Balance in your life is not just about finding time to exercise (although that's important), it's also about finding time for your relationship. These days we find it difficult to do anything besides work, eat, and sleep with our extended work hours, helping the kids with their homework & getting ready for bed. As a psychologist, I believe we all strive for connection with others and our relationship is pretty important to us.. maybe the most important. For many couples, the relationship is stable and consistent, so maintaining or working on the relationship may not be a priority and may fall by the wayside. We all need to work on our relationships - some do so in couples therapy, some work on it during their vacations, and some do very small things each day to maintain a close connection.

These are a few small ideas you can do to work on your relationship without adding yet another obligatory activity that takes away your time:

• Say thanks for the small things - for taking out the trash or doing the dishes, tasks they do every day
• Smile & laugh at their joke - even if they've said it 20 times already
• Touch their arm as you pass by with toys in tow
• Find the "yes" part - if dinner wasn't good, say what you do like about it ("the rice was cooked perfectly")
• Remember self-care - go to the gym, find personal time in your week, reduce your stress
• Take a break if you feel annoyed or irritable - postpone the discussion for the next day
• Do something nice for yourself - making yourself happy can add to the happiness in the relationship

For questions about your relationship or to learn more things you can do, contact us at Hilber Psychological Services.