Work and technology sucking up your lives? Calendar so full you don’t even have time to think? 200 emails in your inbox a day? Sometimes technology seems to be taking away all our personal time. Here are 7 ways to use technology to put some romance time back into your life.
1. Calendar some time
Your work calendar crammed with meetings? Colleagues taking every available slot? Carve out some time for your partner, whether it’s scheduling a conference call with them (in a private meeting room) or just setting aside some time to write them a handwritten love letter, make some time for your relationship every week. Set it up as a private meeting so nobody knows what it is about, only that you’re busy.
2. Leave a voicemail
Partner is never available? Leave a voicemail. If you’re going to say something you wouldn’t want overheard then it’s a good idea to start your message with “Hi X, I’m leaving you this private message…” that gives them time to intervene before your intimate message gets broadcast to everyone on the speakerphone!
3. Send a text message
Every year the phone networks handle trillions of text messages. Was one of them yours? It only takes a few seconds to tap out a text message and since text messages can only be a maximum of 160 characters short and sweet is the order of the day. You can text like a teen “C U L8R” or like a blackberry thumb-boarder “Cant wait 2 get you alone” but however you do it, do it! Can’t type on that teensy keyboard? Most cell providers offer a web-based way to send text messages.
The great advantages of text messages is that they are private and immediate. Know that she’s going into an important meeting in 30 minutes? Text her good luck. Know he’s in a boring meeting right about now? Text him that you’ve got a “special surprise” for him when he gets home. Sure to spice up a dull day at work.
4. Write an email
Somewhere between the text message and the letter in the post sits the email. We tend to think of email as a business tool but it was invented by academics who wanted to argue without risking being thumped. You can do better than emailing a dry old thesis. Start out with the one-liners, “thinking of you” and work up to short-love letters “Can’t stop thinking about you. Last night was amazing…” But be aware that the boss may be reading too! Some estimates say that 50% of work-related email is read by someone else at work. Never put anything explicit in an email sent from work and nothing you would be ashamed to see pinned to a notice board. Pretend you’re Victorian : Prim and proper to the external viewer but with a secret passionate life you and your partner share hiding just beneath the surface.
5. Make them a tribute website
Won’t your partner be surprised when you change the homepage on their browser to “i-love-your partners name here.com? Impossible? Far from it. Know nothing about web design? Don’t worry, the tools to build web pages now come bundled with the domain name and allow you to quickly assemble a great looking website tribute to your loved one. There are many providers on the web who will offer you a years domain name (the www..com part), web-space (to store your web pages and any images you use) and all the tools and online help you need to build your own digital fan-site for as little as $20.
Building a digital love-nest has never been so easy.
6. Make them a love certificate
Most companies provide some kind of training and will often print the participants some kind of certificate. If you can beg, borrow (or even steal!) the template file you can make your own certificates. Your partner is only a click of the print button away from being a certified “Hunkiest Husband” or “Most Beautiful Wife”. Or maybe your partner deserves a certificate for other attributes? Just don’t get caught printing risqué certificates at work!
7. Order them a gift from a website
Want to buy your partner a little love gift? No idea what to get and don’t have the time to visit every shop in the mall? Let the search engines and shopping sites be your friend. Most shopping sites maintain gifts for him and gifts for her sections and these can be great inspiration. Many sites will even let you add wrapping paper and a note for good measure. Shopping this way can cost you a little more in shipping and handling but everyone likes to receive surprise gifts in the mail.
Conclusion
These days technology can sometimes seem to run our lives, we live by our electronic day timers and spend too much time on email. Using these same technologies to make time for romance is a great way of turning them into something life-affirming.