Alternatives to "How was your day"

[differentcountries]

The reason why we ask how our work is, is because even though we both usually work set hours and travel little (me) or nothing (him), the things that happen set limits as to what we can do/talk about. For instance, if he has had lot to do/overtime, he is probably tired and not in the mood to be very chatty. Me, I tend to get extremely chatty when I am tired but that is not always ideal for conversation either. Like today, I have a school coming and sometimes that is very draining for me. Since he works outside, I often ask what the weather is like, for instance if it is very hot or windy that drains him. So asking how the day/work was sets the mood. Also, it depends because we usually run a cycle. The week after I left or the week before I come we talk very little about our relationship because we (and especially him) think too much about those things anyway. In the "midweeks" we both feel freeer to talk about us. I do a lot of interesting things, but I don't always share them with him in detail because I know he will get a bit envious/sad that he don't have the time/energy/imagination to engage in those things. Actually, finding him a hobby is one of our main things, not because what he has to say is boring, but because he is bored a lot and I care for him.

[Lissy]

There are some really good suggestions here. Like Moon suggested, "What did you do today?" is always a good question and sometimes a nice conversation-starter.

My partner and I also use "How are you feeling today?" I suppose that's a bit of a deviation, but it's a nice thing to ask/be asked.

[Gingerlyme]

We both are chatty, but me more-so. We usually start with How are you, how are things going, or how was your day/night (depending on time). If I know he was at a movie the evening before, or had gone to the football game, or to the pub for Karaoke Night, I ask him specific questions about that. And if either of us is having problems or decisions to make about something important, we discuss that. Even if we start out with I'm good, or I'm fine, we always end up with a good chat.

haha that is true, the conversation always just takes it own form and it is always funny if you think about it.

This my personal opinion: if either of you are getting bored of having the same conversation it suggests that you both need to get out and do interesting things with your lives. When your life is buzzing with activities then you both will be excited to share the day's events. How do you spend your free time?

oh no, we don't get bored im just worried that the usual line of "how was your day" can get stale and doesn't sound sincere since its always the same way of sentence sturcture? He doesn't have much free time other than the weekends, which is usually with at his mate's house chilling or with games. My schedule on the other hand is a little bit crazier and not regular, i do a lot of travelling with work so there is tons to talk about.

OR: Maybe there is just nothing much to say about one's day. My fiance goes to work every morning and I talk to him right after he comes home. Unless something crazy happened in his store, there is nothing to say about his day and we usually skip this question, not because we're bored of it, but because it is a useless question to us.
I liked moon's idea of asking "What did you do today?"

my sentiments exactly. haha. my S/O day is just like yours, nothing exciting truly happens that he would want to jump up and tell me. at the end of the day, the last thing he wants to talk about is about how work went. haha

There are days in which I use the old "how was your day?" or "how was work?", specially when I know he's been working on an interesting project or so. However, sometimes I change it to "what have you been up to today?" or "what did you do today" But I normally use such alternatives during the weekend. If his answer is "nothing" I ask him: why so much? It makes him smile. :-)
I also ask about the stuff he ate for lunch at his company or what did he make for dinner at home. Sometimes from there we start talking about recipes we should try when we are together.
As moon suggested, keeping up to date with international news is also helpful. Every now and then we talk about international and local news. in fact, just yesterday I brought some german news up and he was happy to share his thoughts.
And well, you don't always have to start your conversations with "how was your day". You can talk about YOUR day instead, without waiting for him to ask. But for this, you should try what petals suggested: go out and do interesting things or whatever makes you happy that can provide something fun to share later on.

We don't say it that often.. we usually just start talking about things that happened in our days. I think sometimes I will end up asking him how his day was when I realized I just babbled on about my day before he got a chance to say anything about his day. :P We bring up news articles too.. I follow local news on my Facebook and he checks BBC news pretty often, I think every day but I don't know if he's kept that up (he probably has).

Yea, i like to talk about what he ate. somehow that makes me very excited hehe. we talk about the news sometimes, but it really isn't our thing. i leave that for my family. but yes, like mentioned before, i usually just start blabbering about my own day first. Oh and i am a horrible horrible cook, and so is he. so i am not even going there with recipes. haha

There are some really good suggestions here. Like Moon suggested, "What did you do today?" is always a good question and sometimes a nice conversation-starter.
My partner and I also use "How are you feeling today?" I suppose that's a bit of a deviation, but it's a nice thing to ask/be asked.

I like the "how are you feeling today" suggestion. shall put that in my pocket

[rhabdoviridae]

We usually tell each other about our day and that leads into other conversation topics. We also talk about current events, sports (we both like watching sports), weather, upcoming plans and sometimes the future. I usually have a lot more to share just due to the nature of what I do whereas his schedule and routine are more consistent, but I make sure to ask if anything exciting happened for him that day. Even if he says something like, "Not much, we just [mundane thing here]" I'll ask a bit more about that particular task to show interest in his work

That being said, sometimes one or the other of us will feel more like listening than sharing that night and I think it's important to realize that sometimes a lengthy, profound conversation just isn't in the cards for the night.

[RandomGaymer]

Ask him to tell you at least one significant thing that happened to him that day. Something that made him smile or laugh, or made him feel excites. Or maybe it's something that annoyed him or something like that.

Or ask him to tell you one good thing and one bad thing about his day.

[BlueCat]

I like to ask specific questions about random usually mundane events. I usually know that my SO's been at work all day so won't always ask about it but I might ask "What did you have for lunch today?" It's simple enough that it's not a huge conversation, but it's different enough that you can laugh about it and move on from there to other conversation. And while a ham and cheese sandwich and an apple (for example) may not seem like exciting conversation, to me it's more about seeing into a part of my SO's life which is immediately in front of me when we're together, but I would never know about otherwise unless I ask. As in, it helps me to feel more connected by knowing all those stupid boring details. But maybe that's just me. It's like one of those connections that's overlooked in person, but helps when we're apart.

[Kye0570]

Interesting. So just think if you were to engage in conversation with someone you are trying to learn about for the first time. Ask opinion questions. "If you could imagine yourself in the career of your dreams what would it be?" "If you had a choice between living rich in a mansion and not working or working the rest of your life in a small home what would you pick and why?" These are called Opinion openers and used in the dating world to open people up and get to learn who they are without coming across as creepy. Google them. Or ask your SO "what are your plans for the next few days?" So you can stay on track with their life. Motivate and push them but it also shows your interested on where they're headed and your support will be appreciated. When they tell you things, make not of it in your phone Calender or write it down so you can surprise them especially when they think you might've just passed it off as normal conversation. Even try creating a situation and envisioning what it would be like "so we go out to dinner. Where would you take me? What kind of food? How will we get there? Ask them to describe every aspect of your date or evening or whatever it may be. And then you do the same. Hope this helps