If you work full-time, you already know how much time and effort it takes to master work-life balance. Add to that a relationship, and it becomes even harder.

As a psychologist who studies couples — and who has a working wife — I’ve faced these challenges firsthand. Thankfully, my job as both a researcher and husband has taught me how important it is to be intentional about how my wife and I spend our time, specifically on weekends.

Here’s how people in the happiest, most successful relationships spend their free time:

A couple who spends a lot of time together, but is constantly distracted by texts, emails or social media, probably isn’t as happy as a couple who spends less time together, but without their phones.

That’s why carving out one-on-one time without any interference from technology is so important. And how you spend that time is actually irrelevant. It doesn’t need to be extravagant or planned down to the minute. What matters is presence.

It could be a quiet morning coffee where you exchange unfiltered thoughts, a slow walk to fill the silence, or a good old wining-and-dining — as long as the phones and laptops are put away.

After a draining week of work, it’s normal and even healthy to crave solitude. But it can be hard to choose between “me time” and “we time.”

Luckily, there’s a way to satiate the need for both alone time and bonding simultaneously. “Parallel play,” a concept derived from child psychology, is when two people engage in their preferred activity separately, but alongside each other.

For couples, this might look like one partner reading on the couch, while the other plays their favorite video game next to them. They might not be engaging directly with one another, but they’re still intentionally sharing space and de-stressing with an activity they each enjoy.

It’s basically a way of saying: “I love you, but I also need to love me for an hour or two. Let’s do it together.” 

Relationships thrive on ritual. Coming home to your partner and knowing that the weekend will bring something familiar — something reliably yours — can be comforting.

In fact, research shows that rituals can help couples organize their lives in a way that allows for both change and stability to coexist. Individuals can merge into a shared identity that feels distinct from either person alone. You can ground yourselves together, no matter what chaos surrounds you.

What those rituals look like is completely up to you. Don’t shy away from cheesy. It could be Sunday morning pancakes, or board game night with a goofy scoreboard on the fridge. If you’re more practical, maybe it’s a weekly sit-down over a glass of wine to plan out the week, or tackling one nagging chore together with your shared playlist in the background. 

Studies show that couples who have a satisfying sex life are more likely to be happier in their relationships.

But with endless chores and errands, weekends can start to feel like a second workweek — with little time left over for intimacy. Sex quickly starts to feel like less of a priority.

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That’s why structured intimacy can be a good thing. Many people think it can diminish spontaneity, but if anything, it actually removes the mental fatigue of trying to make intimacy happen.

It’s also a great way for couples to engage without distraction, all while combating the emotional strain of work. So, make it intentional and set a time.

Playfulness, according to research, is one of the most reliable tools couples can use to strengthen their relationship. It can boost relationship satisfaction, ease conflict and break up the sense of monotony that partners can start to resent. 

During the week, we unknowingly train ourselves to look for things to stress over. But on weekends, we need to take those goggles off. The act of being silly — and being met with silliness in return — helps us reconnect with the childlike wonder we carry inside that gets buried beneath our responsibilities. 

So, look for joy on purpose. Maybe you pull out a trivia game with nonsense rules or challenge each other to a dance battle.

There’s no right or wrong way to be playful, and chances are, you already know how to make your partner laugh. You just have to remember to do it.

Mark Travers, PhD, is a psychologist who specializes in relationships. He holds degrees from Cornell University and the University of Colorado Boulder. He is the lead psychologist at Awake Therapy, a telehealth company that provides online psychotherapy, counseling and coaching. He is also the curator of the popular mental health and wellness website, Therapytips.org.

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For the last 10 years, I’ve worked with hundreds of students and their parents as an extracurricular coach at Spike Lab. 

I’ve watched my students grow into exceptional and confident young adults, pursuing their passions, starting businesses, developing complex projects, fundraising, and winning awards.

They’ve also been accepted to many selective institutions, including Harvard, Princeton and Stanford. 

While coaching these students, I’ve had the chance to get to know their families, too. Here are four things parents of these highly successful kids never do: 

Parents often pin their hopes on selective schools, as though anything less is unacceptable. Then they work backwards with a singular obsession to achieve that goal, starting tests and application prep early.

Instead of fixating on acceptance to any one college, focus on what is within your power. Help your kid develop the initiative, planning, critical thinking, creativity and communication skills necessary to succeed, no matter where they go. These are the qualities colleges and employers look for anyway. 

College admittance should only be a happy byproduct of success. Don’t ask, “Will my child get into an Ivy League?” Try instead, “Will my child have the ability to succeed anywhere?” If the answer to the latter question is yes, the answer to the former will be more likely to be yes as well.

Teens are often swayed by their peers — but parents aren’t immune to that pressure either. I often see parents signing their kids up for an activity purely out of a competitive feeling of FOMO. But this habit can result in kids who have generic resumes and, more importantly, they don’t get to develop an independent sense of identity. 

When one of my students enrolled in a rigorous science course unrelated to his interests, his reason was that “everyone at my school takes it.” The class wasn’t a requirement, just a norm that neither he nor his parents had questioned. 

While it’s valuable for kids to socialize with their friends, they also must cultivate their own sense of self. What are they interested in? Where do they want to invest their time? You as a parent can mentor them through this one and also set an example. The old “if everyone jumped off a cliff, would you” adage does not just apply to kids. 

It’s common for parents to take on difficult tasks or solve problems on behalf of their kids as a “Snowplow” parent often try to solve their kids’ problems for them

I’ve heard stories from teachers who regularly receive parent emails about their kid’s bad grades or about an inter-student conflict. 

Sometimes an intervention is necessary. But before you take action, ask yourself whether this is something you need to take on. Sometimes, when a tough moment presents itself, it can actually be an opportunity for your kid to learn how to assert themselves. 

Snowplowing, however well intentioned, can undercut the development of agency. If teenagers think someone else will do something for them, they won’t learn to do it for themselves.

In our program, we have students review the defining moments of their lives. Alongside moves, new schools and other common milestones, students frequently list something like being turned down by a varsity team. Rejections give students the confidence to come back stronger or help them reframe how they see themselves. 

It also prepares kids for reality. So rather than discouraging them from taking a leap, teach them how to bounce back from disappointment. Challenge them to do their own version of rejection therapy as practice. 

Once they acclimate, rejection becomes less scary. A student of mine cold emailed 70 professors to find a lab internship. He received dozens of nos. But in the end? One came through. And he learned a lesson in resilience and humility.

Failure and rejection can be wonderfully instructive. And even when they’re not, kids develop grit and position themselves for future success. Moreover, your child might defy your expectations. We often project our own fears onto kids. Kids don’t need adults placing a ceiling on what’s possible. Let them surprise us.

Theo Wolf is a writer and educator, with a focus on passion and purpose development in young adults. He is on the founding team of Spike Lab, a coaching program for high school students, and helped build Snowday, a free search engine for high school summer and extracurricular programs. Theo is a graduate of Cornell University and a mentor at Harvard University’s Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship. 

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If Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang were a student again, he’d take advantage of generative AI to have a successful career.

“The first thing I would do is to learn AI,” Huang said in a January episode of the “Huge Conversations” show with Cleo Abram, mentioning tools like ChatGPT, Gemini Pro and Grok. 

“Learning how to interact with AI is not unlike being someone who’s really good at asking questions,” he added. “Prompting AI is very similar. You can’t just randomly ask a bunch of questions. Asking AI to be an assistant to you requires some expertise and artistry of how to prompt it.”

Say you’re an entrepreneur and someone asks you: “Tell me about your business?” You’d likely be confused — business is so complex that a vague question like that is difficult to answer. But what if they asked, “Can you explain the first steps to launching an online retail business?” Now you can give a more pointed, helpful response.

The same goes for AI. To ask better questions, try to think of the chatbot as a child, Lazarus AI prompt director Kelly Daniel wrote for CNBC Make It in February.

“You’re talking to a smart kid. One who wants to make you happy and do what you’re asking,” Daniel wrote. “But the bottom line is, this kid doesn’t know everything you do about your task or business. They’re limited by their lack of context and previous experience, and it’s your job to provide that context.”

Organize your prompt clearly and concisely so the AI model can better generate a response, she added. Breaking your instructions down into a list or steps is easier to understand than a lengthy paragraph. And if you have examples of what you want, include that as well.

Using Daniel’s advice, a good prompt can look like this:

I need to give a keynote speech at my company’s annual conference. I want it to sound like Bill Gates during his early days at Microsoft. The speech needs to: 

1. Congratulate the team on a great first quarter. 
2. Acknowledge our improvements with our marketing and media strategy.
3. Introduce our new productivity goals and motivate employees to meet them.

Huang’s insight comes as few young Americans use AI regularly right now — 11% of Americans ages 14 to 22 say they use generative AI once or twice per week, according to a 2024 report from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Common Sense Media and Hopelab. Yet, 70% of the skills used in most jobs could change due to the technology by 2030, according to LinkedIn’s 2025 Work Change report. 

Perfecting AI prompts  — and asking better questions in general — is a skill that will remain relevant for years to come, so students should take the time to develop it, no matter what career field they see themselves in, Huang added.

“If I were a student today, irrespective of whether it’s for math or science or chemistry or biology — doesn’t matter what field of science I’m going into or what profession — I’m going to ask myself, ‘How can I use AI to do my job better?’” he said.

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Back in 2003, I spent a semester in L’Aquila, Italy and fell in love with the country. That study abroad experience changed the trajectory of my life. 

Two years later, I returned to pursue my master’s degree in marketing management and communications at Bocconi University in Milan. Fashionable, fast-paced Milan was miles away from the sleepy, neighborly L’Aquila, and the city’s nightlife actually reminded me of my hometown of Miami. 

After I finished school, I knew I wanted to stay. It was the beginning of a two-decade-long, and counting, love affair with Italy. I moved here permanently in 2012 after I married my Italian husband, Diego.

Today, we live in Milan with our six-year-old son, Lorenzo. I run a company called Doing Italy to help other Americans make a home for themselves here.

We rent a 1,227-square foot 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment for about $1,850 a month. We’ve lived here for about three years.

We found this place when Lorenzo was three. The apartment hadn’t changed much in the last 40 years, so we set about renovating to make it feel more current, and more like us.

In the United States, doing significant work a rental might be frowned upon. But in Italy, there are government incentives, like tax credits, for people renovating their homes, even renters. Our landlord also gave us eight months of free rent for renovating the apartment

The renovations cost us about $41,000, but between the government rebates and the rent pause, we saved roughly $33,400.

The bathroom

This bathroom is one of my favorite rooms, but it required a ton of work. We gutted it completely, changed the faucets and added the hexagon tiles, which I love. We sourced the tiles from an adorable, friendly and family-owned company in Tuscany.

The kitchen

When we got here, the kitchen had not been renovated in about 40 years, so it needed a lot of work. We actually had our movers bring not just our kitchen wares from the old apartment, but the appliances, too. 

We tore out the sink and the stove from our old apartment, and had them installed in the new place. It was a memorable transition. We also added a few new cabinets and a new countertop.

We demolished the existing wall tiles, but kept the ones on the floor. We also closed off two lateral doors that used to open up into the kitchen, to give us more countertop space. 

The living room

To open up the living space, we knocked down an entire wall. The living room has natural hardwood floors that we sanded and added a lighter stain. 

Since the flooring in that corridor space was tile, we sourced a bit of wood flooring to best match the rest of the room.

The bookshelves, the grey couch and the lighting fixture are some fun focal points of the space. 

My son’s room

My son’s favorite part of his room is the giant map that we put up on one side of the wall. He loves pointing out all the different locations on it. I love it because it helps bring all of our worlds together in one place. 

Our room

One of the most important additions we made to the apartment was the air conditioner in our bedroom. I grew up in Miami and my family is from the Caribbean, so I can handle a little heat. My husband on the other hand, not so much. 

I also love our dresser, which was handmade by my husband’s great-grandfather in the 1800s. It needed a little bit of work to bring it back to life, so we had it restored.

When we go to the market, there are so many quality ingredients to choose from. Fresh, delicious produce is relatively easy and accessible here. We source items like pasture range eggs, milk and butter either farms that are right outside the city, or from the farmer’s market in the city.

Leisure time is also a serious business in Italy. A perfect example of this is the evening ritual and tradition of the aperitivo.

As soon as the workday ends, people will stop into a café for a glass of wine and food for an hour or two. It’s deeply ingrained culturally, so much that whenever we leave the park after school, my son says  “facciamo un ‘peritivo’” — although he very adorably doesn’t pronounce the “a.” 

We’ll head over to a neighborhood spot with our friends. The kids get their own table with juice and chips, the grown-ups will sit at our table with our adult beverages, and no one looks at us like we’re inconveniencing them. 

I love raising my son in Milan. Having kids here doesn’t mean your social life ends. There are a ton of parks, galleries and museums, and a wide variety of family-friendly activities.

On average, Italians get four to six weeks of paid vacation every year, and unlike in the U.S., people actually use their vacation time. From Milan, we can get to Lake Como or Genova, on the seaside, in under two hours, and those are just the easy day trips. 

I grew up in a middle-class immigrant family. The fact that I now get to regularly vacation in places like Italian Dolomites and spend weekends in Vienna is not something I take for granted. I feel incredibly blessed, and I couldn’t be happier to be here. 

Thea Duncan Prando is the founder of Doing Italy. She lives in Milan with her husband and son. To learn more about her life in Italy, follow her @DoingItaly

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Keke Palmer has worn many hats over her career so far: actress, entrepreneur, producer, podcast host, singer, author.

But the 31-year-old spends her money prudently due to her humble upbringing, she says: Living below her means is her top financial habit for having a secure lifestyle.

“I live under my means. I think it’s incredibly important,” says Palmer. “If I have $1 million in my pocket, my rent is going to be $1,500 — that’s how underneath my means I’m talking. My car note is going to be $340. I don’t need a [Bentley] Bentayga, I’ll ride in a Lexus.” 

As a child, Palmer realized that she earned more than her parents. She got her first acting job at age 9 in Ice Cube’s 2004 film, “Barbershop 2: Back in Business.” By age 13, she had her own credit card and was the star of Nickelodeon’s “True Jackson, VP,” she says.

“My parents, at their best, made $40,000 a year,” Palmer told the “Club Shay Shay” podcast in a November episode. “I was making that a show.”

Palmer now tries to follow their example, she says.

“I learned from my parents very early on because they knew their limitations with money and finances,” says Palmer. “I believe in saving and frugality … I don’t play around with that.”

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She also shares her wealth with her parents, she noted during her “Club Shay Shay” appearance.

“My dad gave up his pension for me to have an opportunity for my dreams. My mom gave up everything so she could travel with me,” Palmer said. “What’s mine is theirs and what’s theirs is mine … I would sacrifice 20 more years of my life working in this industry so that I can provide and we can have the business we have today.”

Living below your means looks different for everyone. For example, the classic 50-30-20 budgeting rule — 50% of your taxable income for living expenses, 20% for savings and 30% for everything else — is increasingly out of reach for many Americans, CNBC Make It reported in May 2023.

If you can’t afford to save 20% of your earnings, start by finding a way to boost your income and minimize your large, fixed expenses, certified financial planner Rachel Camp recommended. That could look like picking up a side hustle, taking on roommates or even rethinking whether you need a car in the city you live in.

Palmer has an additional word of advice for young people, especially young women: “learn up” on economics.

That might mean reading personal finance books, taking a course at a local community college, talking to your money-savvy friend or even using ChatGPT to help you create a monthly budget plan.

“Be curious about that kind of stuff, because you don’t want to do things based off of survival,” says Palmer. “You want to do them out of choice. That’s something that my mom and my dad taught me very early on.”

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