Many marriages end up in one spouse deciding to file for divorce due to their partner being non-present, usually through an intense commitment to work. It’s true that an individual can place the demands of their job ahead of the needs of their spouse, and if it goes too long unchecked, then the couple is heading for a breakup. To prevent this from happening, here are a few simple ways to better balance work and marriage.
One: Be Present.
Being present does not mean that you’re in the same room but glued to your smartphone. Work and play are often intermingled on these devices, and so it can be easy to never really disconnect. Instead of allowing it to invade your personal time with one another, put the phones away, even if your intention isn’t to work but to play another game of Tetris Blitz. If you can’t communicate without reaching for the phone, then you’re facing the kind of trouble that could lead to divorce papers.
Two: Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone.
If your wife is always the one making plans and managing your Friday and Saturday nights, how about taking a step out of your comfort zone? You can do this by stealing a moment throughout your work day to take initiative and plan an evening with meaning and forethought. Often times, this is one of the easiest ways to reignite passion in a stagnant relationship.
Three: Show Ambition.
Just because work gets in the way of your relationship from time to time, that doesn’t mean you should start sloughing off. You can have both. In fact, when you care about your career and you’re good at what you do, it can spill over into your personal lives together. There is a temptation to scale back the amount of quality work that you do when relationship problems are present, but that’s a move that swings too far back the other way. But keep in mind, you should also show ambition for your relationship. How do you do that? By always challenging each other and not giving in to the rut that daily life can become. That’s why married people should always have a one-, five-, and ten-year plan.
In Summary
It’s a very delicate balance you have to find between your work and your marriage. But if you don’t want to end up filing divorce forms, it’s worth the journey to get there.