June 5, 2020
How to Improve Your Relationship with Your Partner During the Pandemic
A few months ago, being able to spend so much time with your partner sounded special and intimate. It was something people hoped and worked for.
Now, after spending weeks together, people are forced to recognize parts of their partners they never noticed. Even long-married A-listers describe needing to “get to know each other.”
TaskHuman coaches see the close quarters as an opportunity to make your connection with your partner stronger.
If you want to grow your relationship with your partner, there are a few strategies TaskHuman coaches recommend you try.
But the most important is communication.
It’s not new, but it is essential.
Communication – open, truthful communication – can go a long way to improving your relationship with your partner.
You need to be able to express, and your partner needs to be able to hear and understand, your feelings. Don’t assume your partner knows your thoughts about something. Tell them.
Coach Amanda Crooks summarizes the need for strong communication:
What you communicate about is important too.
Here are 3 ways TaskHuman coaches think you should practice your communication:
1. At-home expectations
Each person has their own limits. Explaining what those are for you to your partner is important. You need to go over concerns about COVID-19 to set the parameters for basic functioning during the day.
What may be an obvious necessity to stay healthy to you, may seem unnecessary or silly to your partner. And you won’t really know until you discuss those ideas.
It is important for you and your partner to agree on what is expected of each other – to set the ground rules for how you keep your home safe.
Listen as Coach Andrea Caprio explains how she encouraged rule-setting:
The conversation may be uncomfortable, especially if you think you might have different views from your partner. But the more uncomfortable you feel about it, the more important the conversation is.
Coach Lindsay Lapaugh needed to make sure her partner deeply understood her concerns:
The standards should go beyond what happens in your home too. To know what you and your partner will do outside of your home will ease your anxiety and develop a stronger relationship.
2. Work as a team
TaskHuman coaches know that articulating each other’s comfort-levels when it comes to interacting with people outside of the household sets your relationship up for success. Communicating worries and needs can be difficult, but it can also make it easier for your partner to support you.
When you are clear about what you need and feel, your partner can respond and support you. And vice-versa. It is easier for you to give and support when you know when and how to do it.
Coach Kelly Hawk describes how she and her husband negotiate “outside” expectations:
You can go beyond the voicing of concerns and create a broad understanding of each other too! The deeper you work to know each other, the more strongly you are rooted together.
But setting the rules is different from simply knowing your partner’s emotional needs.
You need to also “dial-in” to their emotional state and check to see if you are supporting them too.
Listen as Coach Melissa Rivera explains:
While communication and ground-rules support stronger relationships, it’s important to remember that finding other ways to support your loved-ones is critical.
3. Other ways of showing love
Even though you are discovering new aspects of your partner, you can still understand who your partner is as a person. And because of this understanding, you can know what your partner needs.
Listen as Coach Sedae Slaughter explains this idea:
It’s also important to practice ways of showing love that keep all of your family feeling safe and respected. Even the act of showing respect and care tells your family you love them.
Looking for ways to show love can spread to those outside of your home.
Coach Vishal Ramani details how this works:
It takes dedication and work to grow relationships. By working to understand the thoughts and emotions of your partner, you build a stronger connection.
To talk to a TaskHuman coach about how to improve your relationships, schedule a call today!
