How to deal with LDR with Time Difference (and win 2hr/week)
How to deal with long distance relationship with time difference? Hard to answer, huh?
Reconciling long-distance relationships and time differences.
Between your work, your family commitments, your passions and those of your partner on the other side of the country (or the world), the time slots to spend together are rare.
It forces you to stay under the comforter for hours texting all night. And wake up on Sunday at 1pm.
I know what I’m talking about:
With my girlfriend, we have a 7 hours time difference. She wakes up when it’s 3pm at my place. I go to bed when it’s 6pm for her.
This leaves us little time to enjoy moments together. And I was tired of staying up super late every weekend!
So we tried some things. Some of them were really rotten, others didn’t suit us.
But in the lot, we still found effective techniques that allow us to spend 3 to 4 hours of extra time together every week.
Pretty interesting, right?
In this article, I give you my 10 best techniques to answer the question « How to deal with long distance relationship with time difference ».
We have tried them all with my girlfriend. The best ones are 1, 2, 8 and 10.
Let’s get started!
For an ever more fulfilling long distance relationship, you can read these articles::
1) Shift your life by 30 minutes and gain 1 hour of extra time
You read that right!
If you get up 30 minutes earlier and your partner goes to bed 30 minutes later, you’ll spend 1 hour more each day you’re both awake.
And it’s within everyone’s reach.
Anyone can do it, you just need the willpower!
It’s exactly the same as aches and pains: you feel them at first, but after a few days your body gets used to them.
The downside is that it doesn’t apply in all situations.
If your partner is working even if you wake up 30 minutes earlier, it won’t work.
Good news: that’s not the case with the next 3 tips!
2) Make a LDR planning
How to deal with long distance relationship with time difference? With a LDR planning!
Do you know what a long distance relationship requires in addition to communication and trust?
Organization.
You will have to adapt to your partner’s schedule, and so will he.
With Kyomi, we have created a planner to find your way around and know your partner’s schedule in the blink of an eye.
In addition to having a unique object between us, it has brought us even closer. Our organization is much better and we manage to spend several hours more together thanks to this!
I show you exactly how to make your LDR planning in this article (with pictures of ours!).
3) How to deal with long distance relationship with time difference: Stay connected!
LDR’s have never been easier than in this day and age.
- 20 years ago, you had to pay to talk with your partner.
- 15 years ago, conversations were only done on Skype. Social networks did not exist.
- 10 years ago, no gadgets were connected to the internet. Only our phones and computers
A few months ago, Mark Zuckerberg announced the « Metavers » project. Imagine the possibilities!
So how to fight jet lag?
Use technology.
- Apple Watch allows you to send your heartbeat
- Bond Touch wristbands give you the ability to send personalized vibrations
- Talsam jewels light up when it sends you a text message
- Friendship Lamps light up when you touch it
The possibilities are numerous!
It’s up to you to make your choice and pick what fits your LDR the most.
This was the only point that requires a small investment. The next two tips are organizational
4) Plan some free time when your partner is awake
It’s Saturday, you’re not working but you need to buy things and move forward on one of your projects.
You saw me coming: use your time in the best way possible and optimize it!
Try as much as possible to finish your personal obligations when your partner is not available.
If you’re like me and your girlfriend always wakes up between 2 and 3 pm, do your shopping in the morning.
That way, you’re free in the afternoon.
If your partner does the same as you, you’ll find new slots to call each other and spend time together. That’s a promise!
5) Sacrifice your sleep
A classic and a little bit gruff. But it works well.
And I know what I’m talking about! I think every LDR couple on the planet has experienced this.
How many times have I stayed up until 4 or 5 in the morning to continue talking with Kyomi?
I spent many a late morning in bed on Sunday morning!
That was my first solution to how to deal with long distance relationship with time difference.
And you know what?
I don’t regret those moments at all. Because they helped us build our relationship.
So every once in a while, feel free to do this if you like the night world (if you don’t mind dark circles!).
6) How to deal with time difference with long distance relationship: put both your time zones on your phone
A little tip I already share in my 31 must-haves tools to make your LDR easier.
Check out what my phone’s lock screen looks like:
I know instantly what time it is in Peru! Handy for not getting tangled up and forgetting your next FaceTime.
You can easily configure this in the options of your phone.
7) Send yourself good morning and good night messages
This may seem like a harmless tip, but you’re missing out on a great technique if you don’t do this!
Messages in the morning are like that light ray of sunshine that warms your face or the good smell of fresh coffee brewing.
Personally, I’m always in a better mood when I wake up and see that my girlfriend has been texting me during the night.
Don’t you?
I also always text my LDR girlfriend when I go to bed. This is really good for her because she knows that after a certain time, she can focus 100% on her projects and personal life without worrying about me.
Good night and good day messages are underrated.
Especially if your love language is « Words of Affirmation »
And if that doesn’t work in your relationship (which it might), Tip 8 on how to handle a jet lagged LDR is going to please you.
8) Change the way you communicate
An underrated tip! This is a good solution for how to deal with long distance relationship with time difference.
I often recommend video calls over calls.
It’s funnier to be able to see your partner while you’re talking to them. It always makes conversations more interesting and engaging.
If video calls bore you and you suffer from a lack of communication, then don’t hesitate to change the way you communicate!
Here’s what you can do:
- Classic messages
- Audio messages
- Video messages
- Vibrations (yes, with BondTouch bracelets!)
- Video calls
- Letters
- E-mails
Tailor your communication to your schedule.
Send voice messages if you are busy; send an email if you don’t have access to your phone…
You get the idea!
9) How to deal with long distance relationship with time difference: Use this website to avoid misunderstandings
With this site, no more excuses!
In a second, you have access to a lot of local information about your partner. Like :
- The weather
- Time of day
- The temperature
- A calendar with the important dates of the country
The more organized you are and the more you immerse yourself in your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s life, the easier it will be to spend time together.
Be careful though, this site is easier to use on computer than on mobile.
Ok, it’s far from essential but it’s pretty cool.
Now we come to the last tip! It goes beyond just the time difference. It’s something you need to do to solidify your LDR and say f*** to distance!
10) Talk about your feelings and if your pace is right for you
I’m not telling you anything new when I say that excellent communication will make your long distance relationship easier to live with.
So be sincere!
Talk about what’s on your mind, good or bad:
- Is the pace of your communication working for you?
- Are your means of communication appropriate?
- What can you do to improve your long-distance relationship?
- Are you equally involved in your relationship?
If everything is going well for you, it may not be the case for your lover. Asking these types of questions helps build a long-term LDR
Keep in mind that a couple (long distance or not) that never argues suffers from a huge lack of communication.
You will inevitably be confronted one day or another with a difference of opinion.
The time difference will always be there, so accept it!
There is one last point I wanted to talk about. A point that is harder to pin down.
Yes, you have to make concessions for each other.
Yes, you have to rearrange some of your schedule.
Yes. But not only that.
The last point of this article is you.
The time difference is universal: it was there before you were born, and will be there after you die. That’s just the way it is. It will always be there.
Does this mean you should admit defeat and not make any effort?
It makes sense after all: why fight a universal problem?
Let me tell you something:
People who have chosen this path have not been in a long distance relationship for a long time.
They gave up before it even started!
Fortunately, I have good news for you:
If you are reading this, you are already a winner.
Those who are fighting every day to live an extraordinary long distance relationship.
You doubt it? 80% of the people who arrive on this page leave it without having reached the end.
But not you.
Because your partner is unique and your life has changed since you met him/her.
That’s why you’re so motivated. That your motivation to continue your LDR despite the time difference is so strong.
So keep going! Again and again. Take inspiration from my ideas. They work.
And you will see that you will have less apprehension in your long distance relationship. You’ll find the answer to how to deal with jet lag in a long distance relationship. It will happen, much faster than you think.
So here’s to you!
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Hello !
We are Léo & Kyomi, a French-Peruvian couple in a long distance relationship since 2019. Welcome to this blog entirely dedicated to this way of life.
We decided to create
My Sweet LDR
to help people who want to live their relationship serenely and who don’t know how to do it.
To read our entire story
you can click just here !
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