacy
Your physical relationship can really shape your happiness as a whole. It’s important to always communicate in the bedroom regarding your likes and dislikes, so that you can grow as a couple and try new things. Additionally, if any problems arise in the bedroom, then these should be compassionately discussed and worked on. Help exists in the form of a dedicated ed clinic, for example.
Future Goals Communication
As a couple, your long-term goals should be aligned.
- Discuss Big Life Changes
If anything changes in your life or career, then this needs to be discussed with your partner, especially if it is going to affect the relationship, such as potential relocation. Being reserved or acting independently with big life decisions will leave your partner feeling out of the loop or ignored.
- Discuss Long-Term Plans
It’s no good presuming what your partner wants for the future – you need to be sure. Long-term plans can change at any time, so making a habit of staying on the same page is a plus. Take the time to ask your partner – especially at the beginning of relationships – what their views are on big plans, such as family and career. If you presume your goals are aligned only to find out years down the line that they are not, this miscommunication will cause difficulties and hurt.