Married couples who have been together for a long time usually share some of the same secrets: being consistent with effort, always being supportive of the other person’s endeavors, and choosing each other every single day. However, there might be an additional hack that couples should take into consideration, at least according to actress Nicole Kidman and her husband, Keith Urban.

Kidman, who has been with country singer Keith Urban for almost 20 years, shared that she and Urban choose to follow a rather strict policy when it comes to their communication style. She admitted in a 2018 interview that from the moment she and Urban met, they agreed never to text each other, and she credited that communication rule as one of the reasons why their marriage has lasted as long as it has.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have a no-texting relationship policy.

Speaking with Parade Magazine, Kidman explained that she and Urban have a strict no-texting policy. At the time, Kidman and Urban were celebrating their 12-year wedding anniversary, and the “Big Little Lies” actress revealed that she and Urban are mostly talking on the phone if they can’t speak face-to-face.

“We call,” she told the publication. “We have our 12-year wedding anniversary tomorrow, and we’ve never texted. That is so not our relationship, which is interesting, right? We call. We’ve done this since the very beginning.”

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Kidman insisted that she and Urban initially weren’t texting because she “didn’t know how to text.” Because they didn’t start their relationship off with texting, Kidman claimed that it’s carried over into their marriage now.

“So now we don’t,” she continued. “We just do voice-to-voice or skin-to-skin, as we always say. We talk all the time and we FaceTime, but we just don’t text because I feel like texting can be misrepresentative at times. And I’ve had the thing where I reread texts and I’m like, ‘What does that mean?’ and then read it to somebody and go, ‘Can you interpret that?’ I don’t want that between my lover and I [sic].”

Experts agree that texting exclusively isn’t great for relationship communication.

Communication is considered one of the most important foundations of a relationship, and while it may seem unconventional that Kidman and Urban have this no-texting policy, it might actually be something that other married couples should take into consideration. Medical expert and professor Zack Carter explained that there’s often a false sense of security that exists when messaging.

“It almost always feels as though the words sent and received in a text will not venture into dangerous open waters. The reality is a text message is open water. There is no shallow end to stand on or wall to grab onto,” Carter said. “What is sent and received in a text-based world can easily trigger our deepest, darkest feelings and desires, surfacing them in a conversation that began harmlessly.”

Things can quickly become confusing over text messages, which is why face-to-face communication should always be prioritized. It’s not to say that couples should never text each other, because that’s a bit unrealistic. However, saving the important conversations and making time to catch up face-to-face is much more important than some partners realize.