Doctor details the two things couples should be doing in bed to avoid arguments

A doctor has explained the two things that couple should be doing in bed to help keep a healthy relationship.

There are of course any number of things that you can do in bed, whether it's binge-watching your favourite show, or even indulging in a takeaway if you really want to push the boat out.

But while these activities might be fun, at least every so often, Dr Wendy Troxel has suggested that if couples want to keep things harmonious then they should confine their bedroom pastimes to two activities.

Dr Troxel is a senior scientist at RAND Corporation, as well as the author of the book Sharing the Covers, and advised on how to resolve some of the tensions that can arise in a relationship.

This is particularly the case when partners have very different sleeping patterns.

This advice helps to keep things harmonious (Alina Rudya/Bell Collective/Getty)

But to be clear, the only two things you should be doing in bed are playing video games and embroidering cushions.

Just kidding - they are of course sex and sleeping.

Dr Troxel advised to set this boundary to avoid unhealthy sleeping habits, including a common modern day one - doomscrolling before bed.

The temptation is always there, and many of us do it, but it's really not good for your sleep.

"If either partner insists on bringing the phone into the bedroom, set one boundary: no phones in bed," said Dr Troxel. "The bed should be for sleep and sex."

But the doctor shared that one of the most common problems is when the sleep schedules of the partners don't match up - so maybe one partner is more of an early bird, and the other is a night owl.

People can sometimes have very different sleeping habits (Vincent Besnault/Getty)

Luckily, Dr Troxel did offer some advice, saying: "For mismatched pairs, aim for some shared wind-down time before the early bird goes to bed and allow the night owl to return to bed at their natural, later bedtime."

Dr Troxel stressed the importance of keeping a good sleep schedule, as it can have a much deeper effect than just making us a bit more irritable.

"Sleep loss doesn’t just make us cranky, it changes how the brain processes emotion, making us more reactive and less able to regulate emotions," said Dr Troxel.

"My work and others’ shows that after a poor night of sleep, couples report more arguments and feel less supported by their partner.

"Over time, chronic sleep disruption can quietly erode relationship quality because empathy, patience, and communication all suffer when people are sleep deprived.

"Sleep is not only critical self-care, it is also critical relationship care."

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