It can be hard to find time to devote to our romantic partners with our busy schedules, commitments to family and friends, and career aspirations. Healthy relationships usually have some lapse in communication. Naturally, you won’t be able to talk to your partner all the time. A healthy relationship should include some time apart from your partner. Still, a severe lack of quality time can chip away at the relationship’s foundation, weakening bonds and compromising the level of happiness you feel when you’re together. If any of these signs sound familiar, it could be a sign that investing time in your relationship should become a priority.
You Don’t Know Your Partner’s Day to Day Activities
People in relationships don’t need to know every workplace disagreement or misadventure their partner experiences. Still, if you don’t have any sense of your significant other’s daily routine and the stresses that affect them daily, then that’s an issue. It indicates a pattern that could cause more significant problems for you as a couple. It would be best to take a few minutes to ask your partner how their day went or inquire about what they do daily. By asking, it shows that you take an interest in their life.
You Avoid Making Future Plans
Making plans with your partner can be challenging, especially if you have conflicting work schedules. When you plan to spend time with your significant other, are the plans immediate or further out? Do the two of you make an effort to avoid scheduling activities or events in advance? If so, that could be a sign that you don’t spend enough time together consistently. The two of you can solve this issue by committing to an event or an activity further in advance and sticking to it. By making these arrangements, you’re showing each other that you’re committed to spending more time with them.
You Turn to Others Before Your Partner
In certain instances, it makes sense to share the big news with your best friend or your parents before telling your significant other. However, if you find yourself turning to others before your partner regularly, that means that you need to spend more time with them. Your significant other is supposed to be your confidante, the person you turn to whenever you’re going through something good or bad. If you feel like you can’t go to them with your problems or good news, that could indicate that the two of you need more time together.
A Distance Emerges Between the Two of You
At the beginning of a relationship, you and your significant other typically spend lots of time together. You want to see each other all the time, and you can’t get enough of each other. While a drop-off in scheduled dates is natural in long-term relationships, spending less physical time together can cause emotional distance. This distance can ultimately be detrimental to your relationship. You and your significant other can solve this issue by intentionally spending more quality time with each other.
Your Partner Becomes Clingy
Typically, clinginess is expected in a relationship. When you love someone, you want to be close to them all the time. However, when your partner feels a lack of time investment in the relationship, they may respond by attempting to force closeness. They may be trying to overcompensate for the distance they feel from you. The space may make your partner feel like you don’t care about the relationship anymore. If you notice that your significant other is suddenly calling more or showing up unannounced to your job or house, it may be time to talk to them.
You Put Other Commitments Before Your Partner
Having your partner as your number one priority wouldn’t be healthy. The two of you should have a life outside of your relationship. On the other hand, putting your significant other at the bottom of the totem pole isn’t healthy either. Your partner should feel like their partner cares about them and the relationship. Putting other commitments before your partner could make them feel like you don’t want the partnership. If you feel like you’re putting other obligations and responsibilities before your relationship, then your significant other may feel like your time and energy are unevenly divided.
You Can’t Find Things to Do Together
It’s not a necessity that you and your partner have all of the same interests. It’s healthy to have hobbies and interests outside of each other. Having separate interests allows you and your partner to have a life outside of the partnership. It also ensures that your relationship isn’t the only thing you have going on in your life. Still, if you constantly struggle to develop activities that you and your partner can do together, that could be due to a lack of shared time together. To solve this, the two of you should come up with a list of things you like to do or something you want to do with your partner. Every week, you should attempt one of these tasks as a couple. By doing so, you’re sharing hobbies and spending quality time together.
Relationships aren’t always a walk in the park. They involve a lot of time and commitment to your partner. Relationships also require open communication and honesty about how you feel. You shouldn’t feel like you have to hide your true feelings from your partner. If you feel like your partner isn’t spending enough time with you, the best way to solve the issue is to talk about how you’re feeling.
If you have a conversation with your partner about the lack of quality time and they share the same sentiment, the two of you should make an effort to make things work. However, if you have a conversation and your partner doesn’t acknowledge your feelings, it may be time to consider ending the relationship. Someone who loves you will recognize how you feel instead of brushing it off. Whatever happens, make sure that you’re doing what’s best for you and doing what makes you happy.
