There are lots of ways that technology can disrupt your relationship. When you take a second to think about it, relationships in 2018 couldn’t be more different than relationships 40, 30, even 20 years ago! It would be fair to say that the overwhelming factor in these relationship differences is all down to the prevalence of technology in the 21st century.
Technology can be great for a relationship, especially because things like social media allow you to interact online together and document your partnership, and even things like Netflix that allow those all important ‘chill’ sessions that everybody seems to be enjoying these days! However, there is no denying that too much technology has the potential to become a hindrance to the relationship rather than a help. Here are some ways that technology can disrupt your relationship and some tips on how to avoid them.
One of the ways that technology can disrupt your relationship is when you decide to watch television. TV gives you an opportunity to snuggle up on the couch together and chill, but it also stops you from talking to one another in the precious moments of the day that you do get to spend together. Keep it turned off until you have unpacked the day with a great conversation.
Scrolling through your phone in bed is doing the obvious, preventing you from being in the mood and making love! Why post on Twitter when you could be cuddling up under the covers with your partner? Make a rule to put it on the charger in a location that you can’t reach from the bed.
Finding funny videos and memes to show your partner on your iPad is a form of interaction, but it also can stop you from trying to come up with your own jokes for each other. Your own senses of humour can suffer because you never have to think for yourselves.
Gaming, online gaming in particular, means that you are spending more time with anonymous voices across the world than with your own boyfriend or girlfriend. It is also something the requires your undivided attention, there is no middle ground with gaming! Save gaming time for when one of you is out of the house and you have time to dedicate!
The problem with a laptop is that it is way too easy to take your work and your spreadsheets into the bedroom, or indeed anywhere that you might be going in the house! Try an experiment where you treat your laptop like an old school PC and keep it in a single location in the house. It will help you to leave your work in one single spot.
The advanced tech of a new Kindle means that you can now read in the complete dark, not having to keep a lamp on to disturb your partner. If you are a bookworm, this can lead to hours and hours of reading every night, and as a result, your body clock will become very different from your partner’s. You might become crabby in the daytime because of your lack of sleep, and you also might be compelled to nap at times when you should instead be spending quality time with one another.
The cinema might be a way to get out of the house and into the public world together, but at the end of the day, it’s still just swapping one screen for another! You might be able to hold hands as you watch a movie, but it still doesn’t give you much opportunity to actually sit together and have a meaningful conversation. Go out on a dinner date instead!