Is technology killing your love life?

Staying in touch with loved ones is one of the major reasons we buy gadgets, so why, in this hi-tech age, do so many of us feel distant from our other halves? The answer may lie in our bedrooms.

What’s the first thing you do in the morning: roll over and kiss the person lying next to you, or lean across for your mobile? ‘Oh, but I use my phone as my alarm clock,’ I hear you say. That’s all very well, but grabbing your phone before doing anything else means the temptation’s right there in your hands: you may as well scan your emails, update your Facebook status and check the weather forecast while you’re at it. Before you know it, you’re late for work and only have time for a hasty goodbye to your husband as you dash out. So much for that quickie before breakfast…

Experts tell us that our beds should be used for sex and sleep only, but too many of us insist on bringing third parties – laptops, phones or TVs – into the boudoir, and the distraction can put a right dampener on our sex life. Take the TV. If you reckon it’d be a good idea to make a habit of watching it in bed, think again. One Italian study found couples with a set in their bedroom have sex only half as often as those who don’t. And the effect is even more marked in the case of over-50s, with a 60% drop in sex. It’s hard enough for most of us to find time for sex at the best of times, but how will the opportunity ever arise if your man’s glued to the TV and you’re busy posting on Mumsnet yet again?

One in four of us text before we nod off at night, and over a third of us admit we bring our laptops to bed. It hardly takes a genius to work out that more time staring at screens means less time making love. Maybe these gadgets come in handy if you’re trying to avoid sex, but it's hardly grown-up to hide your problems behind technology.

So how can you regain that intimacy when you’re used to spending all your quality time in front of the telly? One answer is to have a ‘no gadgets after 10pm’ rule. Turn everything off and spend that time talking to and touching your other half instead. And if you truly prefer being online to talking to your partner, get some help or find someone else. It can be horribly lonely in bed with just a laptop to cuddle…

Did you know A recent US survey found that 12% of American mothers use their mobile phones during sex!