We’ve all done it. You’re enjoying dinner with your partner and you get a text message. You check it, and before you know it, you’re engrossed in your phone while your partner eats in silence, waiting for your attention.
Or, at night, your partner scrolls through their Facebook feed while you’re trying to vent about your hard day at work.
In The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, Dr. John Gottman writes that “most of us readily turn off our mobile devices at houses of worship or movie theaters. We need to extend that same respect and courtesy to our spouses.”
When you ignore your partner in favor of your device, you’re turning away from their bids for emotional connection.
It’s important to turn toward your partner and respond to their bids. Carve out “no screen time” and have a real face-to-face conversation. Your newsfeed can wait.
Additional reading
- How Your Smartphone Might Sabotage Your Relationship
- How to Repair the Little Things So They Don’t Become Big Things
- 10 Questions Happy Couples Are Constantly Asking One Another
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