Hello Zen Organizers,
I hope you're well!
Valentine's Day is next Sunday, so I thought we could talk about ways to spend more quality time with your partner.
I've never been a big fan of this celebration because I don't think we need a specific day or occasion to show our love to our partner. And I'm sure the vast majority of people regularly demonstrate their love to their partner, so I wonder what's the need for Valentine's Day...
But I figured this was the best time to share some tips and strategies we can put into place to make sure we give our romantic relation the place it deserves in our life. Because I know it can sometimes be difficult to prioritize it with our busy and hectic lives.
So, Valentine's Day or not, here are a few tips to help you and your partner find more moments to spend quality time together throughout the year!
Have a shared digital or paper calendar where you write all your commitments. It'll be easier to see when you both have free time and find the best moments to be together. Make sure you sit down together regularly to plan the moments you can spend together (bonus: this is another moment spent together 😉).
The first tip leads to the second one: block specific moments in your planner to spend together, ideally at least once every week. Your relationship is as important as any other commitment. So treat it as such and schedule it in your calendar along with all your other appointments and obligations. These moments should be sacred, and you should cancel or postpone them only in case of real emergencies.
Go on dates. And not only on Valentine's Day! After a while, it's easy to fall into a routine and forget you can also go out just the two of you. But every now and then, it's nice to do something special together to jazz things up a little bit! Go to a new restaurant, take a dance lesson, go parachuting, go to a festival, go for a hike, build something together, go camping. Get creative!
You can also share an activity, a hobby, or a class. Of course, make sure you both like it! It's a great way to spend some time together and learn something or do something that interests you both.
Have device-free meals or moments (a tough one for many people, I believe 😉). When I go to the restaurant, I often see couples that spend the entirety of their meal on their phones. And it makes me really sad because I feel like we've lost the ability to communicate without these devices. However, I'm not perfect either. I admit that, at home, my boyfriend and I sometimes use our phones during meals. But I'm trying really hard to reduce this behaviour. I think the easiest way to fight the temptation to look at it is to put it in another room or at least out of sight. Definitely don't put it on the table next to your plate if that's something you're trying to work on. You can also decide on other moments than meals to be device-free. For example, during your blocked moments together, your dates, or your shared activities. Or as a general rule, on Saturday night or Sunday morning, for instance.
Cuddle/hug for at least a few minutes before going to bed or before getting up every day. It's something my boyfriend and I do daily. Some days, we're both so busy we barely have time to talk or spend time together. But no matter what happens, we always cuddle for a few minutes before going to sleep. It's one of my favourite moments of the day. I think it's essential to maintain a healthy relationship despite all of our obligations and commitments. Plus, it's been shown that hugging your partner is excellent for your mood. It also helps reduce stress, and it's definitely good for your relationship! So hug each other as much as possible! 😉
Those are my tips to help you spend more time with your partner (apart from Valentine's Day). They aren't groundbreaking or anything, but a reminder of how easy it can be to spend more time with our partner never hurts anyone!
And remember, for me, one of the main goals of being zenly organized is precisely this one: to spend more time with your loved ones. So make sure this is a priority in your organization and your life!
(PSSSST, if you don't have a partner, most of these tips work very well for any of your loved ones as well: parents, brothers and sisters, children, friends, etc.!)
I wish you to spend as much time with your loved one(s) as possible,
Sarah
