Strengthening Your Marriage During the Coronavirus Pandemic

A crisis can make or break a marriage. It brings out the best and worst in people. If you and your spouse don’t have the necessary tools to get through it, unfortunately, your marriage may suffer. As the entire world deals with the coronavirus pandemic, you’ll find that many couples are being put to the test. 

To stop the spread of the coronavirus, many government officials have asked that adults and children remain in their homes. Being at home day in and day out gives you a lot of time to see and experience things that you would not have otherwise had to deal with. Not to mention, lifestyle changes and anxiety only add to your frustrations. 

Having to deal with issues head-on while also coping with fear and anxiety is challenging, to say the least. To prevent these pressures from tearing your marriage apart, however, you must be willing to work as a couple to strengthen the relationship. Here’s some advice on how to accomplish this: 

Create New Routines

You’re used to living life a certain way. Unfortunately, however, your normal schedules and routines have been altered due to local and federal mandates. Instead of getting frustrated with each other because of this disruption, accept the new normal by creating new routines. 

Find ways to be productive at home. 

• Create a morning routine,  
• incorporate exercise, 
• work on self-care practices, 
• set a schedule for online learning for the kids, 
• create a work schedule (for those working remotely) or map out time to work on a new business plan or career opportunity, 
• plan mealtimes, and 
• develop a bedtime routine. 

This structure throughout your day helps you to avoid becoming frustrated and getting into petty arguments over things that are beyond your control. These routines also add a sense of structure and purpose to your day so that you get through these trying times easier during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Focus on Your Health and Wellness

Instead of nit-picking about little things that mean absolutely nothing during a time of crisis, try focusing on something that really matters like your health. When it comes to improving one’s health and wellness, two heads are often better than one. You have each other to create a plan, set goals, provide inspiration, and to be accountable in improving your health and wellness. Not to mention, when you’re both physically and mentally at your best, it helps to automatically strengthen your relationship. 

Take this time to work on issues you both may be having physically or mentally. Maybe you’ve recently had a baby, and your wife is suffering from postpartum depression, or there’s been trouble in the bedroom, and your husband is concerned about low testosterone in men. If one or both of you has preexisting conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or cancer, you can help each other to manage your conditions more effectively. Prepare healthy meals together, workout as a team, and take the necessary measures to make sure that you’re both intact mentally and physically. 

Spend Quality Time Together

Life has a way of taking you away from the things that are important to you, like your marriage. Now that parts of your life have been put on hold use this time to reconnect with your spouse. Find ways to spend quality time together at home. 

• You can spend the first 30 minutes of your day talking to one another, 
• plan an at-home dinner date night, watch movies together, 
• learn something new together (i.e., online cooking courses, how to paint, home improvement projects, etc.), 
• have a romantic spa night, or 
• simply take a walk outside holding hands and enjoying nature. 

Plan Your Future

Though things are pretty crazy right now, life won’t always be this way. Rather than focusing on what’s happening here and now, focus your energies on your future. Not only does t his ease anxiety and stress, but it gives you and your spouse something positive to look forward to. 

Sit and think about where you see yourself as a couple in the next five or ten years. What are some things you want to accomplish personally and professionally? How can you two merge or align your goals so that you both reach success? Create a vision board, set SMART goals, and begin taking steps towards building a brighter future for your marriage and your family. 

Being stuck in the house with the same person day in and day out can be downright stressful. You have all the time in the world to think about the coronavirus pandemic and the many changes it has caused to your life that only frustrate you further. Before you allow these factors to put a strain on your marriage, take a different approach. By focusing on positive things like those listed above, you will not only weather this storm, but you’ll come out of it stronger than ever before. 

Featured Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash