Sleep or Lack of it & Your Relationship Satisfaction!
Lack of sleep and relationship satisfaction. Is your’s plummeting?!
Many couples, especially if you’re adding to your family and have a new born baby, or maybe you don’t have a child but can’t sleep because reoccurring thoughts are keeping you awake.
Whatever the reason is for you, if sleep is non-existent, it is likely having an impact. An impact on you and on your relationship satisfaction.
So, how about we look at your night time routines.
Cell Phone Lullaby
How many of you reading this post have a habit of grabbing your iPhone right before you lay your head down on the pillow to sleep?
Or maybe it’s your computer that has you sucked in for hours on end and before you know it, it’s way past when you needed to go to sleep.
Maybe you are looking at distractions to take your mind off the day’s stressors. Or maybe you are reading an article thinking it might help you fall asleep. Maybe you are answering emails because that’s the only time you can sit down and focus on them.
Whatever the reason, and we’ve all done it! It might be time to set those phones (or computers) far away from your sleeping area and spend time with your partner instead. You might start to see an improvement in your relationship satisfaction.
The risk though is that if you’re looking at your phone because you don’t want to engage with your partner or spouse then it might be time to see if seeing a professional couples therapist might be right for you.
Relationship Satisfaction
If you’re tired all day and you’ve been dissatisfied with the quality of your relationship. Or dissatisfied with the time you spend together. Or the way you talk with each other. All this dissatisfaction can start to take a toll on your physical and emotional well being.
First, examine your bedtime routine to see if there is any wiggle room to change things up that can help promote sleep or rest.
- Try reducing your screen time at least an hour or more if you can before bedtime
- Maybe try soothing activities liking drinking a calming tea or listening to calming music
- Maybe take some time and meditate or write in a gratitude journal all that you’re thankful for
- Some experts recommend sleeping with your home a certain temperature to promote restful sleep
These are just some simple examples but there are many tips by sleep experts out there so I will defer to them. But, if interested, you might like to try playing with your bedtime routine to see if switching it up has a positive impact on you. Which in turn, might have a positive impact on your relationship satisfaction and the quality of your intimacy with each other.
By: Anna McElearney, LMFT, LPC, NCC
*Blog intended for educational and informational purposes only.