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A performance review with your spouse could save your marriage
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Marriage therapists and experts agree that having a performance review about your marriage could help your relationship grow and remain strong. - photo by Herb Scribner
The key to saving your marriage may also be the thing you hate doing at work: an annual review.

Many marriage therapists encourage spouses, and even romantic partners, complete periodic performance reviews to inspect their relationship, find any problems that exist and identify goals for improvement, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Its the relationship equivalent of the six-month dental checkup, James Cordova, director of the Center for Couples and Family Research at Clark University, told WSJ.

But couples cant go into this with a soft approach, experts say.

Couples have to be careful, and constructive, when sharing their assessments, according to WSJ. Fairness is crucial. And for couples in a relationship crisis, a performance review is unlikely to help.

This isnt just advice, but it's based on research.

Back in 2014, Cordova had couples fill out questionnaires about their partners strengths and weaknesses, The Daily Beast reported. There were six-month checkups thereafter, with a control group being told their checkup would be delayed, The Daily Beast reported.

The couples who had the six-month checkups reported greater marital satisfaction and happiness than those who didnt receive the checkup, according to The Daily Beast.

But while Cordovas research may have found this based on six-month checkups, others, like Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks, who are marriage coaches and have been married for 34 years, schedule informal discussions with each other every Tuesday and Thursday, where they talk about problems or conflicts that have arisen in the past few days, WSJ reported.

It makes sense, too, that these reviews would work for a marriage. Communication about relationship issues has long been considered a key to a happy relationship, as our own JJ Feinauer wrote back in June of this year.

In fact, a study from Cornell University found that communication is one of the three keys to a happy marriage, since it can help solve marital issues, Feinauer reported

Most marital problems can be solved through open communication, and conversely many whose marriages dissolved blamed lack of communication, the study said.

The researchers dont mention any bonuses given out after a good review, as some workers sometimes see. Weve seen bonuses given out to spouses, though, in the past, which has sparked some controversy, and may mean the performance review method may not be accepted by all.

As our own Shelby Slade reported, Polly Phillips, whos married to an executive in the oil industry, wrote for the New York Post that she often receives a wife bonus from her husband because she has given up, and continues to give up, many opportunities to care for their daughter and home.

This sparked some controversy online, with some wives saying these kinds of bonuses make women feel more dependent on their husbands, Slade reported.

And, as Heather Landy of Quartz wrote, these bonuses dont do much to help relationship satisfaction. This is according to a University of Chicago research paper that found incentives and bonuses don't always make workers more productive.

That is to say, a good marital performance review, or some kind of bonus, may not make a spouse any better at their relationship.

With that in mind, conducting a marriage review may seem daunting at first, but Rebecca Chory, a professor at Frostburg State University, offered six tips for conducting a positive performance review for your marriage to The Wall Street Journal.

Chory said its important not to put down your partner, but rather identify his or her bad behaviors and explain how you came to those ideas. Couples may also want to show youre bringing up issues that youre consistently upset about, and not criticize your spouse for something one time and laugh it off another, WSJ reported.

Couples should also allow their partners to respond to the feedback and be clear about whatever goals theyd like them to change in the future, Chory said.

Cordova agreed.

If you are doing it well, he said, you can tell because you will feel closer to each other and will each feel understood."

For more on building a happy marriage:

Want to see if your relationship will last? Check your partner's credit score

5 ways God can save your marriage

10 heroic things you can do to save your marriage
Its toxic: New study says blue light from tech devices can speed up blindness
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A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers. - photo by Herb Scribner
It turns out checking Twitter or Facebook before bed is bad for your health.

A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers.

That process can lead to age-related macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, according to the researchs extract.

Blue light is a common issue for many modern Americans. Blue light is emitted from screens, most notably at night, causing sleep loss, eye strain and a number of other issues.

Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said our constant exposure to blue light cant be blocked by the lens or cornea.

"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop, he said.

Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that often affects those in their 50s or 60s. It occurs after the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need retinal to sense light and help signal the brain.

The research team found blue light exposure created poisonous chemical molecules that killed photoreceptor cells

"It's toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a Ph.D. student researcher working in Karunarathne's cellular photo chemistry group. "Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good."

However, the researchers found a molecule called alpha-tocopherol, which comes from Vitamin E, can help prevent cell death, according to Futurism.

The researchers plan to review how light from TVs, cellphones and tablet screens affect the eyes as well.

"If you look at the amount of light coming out of your cellphone, it's not great but it seems tolerable," said Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Some cellphone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea."

Indeed, Apple released a Night Shift mode two years ago to help quell blue lights strain on the eyes, according to The Verge. The screen will dim into a warmer, orange light that will cause less stress on the eyes.