When you’re fresh into a relationship it is common that you are wanting to spend all your free time with one another. This is usually ok for a while as you continue to get to know each other and find out all the finer details of your new partner. However, there comes a time when you are most likely going to need to reduce the time spent in each other’s shadows to keep your relationship and outside friendships at a healthy level.

This leads to the question; if once a week is too little and every waking moment is too much, then how much time should we be spending together to develop a happy relationship?

This can heavily depend upon your personality. The more introverted you are, the more alone time you are likely to crave and be able to cope with. An introvert needs space to allow themselves to process everything that’s happening in their lives. Without this opportunity they might feel suffocated and not cope so well leading to them making rash decisions.

Oppositely, the more extroverted you are, the more likely you are going to want to a little less alone time. Too much alone time can make the extrovert feel bored and unloved. The need for a little more attention needs to be met in order to prevent the extrovert from feeling isolated and lonely in their relationship.

It’s important that you don’t spend time together just for the sake of it. Your partner might start to get bored hanging out with you and you might end up with relationship boredom. If this happens it can be tricky, but not impossible to come back from and so you may wish to read our article on how to cure relationship boredom.

Also, don’t end up sacrificing the activities that you have always liked and that have shaped you. You might start to blame your partner for making you lose all your interests. These are quite possibly the things that attracted you to each other in the first place.

Also, if things don’t end up working out, your friends might no longer want to hang out with you as you dropped them when you had a partner and only want to reconnect when the going isn’t as good. Maintaining your friendships is an important step in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

If you spend too little time with your partner, they might think you don’t care about them or don’t want to hang out with them.

You know how a holiday is always well deserved and looked forward to? A little scheduled alone time can have a similar affect for your relationship. It can make it feel refreshed and give each other a sense of freedom and independence as well. You are also more likely to look forward to your date nights with each other if you have had the chance to spend time apart and miss each other.

It’s important to remember that space and time spent together are a personal thing and you both need to find what works for each other to maintain a healthy relationship with each other. The question can really only be answered from within the relationship and whatever experts say, it’s not going to fit each individual situation.

Feel free to let us know how much alone time you need to keep your relationship healthy. We’d love it if you like or share our article too.