Relationships and Communication Tips
Read these 25 Relationships and Communication Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Psychological tips and hundreds of other topics.
Negotiating Relationships
In any relationship, people have different needs for physical and emotional closeness and distance. These should not be assumed, but talked about and negoriated. Otherwise, often one person may feel smothered, and the other person feel abandoned, and the relationship will suffer.
Dating 101
You're on a date with someone you really like. What do you do to ensure that the feeling is mutual? Social psychologists report that we tend to like others who reinforce us or reward us. Actively listen to your date, ask questions, smile, and laugh at your date's jokes. Research also suggests that we're attracted to people we perceive as similar to us. You already share some similarities, you're sitting at the same table! Try mirroring your date's behavior (subtly) to show you're on the same wavelength. For example, take a sip of your drink each time your date does.
Dealing with Family Gatherings
Tips to help your through a family gathering:
**Focus on honoring the holiday and remembering why it is celebrated rather than trying to please family and friends.
**Express your feelings honestly and constructively. If you disagree with a family member, try to use "I feel" statements rather than "You..." statements to keep him or her from getting defensive.
**Spend time with children (if you don`t have kids, nephews, nieces, cousins, etc. will do!). Teach them the meaning of the holiday.
**Be flexible.
The Importance of Listening
Be swift to hear and slow to speak. Take time to listen to your partner. Be interested in your partner's ideas.
Add Romance to Your Relationship
Slow dance. Even for just 15 minutes, while your waiting for dinner to cook. The quiet time and physical closeness creates intimacy. You'' find it easier to unwind from a long day, tune out distractions and connect with your loved one. You'll feel closer, more relaxed and playful.
Revive Your Romance
Hold hands while watching TV. Touch one another; stroke your spouse's hair and neck. Physical contact is an important part of maintaining feelings of intimacy over the long run.
Visiting Your Long-Distance Love
You've spent a great deal of time looking forward to time together. What can you do to be sure that it's as wonderful as you imagined? Be realistic. Remember that you need time to ease into one another. Rather than rushing off for a romantic weekend getaway, run for coffee or drinks. Take your time to get to know one another again and don't pressure the relationship.
Add Romance to Your Relationship
Add special touches to make a basic weeknight meal romantic. Turn down the lights, light some candles, and play soft music instead of the TV. Create a romantic atmosphere and you'll feel closer to your mate. It won't matter that you're eating out of take-out containers!
Breakups: Dealing, Healing, and Learning
Focus on healing. Take your time and grieve. Regardless of who ended the relationship, and the reasons for its end, there is loss to recover from. To help in grieving and to prepare yourself for next time, try to consider your role in the relationship. What did you do well in the relationship and what was your role in its problems? What would you do differently? What wouldn't you change?
Maintain Your Marriage With Date-Night
For one night a week forget the children, forget the job, and remember what brought you together. Have a "Date Night".
Maintain Your Partnership
Respect and honor each other. Think about your partner in respectful ways. Remember what you loved about each other and what brought you together in the first place. Focus on the positives in your relationship.
Play Black-Out to Revive Your Romance
Play "blackout". Turn off the phone, mute the answering machine; turn off the TV and computer. Use only candles to light your evening. By removing the everyday distractions of modern life, you'll be forced to spend time talking with your lover.
Argue Effectively
Before saying anything, think about whether you really mean it. Also think about how it might make your partner feel.
If you are too angry to discuss the problem constructively, then take a break. Go for a walk. Give yourself time to cool down.
Make Time for Your Partner
Make time to communicate with your partner. We all have busy and hectic lives, but you and your partner need to have time to talk and share the joys and trials you each are experiencing. Set aside a half hour every day for just the two of you to share with one another.
Recovering from a Breakup
Take time to heal. Nurture yourself, say affirmations. Pick up a book of affirmations or other soul-warming title and be compassionate with yourself. Try keeping a journal to sort out your feelings. Don't rush into another relationship; take time to heal and get in touch with your feelings.
Grow Together and Seperately
Encourage your partner to grow. We each need to grow seperately as well as together, as a couple, for us to be happy and emotionally healthy.
Argue Effectively
Argue effectvely. Discuss the behaviors that were unacceptable, but do not attack the person. For example, “I was really hurt that you didn't call,” but not, “You're insensitive for not calling.”
Personal attacks put others on the defensive and will escalate the argument.
Mimicking for Friends
We tend to like those who we perceive as similar to us. Because of this, we naturally tend to mimic the beahvior of people around us (e.g., speech inflections and physical expressions).
So, next time you're on a first date and you want your date to like you, subtly mimic his or her expressions. This works in any interpersonal communication (i.e., interview, friends, etc.).
Remember Your Partner
It's easy to get caught up with the hassles of everyday life (work, kids, bills, etc.) and forget about our partners. Try to keep your relationship a priority. Without a healthy relationship, the other areas of your life will suffer too.
Reading for Romance
Try reading to one another. Pick up a book of short stories (maybe some racy ones?) and take turns cuddling and reading aloud. Have you stopped and listened to the sound of your lover's voice? Reacquaint yourself with the melody.
Daily Contact and Long-Distance Love
Can your love survive a long-distance relationship? One thing that can help is to stay in touch by email, phone, and any other means possible. It's important to be in touch with your significant other's day to day life to really understand and connect with him or her.
Marriage is Like a Plant...
To help your marriage stay healthy, tend to it like a plant. For a plant to grow it needs water. The water in your marriage is your time and attention.
Handle Conflict in Your Relationship
Arguing is an important part of a relationship and how you argue may determine whether your relationship lasts.
When arguing, allow your spouse a change to talk openly and freely, without belitting his or her feelings. Listen. Tell your partner how you feel.
Ask how he or she feels. Focus on the emotional implications of the argument and maintain the goal of being closer.
Revive the Romance
Try something new together. Whether it's a new restaurant with a style of food neither of you have tried before, or a new activity like miniature golf or bowling. The goal is to break out of your rut by trying something new. It might get you to think in new ways and put some spark into your relationship.
| Guru Spotlight |
| Kristle Jones |
