There are 4 times during the day that you can maximize the effect of any relationship behavior: waking up, going to sleep, coming home and leaving for work. Whatever you do during these transition times has a much stronger effect because it colors what comes next. The old adage don’t go to bed angry is very true.

So what can you do? Make a decision that you are going to say or do something positive during those times. You can say, ” I love you”. You can give a warm touch, or a gentle handle hold. You can look into your partner’s eyes and smile just a little longer than normal. The exact action or words are not so important as the intent behind them.

We tend to become complacent and take our relationships for granted, then later we wonder what happened. So the intent is to take out 10 seconds 4 times a day to really communicate love and appreciation for your partner.

That is all it takes: Less than one minute of your day. Decide that you are going to do this for two weeks or a month no matter what. I promise you that you will get a great return on your investment of time and effort. At the end of that time you should notice a warm difference in your relationship.