Making Time for Each Other During the Week
Healthy marriages maintain strength when couples spend time together. Today’s busy lifestyles can make this difficult. Couples who do not intentionally plan time together on a regular basis may find themselves drifting apart and becoming married separates. Where is your time spent, and how can you intentionally spend time together as a couple to maintain the strength of your relationship?
8 ways to make time with each other
- Wake up ten minutes earlier to eat breakfast together. You’re not getting restful sleep by hitting the snooze button that many times anyway.
- Take a minute to snuggle in bed before you start the day. Just don’t fall back asleep.
- Try working out together outside the gym. You could run, walk, rollerblade, play tennis, shoot hoops … and you’re enjoying the great outdoors.
- Find a fun grocery store to shop at together once in a while. Guys: you’ll get more food you like.
- Make dinner together: grill it up, cook it out and maybe turn on some tunes to spice things up.
- Rather than drawing straws to walk the dog, take Buster out together. You’ll have a moment to chat and the exercise can’t hurt. And the dog will probably be pumped about the family outing.
- If you come across something interesting or beautiful in your week, send a pic to your guy or gal’s phone. It might be just what they need at the moment.
- Head to bed together! Take a moment to talk about your day, your plans for the month. Say a prayer together before you drift off.
How to identify and create more couple time
Below is an exercise you can do as a couple about Making Time or you can download the worksheet.
There are 168 hours in each week. Estimate how much time you spend in the following activities:
| Sleeping ______ Work ________ Church ________ Commuting _____ Cooking _______ Cleaning _______ Extended family __ | Eating _________ Parenting ______ TV ______ Exercising ______ Chores ________ Meetings ______ Volunteering ____ | School _______ Fun __________ Online _______ Shopping ______ Yard ______ Friends _____ Other ______ |
Dialogue questions to create more shared time as a couple
How much time do you spend together as a couple per week?List any activities that seem to prevent your spouse and you from spending adequate time together as a couple:List three things you could do to find more time to spend with each other:List three things you are willing to do to find more time to be with your spouse:Share your answers and make a joint commitment to find a specific time to spend with each other in the coming week.Together we commit to:
Article by Jeanne Goff Quentin and used with permission by the Archdiocese of Chicago Family Ministries.
