When was the last time you and your partner had a date night? Last week? Last month? Last year? It’s time to grab the calendar and clear a night for some one-on-one.

We’re all busy. I get it, I really do. Between work, kids, social commitments, and family engagements, there’s hardly enough time to squeeze in an episode of your favourite show, let alone carve out a chunk of time to spend with your other half.

But, here’s the thing - date nights shouldn’t be a luxury, they should be a necessity.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean booking a babysitter, blowing the budget and booking in at a fancy pants restaurant. In fact, many couples are put off by the idea of date night because they assume it has to be a big, romantic schamazzle. 

It’s simply making time to focus on each other, whether that be a screen-free night at home, or a walk along the beach. The most important message a date night conveys is that you are taking the time to nurture your unique relationship and each other. 

Relationships are work and we need to take time to nourish them and keep them strong. While many of us are happy to work on goals in other areas of our life (career, health, fitness), when it comes to our intimate relationships we can easily tend to forget them. Sound familiar?

Here are just a few reasons why you should make date nights a priority:

• Relieves stress from your day-to-day routine

• An opportunity to communicate openly and have meaningful conversations

• Strengthens your intimacy and attraction to one another
• Allows your relationship to grow

• Increases feeling of intimacy and reignites that romantic spark

• Gives you time to appreciate one another and not take each other for granted

Ready to establish a date night routine? Here are some tips:

• How many date nights do you want to have each month? 2? 4? Set a goal with your partner and stick to it! Decide on dates and put them in your calendar to make sure they happen - no excuses!

• Great, you have your dates set! Now, what are you going to do? Try and mix things up so that each date night is interesting and doesn’t become the same routine.Alternate between going for dinner, movie nights, screen-free nights at home, walks on the beach, or try setting up an intimate space at home. To keep it fun, have each partner take turns in planning the date night to surprise the other person. 

• Whatever you’re doing, ensure you enjoy the moment and take it all in. It can be so easy to get distracted and think or talk about work, the kids and not focus on being connected to your partner. The goal here is to increase connection with your loved one so do your best to disconnect from everything else and stay in the present moment. This is a time to focus on your relationship and enjoy the moment together.

So are date nights really that important in your relationship? YES! Keeping intimacy and connection alive in your relationship is essential to overall relationship happiness. So tell me, when’s your next date night?