I put my boyfriend on probation – and it might have saved our relationship 

A woman has described how she put her boyfriend on probation after they moved in together at the start of the pandemic – and it might have saved their relationship.

Nadeen Hui, from San Francisco, explained how she and her boyfriend decided to live together ‘really early on in our relationship’, but things didn’t go exactly to plan.

Taking to TikTok, the 30-year-old said she quickly discovered they had ‘different levels of cleanliness that we needed at home,’ especially while being stuck inside during the start of the Covid pandemic.

A few months later, Nadeen and her engineer boyfriend broke up. But they kept in touch, and he soon asked her what he could do to make the relationship work.

That is when Nadeen put together a Performance Improvement Plan – or PIP – in a bid to save their relationship. 

Nadeen Hui, from San Francisco, explained how she and her boyfriend decided to live together ‘really early on in our relationship’, but things didn’t go exactly to plan

A PIP is a term used to describe a set of objectives typically given by an employer to an employee to help them improve their performance in the workplace.

Sharing the plan on social media, Nadeen said: ‘Ultimately, we decided that we wanna stay together, and these lifestyle changes were for the better so why not do it?’        

‘I had to learn to be more accepting and easy going, and he had to learn to be more tidy and considerate of shared spaces.’

The PIP involved Nadeen sharing a note with ‘daily and weekly tasks that he needed to do, and a set of things he needed to work on’, she said.

The 30-year-old said she quickly discovered they had ‘different levels of cleanliness that we needed at home,’ especially while being stuck inside during the start of the Covid pandemic

Those who came across Nadeen’s video’s on TikTok had very mixed views about the method, with one person saying it is ‘absolutely hilarious’

This was a huge success – and Nadeen told Buzzfeed that the pair now use a Kanban board – a project management tool – to help keep track of what needs to get done at home.

Those who came across Nadeen’s video’s on TikTok had very mixed views about the method, with one person saying it is ‘absolutely hilarious’.

Another called the move ‘condescending’, while a third said: ‘I’d prefer not to be someone’s manager or assign tasks though…’

Others were more positive, saying: ‘This is a very nice way of communicating isntead of yelling and screaming at each other.’