It can be difficult to maintain a relationship when you live a long way apart from the person you love. Not only do you have all the normal relationship problems, but also the distance and effort required to keep it going introduce even more problems that you do not normally find when you both live close together. Follow these great tips to find out how to make long distance relationships work for you.

From the very start of the relationship, you have to both be clear exactly what you want from it. It is fine to be just friends or romantic partners over any distance, but you both must want the same thing and work towards the same goal.

You will also need to discuss what will happen over time as well, such as which of you will relocate and what are the timescales, and problems to overcome, before you can be together. Try to make plans for your future together and discuss together what you both need to do to get there.

Take full advantage of the modern devices that will help you both keep in regular contact, including:

Keeping in touch like this will really help to make you feel closer. If it is possible, try to schedule regular times when you are both available to communicate. Remember that it is not long ago that people could only communicate through a fixed phone line and the postal service, so no matter how hard it is now, it could be a lot worse.

When you are a long distance couple, everything moment that you can spend doing things together is important. You might not be able to be together physically but that does not mean you cannot enjoy activities together. Perhaps you could watch a TV show or movie at the same time and then discuss them afterwards like a normal couple. Other options include reading the same book, listening to the same radio show or album. Try to think of new ways to enjoy your favourite activities together.

If you have some shared interests, you can continue to pursue them – even if you are apart. It does not matter what you both like to do, you can always find ways to keep the other up-to-date with what you have been doing and in a lot of cases enjoy the activities at the same time.

It might not seem like it, but some advantages do exist to long distance relationships. You can spend your time doing what you want without anyone complaining. This means more time with your friends and family, or even time to enjoy your own company.

It does not matter how far apart you live, the availability of global travel means that it is possible to visit the other person. Try to visit each other as often as you possibly can, without one partner making all the effort. Try to alternate visits to share the travelling time out equally and you could even save together to pay for the travel costs.

For a change, you could even meet somewhere in the middle or some other neutral destination and treat it like a holiday. You have to aim to be together as often as possible and savour every precious moment that you can spend in each other’s company.

It can be hard when you live apart, but you need to resist the urge to control your partner or be jealous of them. If you let these negative emotions run away unchecked then it can cause problems in your relationship and even lead to you splitting up. Instead, spend your time trying to focus on the positive aspects of your relationship and be there for each other, just like any normal couple.