GIRLFRIEND IS ON HER PHONE 24/7

Dear Coleen

My girlfriend is always on her phone and it’s begun to really annoy me. Whenever we’re together she’s glued to it – in pubs, restaurants, on the sofa watching telly – literally everywhere. It’s got to the point where we barely have a conversation.

She thinks I’m overreacting, but I’m not. I use my phone too, but not to the point where I can’t enjoy what I’m actually doing.

We’re going away for a weekend at Easter and I want her to switch it off for some of the time at least, but I know she’ll go ballistic.

Have you any ideas?

Coleen says

Phones are a real threat to relationships in my opinion. I was at a restaurant the other day and there were tables of people not talking to each other, just looking down at their phones.

So I absolutely understand where you’re coming from. I think she needs to know that you’re not just nagging her – it’s actually driving a wedge between you and her, and changing how you feel about the relationship. It’s a serious problem.

Rather than talk to her like a child and ban her phone, ask her to limit the time she spends on it when you’re together. Make her think about the point of your relationship if her head is always somewhere else when you’re together. She has more of a relationship with her phone.

When you go away, why not suggest she checks her phone in the morning and at night, but the rest of the time leaves it in her bag. If there’s an emergency, someone will call. It’s not asking a lot.