Why can’t you get your guy to listen to you? No, it’s not because of earwax build-up and no, it’s not because he needs a hearing aid. It’s because men, by nature, have a reflex where they automatically tune out topics in a romantic relationship that they don’t want to deal with, according to Allan Pease, author of the book Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps. The book is an in-depth look at the communication problems men and women face and how to solve them.

According to Loveawake, there’s really only one reason men tune out, because they can. Here are two things you can do today to get your guy to listen! 1. You’ve got to get his attention. Think about the things in his life that he does pay attention to and meet him on his turf. It may not be an ideal time to bring up the fact that he’s been working late every night for two weeks when the game is on, but you can hint at it in the first quarter and table the discussion until after the game.

That way, he knows you want to talk to him and you’re being courteous by not interrupting the game to talk about it right then. 2. Wait until the day is winding down. In an office environment, they say the best time to catch the decision-makers on the phone is after 5:00p.m. when the work day is over.

That’s because they don’t have a million distractions because everyone in the office has gone home. They can concentrate on taking calls, etc. Use the same principle with your man – don’t bombard him in the middle of the day with issues and topics for discussion. Instead, wait until he comes home and is relaxed before bringing anything up. -- Tasha Cunningham, tasha@loveawake.com