Long-distance relationships are challenging for many different reasons. The main one is that you can’t be with the person you love as often as you’d like. In some long-distance relationships, couples get to see each other often, while others don’t have that luxury.
For this reason, it’s not uncommon for people to become clingy or needy. It’s natural, you miss someone you love and you want to be with them almost all the time. Not being able to do that is painful and it leads you to crave their attention.
However, it’s important to understand that demanding 100% of your partner’s attention 100% of the time is just not feasible. Not only that, it can hurt your relationship. That’s why it’s essential to learn how to be less needy in a long-distance relationship, and today we will help with that! Here are 7 ways to be less clingy in a long-distance relationship.
So how to be less clingy in a long-distance relationship?
1. Work through your attachment anxiety:
People who experience attachment anxiety are insecure about the support of the people they’re with, even if they haven’t been given a reason to doubt that. It often stems from childhood experiences with unreliable parents.
As a result, you fear that your partner won’t be there when you need them so you want to make sure their attention is always on you. This is an inner issue and you need to commit to working on it so it doesn’t affect your relationship.
2. Schedule calls a few times a week:
Even if you text each other throughout the day, you should schedule calls a few times a week and stick to that. Being consistent is very important, so scheduling calls is a great way to maintain that consistency.
For example, knowing that every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday you’ll have a call or video call with your partner will help you prioritize time with them. You’ll catch up, laugh, and get through the days until the next time you see each other in person.
3. Focus on yourself:
Focusing on yourself is one of the best ways to avoid being too needy in a long-distance relationship. Though the time between meetings with your partner can feel like hell, you need to live your life.
Instead of obsessing about them, make sure to focus on your studies or work, make time for your hobbies, spend quality time with friends and family, and do the things you enjoy.
4. Keep things light and fun:
Long-distance relationships can be very difficult. The sadness of not being close to each other can make things very heavy. So, try to keep things light and fun. Having a sense of humor about it can go a long way.
Saying things like “Can you do the dishes tonight?” or “Let’s go for a walk” and sending them pictures of your walk is a great way to keep things light. Also, you can go on virtual dates, like watching a movie together while you’re on a video call, playing online games, and more.
5. Trust your partner:
Communication and trust are very important in a long-distance relationship. If your partner hasn’t given you any reason to distrust them, don’t look for one or you’ll end up overthinking and making reasons up in your head.
If you do have reason to doubt something, talk to them about it and work through it. If you don’t trust your partner at all, you have to ask yourself if you should continue with this relationship.
6. Take care of your emotional connection:
Your emotional connection to your partner is extremely important and you both have to take care of it. You also need to strengthen it more and more as the relationship goes on. When your partner is not physically close, it can be easy to neglect your emotional connection.
However, that’s a big mistake. Your bond is precious, so make sure you protect it. There are many ways you can do that in a long-distance relationship, such as opening up, sharing your secrets, complimenting one another, supporting each other, and more.
7. Make plans for the future:
Making plans for the future is a great way to focus your attention on what’s to come instead of obsessing over how long your partner takes to answer a message.
You can make plans for the next time you see each other so you’re both excited about what you’ll do together, for example. You can even make plans for the long-term if your relationship is at that stage, such as planning a trip together in the summer, moving in together, etc.
Conclusion:
Though long-distance relationships are not easy to navigate, it’s important to keep things healthy.
Being too needy or clingy can cause many issues even when done with friends. So you need to work on this behavior to make sure your long-distance relationship survives.