Ditch The Bedroom TV--Your Relationship Will Thank You

Hi, I'm Karyn your couples therapist and relationship coach with A Better Relationship Coaching. I wanted to talk about why you should get that TV out of your bedroom. So my husband and I actually haven't had a TV in our bedroom for many years, so that's pretty normal for us. But just this week, I have actually realized that a lot of couples do have a TV in their bedroom. And that, not surprisingly. It is not the best thing for their relationship. So that's what I wanted to talk about today.

So what seems to happen frequently when couples have a TV in the bedroom is that they start out watching something in the living room and then when they get tired or it's time for bed, then they move that same thing and continue watching in the bedroom. And a lot of times people even will just fall asleep with the TV on and wake up in the middle of the night, turn it off. And I really think we should in general, just banish TVs from the bedroom. And this is why.

First of all, it isn't good for our sleep, right? And we tend to have less restful sleep or will sleep for fewer hours and we just don't get the same good quality of sleep that we get when we aren't watching TV. We tend to stay up later when we have a TV in the bedroom. So yeah, just for our own, good sleep habits I think that's a bad idea.

The other thing that happens when we're not getting enough sleep is we tend to not be at our best self when we show up the next day, right? So just from my own personal experience, I have been prioritizing my sleep for the past few years it has made a huge difference in how I show up on a day to day basis with kind of everyone, but especially with my husband. So I know he has also appreciated me really prioritizing my sleep because when I wasn't rested I was impatient and I was much shorter with people and kind of quicker to be snappy and things like that. So I really noticed a difference when I started making sure I get like 7 to 8 hours.

But the other reason is that it has a big impact on your relationship when that time before you go to bed can actually be a great opportunity to get some quality time with your partner and if you're spending that time watching TV, a lot of times you're not even talking to each other. One person's doing one thing, the other person's watching TV. Or, you know, maybe you guys are both watching TV, but there's not any communication there. So I just really have seen this have a big impact on couples in general instead of watching TV in the bedroom. You could be doing a lot of other things.

First when you talk about having sex. obviously it's a great time for physical intimacy, but that's just one of the things that you could be doing before you go to bed. It's a great time to talk to each other, catch up. What's going on with you? How are things going? You know, really use that time to have some good conversation with your partner. You can also do things together. You can listen to a podcast together. You can read to each other, together. Couples do a lot of different things before bed. But I do think that one of my favorites is to just have that be a great time to check in with each other and just see how things are going and have that good quality time, especially if you have kids that sometimes the only time you have when you're not doing something in terms of providing for the kids. So I think it's just such a great opportunity-- and a missed opportunity--when you have a TV in the bedroom.

If you're not sure. and you're really hesitant to get that TV out of the bedroom, you just like a trial run of like a week of just unplugging it and hiding the remote and not using it and see how that goes.

All right. Let me know how that goes for you. That's it for now. I hope this was helpful. Until next time. Take care of yourself and take care of each other. Thanks.