Yesterday I read a newly launched article (and challenge!) about getting and staying close to the one you love; 27 Expert tips to be closer to your spouse. The article taps into the knowledge of experts from the fields of psychology, relationships, counselling and health care, asking each professional to share advice on maintaining a long and happy relationship. With Valentine’s Day coming up next week, I was intrigued and decided to read on to find out what the pros had to say!
The article shares lots of sound advice for good communication, building trust and managing arguments, all of which would prove very useful within a relationship. The experts are sharing tips on social media each day throughout February and have challenged readers to try out a tip each day to ensure a loved-up month. I like the idea of joining in with a month of challenges, especially when we’re all thinking about love this Valentine’s Day – wouldn’t it be lovely to take the romance with us into the year ahead? The article not only focuses on the psychological aspect of relationships, it also shares some fun ideas for activities and romantic things to do together too.
Aside from the focus on couples, the tips were actually applicable for all kinds of communication, such as with friends, family and children. I was actually more interested in the tips that could be applied to different areas of life and they really made me think about the way I interact with others.
I know it’s such a simple thing to do, but the tip about ‘distractions’ was definitely something that I struggle with. Seeing as I’m always on my computer ‘just checking email’, sharing a photo on my phone or tweeting readers on the iPad, I’ve almost always got something in my hand that’s distracting me from whatever is going on around me. I’m definitely going to try to put down my devices when I’m outside working hours and really focus on the conversations I’m having with my family, hubby and friends.
Simple ideas such as looking someone in the eye, or really listening rather than offering a solution or opinion, would definitely be good advice to take with you into the workplace too. I think you can probably guess that I was rather impressed with the tips that these experts have shared in the article. One of the ideas that I will certainly be implementing at home is discussing my week with my husband; the tip suggests that reviewing the week and looking ahead to the rest of the month will allow you to coordinate your schedules and make fun plans. I love having something in the diary to look forward to so this will definitely be happening in the Fairy household from now on!
I totally agree that ‘playing’ at relationship rather than ‘working’ at it sounds much better, and is much more the way that hubby and I approach our marriage. Spending fun times together and having shared hobbies and interests definitely keeps us happy! I really liked the tip about reliving your first year together; we got up to all sorts of exciting things together during those first few months, so I’d love to get out the photo album to spark the memories and then retrace our steps over that first year. I think that a summer holiday ‘tour’ is on the cards for us – revisiting the places we went together during year 1 would be great fun!
So what do you think of 27 expert tips to be closer to your spouse article? Will you be taking on board any of the tips that the experts shared? And are you up for the 27-day challenge on twitter? Keep an eye out for my tweets this month while I try them out! Let me know what your own advice for being closer to your spouse, friends and family by leaving me a comment below or tweeting me @Cassiefairy
This article is a sponsored collaboration. The pink links in the content indicate a sponsored link or information source. The blog post reflects my own experience and the sponsor hasn’t had any control over my content 🙂
