<human>: Provide a brief overview of the text.

My girlfriend and I don't live together yet, just because we like having our own space for now. We both go to school full time (her nursing and me MBA) and we both work and participate in extra-curricular activities that are important to us (gym, church, seeing friends).

At the end of the day, we usually have only one or two weeknights free, and that ends up being filled with homework. Usually those free nights are alternating.

That just leaves us with Friday nights, some Saturdays and half of Sunday. Usually at that point we are catching up on sleep and have little energy to spend doing quality time vs sitting on the couch! Frequently this weekend time fills up with familial or social obligations.

Last spring we were in a similar situation, and it greatly strained the relationship. We felt we both weren't getting what we wanted, and ended up taking a little break. But, when we had just a bit more time for each other (summer) things got much, much better and we were all the way happy again!

Do you have any tips on how to avoid that relationship strain? We usually spend all of our time together on weekends, but are so exhausted from the week that it usually doesn't feel refreshing or anything. And we have no chance during the week to be intimate or even share a meal.

So, what tips do you have? Should we stop sleeping? Do we need to give up extra-curriculars that we care about? Plan ahead for our time better and commit to it? What do you recommend?
<bot>: Don't want to be in a strained relationship like last year, but I don't know how to stop it when we barely have a chance to see each other!