In an attempt to strike a balance between your relationship and career, there is the tendency to live either under excessive pressure or under deliver. Your relationships (career and love life), require time and energy. Time is the currency of life. Whatever you give your time to grows. Investing time in a relationship yields the result of a stronger bond and intimacy with your partner. Without time, there is no communication, value exchange or parameters to measure progress.
Energy is another essential input in a lasting relationship. This covers the thoughtfulness put into the things you do. There should be a conscious effort to fill your partner’s love tank. You may have heard about one-sided relationships – where one partner gives and gets little to nothing in return. This is because the vibes do not match.
Investing time and energy is essential for career and love life balance. How then do you give both and still have enough to go round? Your career goals do not have to suffer while trying to build a healthier romantic relationship and vice versa. Here are five tips to keep you above the situation at all times.
1. Give Caesar What Belongs To Him:
This popular quote explains that you should pay your dues to the appropriate authorities. In this case, the authorities include your career and love life. If you are at work, then focus on work. The only way to get best results is to focus on one thing at a time. Set work goals and spend your work hours on achieving them. Build good relationships with co-workers business partners, team members and staff (as the case may be). Always give your best and try as much as possible to avoid distractions.
On the other hand, don’t let work sabotage plans you have with the love of your life. When you are together, resist the urge to talk about contracts and KPIs. If talking about it is necessary, do so with sensitivity. Observe how your partner receives the information. A low interest or contribution shows that you need to sweep work talk under the carpet with no hard feelings.
2. Stick To a Schedule:
As a career or businessperson, you have quotas to meet and goals to achieve. If you want to achieve results, you need to set goals and stick to them. Follow up religiously on daily tasks and create to-do lists to get an overview of pending, ongoing and completed tasks. This also ensures that you don’t leave out any important details and you are able to track your progress. It also helps you to prioritize the more important tasks.
When unable to reach certain goals, move them forward to another day. However, you have to beware of procrastination. Take notes of the tedious tasks and leave them for last. Creating a schedule and adhering to it allows you to maximize your time, thus creating room for you to invest quality time in your love relationship.
3. Keep the Communication Lines Open:
Communication is key in every lasting relationship. If you experience stress at work, let your partner know how this negatively impacts your love life. Communicate with your partner when you feel overwhelmed instead of shouldering your burden alone. It is much better to ask for help instead of patching things up. Understand that showing vulnerability is not a sign of weakness while inability to communicate or ask for help is.
In your relationship, schedule time outs when you both talk about your struggles, fears and weaknesses. Use the power of communication to strengthen your bond. In situations when you have to cancel on your partner, be honest with them. Express your disappointment at the change of plans and make it up to them somehow. You can buy them a gift or take a trip to a beautiful destination. In the same vein, don’t feel guilty about turning down work-related outings to be with your partner. All is fair in love and war.
4. Set Money Values:
The major cause of arguments in relationships is Money, according to Investopedia. It is therefore no doubt that money is a topic for discussion. Both parties need to share their perspectives about money -beliefs and values. A partner that does not buy into the idea of savings will not support a partner who enjoys saving money. On the other hand, a partner who worships money will always choose an opportunity to make money over spending time with your partner.
Setting your money values also touches on your financial goals. Some people want to make money just so they can show off with it while some are only trying to get financially independent. Knowing each other’s values allows you both to know what to prioritize between your career and love life. This not only helps you to strike a balance between both but also to reduce money-related arguments.
5. Understand Your Partner:
Whatever you love, you give your attention. Value your partner and what they have to offer. Love requires making sacrifices and reaching compromises to make your partner happy. Take time to learn your partner’s love language as this gives you insights on what they value the most. This will will save you time and energy when you need to fill your partner’s love tank.
Understand what they want and give it – it’s as simple as that. This saves you the disappointment of going all out to do something for your partner that goes unappreciated. Take for instance, your partner has had a hectic day at work and you wanted to make them feel relaxed when they get home. So you spend hours online learning how to give a body massage and buying everything you need; only for them to come home and tell you all they wanted was a meal cooked by you.
Understanding is a subset of love. An understanding partner will not be quick to judge you when you get overwhelmed with work. Instead, there is the willingness to help. Be someone who understands that we are all humans prone to tiredness. Let your partner be your fuel when you burn out. Where there is love, there is motivation, improvement, learning and balance.
Found these tips helpful? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Bookmark www.naijacupidweddings.com for more interesting content on love, relationships and marriage.
