Keeping yourself preoccupied.

[Miles-Between]

After a three week vacation in Australia to visit my SO, I'm back home and this visit has hit me harder than any other visit.

I'm not sure if it's because my brother is home from deployment and is living with my parents and I until he and I move into a two bedroom apartment together. We've been sharing a very small bedroom together, with him sleeping on the couch, and his computer right next to mine. I get absolutely no privacy.

All this stress and the heartbreak from leaving my SO again has me dreading the next year till our visit in November of 2016 for BlizzCon. And here's my question:

How do you guys keep yourself off the amount of time between visits and not worry too much about how long is left until then?

[Noodle]

Work is the big distraction for me. And having a hobby definitely helps.

Also planning/looking forward tu the next visit is fun and gives you hope.

[differentcountries]

My biggest distractions are work, workout and hobbies.

I have shared bedroom with a sibling, what helped me through was we divided up the hours in the daytime so we could each have some hours of privacy.

[lordpsymon]

I bring out the keyboard and mouse, log in to Steam and play me some games... Or I watch stuff, though that doesn't always help because my attention span is rather short so I am always zipping back and forth from what I am watching to Facebook or something else. I admit, it is really difficult to distract myself when I miss my partner because of my short attention span.

[Gingerlyme]

I just want to bump a yay for another game/esports lover!
Blizzcon is always fun, me and S/O play a lot of hearthstone together. but personally i am in the League scene and he is a Csgo pro.

But yes, work and personal time is the best distraction.
Distraction itself is a horrible word, because you both lead individual lives, while you are a couple, you are also your own person. time apart is best spend working on improving yourself

[butterfly712]

It's very hard,my so just got back to his house after spending the whole day and night with me yesterday,I cried.

[LovingAcrossTheAtlantic]

For me, writing a journal helps.

[BlueCat]

Hobbies, housework, and my rabbit. Hobbies are good, but I can't always get out and do them, there's always housework that needs to be done and I find it distracting and also makes me feel good afterwards to know that I've been productive. And yeah, pets are good for the love I like to think they give :P

I would suggest hanging out with friends, but to be honest I don't do a lot of it because I find it draining. I can't be around people a lot, especially after being at work I just need to be at home on my own, which does make it difficult. I usually sit around on the computer a lot checking forums etc, but I find it doesn't really help because it's not distracting enough and it's not productive for anything.

[Petals]

You won't see each other for a whole year? Wow, that is a hard feat! ((hugs))

I have recently started a second job so that keeps me busy, plus I have joined some activity groups. These activities help me to deal with the distance better as I don't have a lot of time to think negatively. Sometimes being out with others don't help as I find myself wishing I were sharing that activity with my SO. When that happens I just shake the feeling off and move on.

I don't keep a countdown calendar (until the last 2 months) because it only reminds me of how much longer I have to wait to see my SO.

Hang in there girl

[nicolelexo]

Just wanna say that you have my support, many hugs and loves to you. My SO and I will be in an LDR for the next five years due to med school on his part and business school on my part (fingers crossed for anything that can help close the distance).

We've just started (3 weeks), but what helps me is listening to recordings of his voice on Whatsapp. We send each other voice recordings, pictures, anything at all. Reading our texts, looking at pictures and listening to his voice, even if I'm not listening to what he's saying, really helps me. It also helps that I'm busy with college and he's busy with work, so I feel more productive in a way focusing on my education and saving up to see him when he's asleep or at work.

[Redheart14]

I write letters to my SO a bit. Hanging out with friends helps too. You poor thing a whole year without seeing each other

[R&R]

I asked my daughter on this one. She just celebrated 3 years with her SO and he was in boot camp, then in NC and now has been overseas for over a year - so they don't get a lot of time together and the time difference this last year has been really hard. He has 2 more years in this program and at least for the next year, she'll only see him once for 2 weeks.

She keeps herself busy working. She makes sure she spends time with friends. She has started school, so that helps take up time while helping with her future goals. She and I try to do something together at least once a week - this week it's apple picking. And when they talk, they are making future plans. They are looking at houses & starting to plan a wedding. Having things to plan together and look forward to seems to help her. She's finding a balance living her life as an individual here while he's gone and growing herself & being part of a LDR.

[differentcountries]

The things in our relationship that helps me, is really Skyping. To see him, listen to him, watch him move, see our flat that is so familiar to me, every day on Skype....it helps me to feel close to him. Another thing we do, is Viber on the phone (and regular text). To have little messages and emicons sent to me is great. Sometimes when I feel blue, I get a couple of heart-themed emicons and my mood just lifts. Also, to think of things we shared helps me. Sometimes right before I sleep I just "surround" myself with memories of him/us. I also find comfort in knowing he had the book I made to read; it is like a small part of me is still there, taking care of him. I also like to send him cards in the mail. When I am with him, I buy things to eat, use in the shower, wear... Like this time, he gave me a chocolate spread to eat on bread, and I bought lots of local spa stuff and I have this hair thing I bought there for next to nothing that is really original. I have his smell in my flat (on my husband, actually. he started to use the same Turkish shower gel/perfume brand as my boyfriend), that makes me dream he is there.

[lordpsymon]

Planning for engagement will be taking up a fair bit of my time over the next few weeks too now.