Whetheryou are at the beginning of your relationship, or you’ve been with your partnerfor awhile, relationships take work to maintain. To keep your relationshipstrong, you have to put time and effort into your partner. And if you are withsomeone who truly loves you, Investing in your relationship will not only makeyour partner happy, but it will make you happy as well. Because they willinvest the same energy right back into you. If you want to learn how to improveyour relationship, here are 9 ways to be a better girlfriend.
Besupportive.
Nomatter who you are, it feels good to know your partner supports your dreams.Try to find ways to show your partner that you are supportive of what they likeand care about.

Stayoff your phone.
Ifyou always have your phone glued to your hands, it will sendsignals that you don’t care about being engaged with your partner. Give yourphone a break and tap into your relationship.

Thinkbefore you react.
You’rebound to have spats in any relationship, but if you are used to flying off thehandle and saying hurtful things, try taking some time to decompress after thenext argument. You will have a better handle on how to react in a moremeaningful way.

Manageyour expectations.
Remember your partner is human, and no human is perfect – not even you. Allowing for mistakes and mishaps with grace and forgiveness will instill some empathy between you too, and will go a long way the next time you make a mistake as well.

Respect alone time.
Beingin a relationship should mean a lot of quality time spent together, of course.But everyone needs time to themselves to maintain a personal identity, and willprobably give them more time to miss you.

Layoff the nagging.
Youwant the best for your partner, and this may mean you have a tendency toconstantly try to tell them what to do. But this can become really annoying,and could possibly feel like an attack, resulting in a jolt to their selfesteem.

Respecttheir privacy.
Nobodylikes a girlfriend who pries, and invading your partner’s privacy will only sayto them that you don’t trust them. If there is a reason for you to distrustyour partner, then have an open dialogue instead of prying.

Makethe same effort as you did early on.
Itcan be easy to get super comfortable in a relationship, and slack off on yourappearance. But sprucing up regularly to show you still want to keep yourpartner’s interest will show that you still care about keeping the relationshipfresh and fun.

Try new things together.
You may have a daily routine, especially if you live with your partner. But every relationship needs a little spontaneity and excitement. Surprise them with some new activities, like a new restaurant, a mountain hike, couple’s massage or even a romantic getaway.