What's the "7-day rule" in relationship discussions?

What's the "7-day rule" in relationship discussions?

Philip Van Munching (Author) gives expert video advice on: What's wrong with raising my voice during a discussion?; How can I avoid explosive arguments in my relationship? and more...

Here's one of the key problems for almost every couple I have ever known. They break the 7 day rule. The 7 day rule is very simple. If it happened more than seven days ago, it is off the table. You don't get to bring it up. When we feel defensive, we look for any amunition that will buck us up. The stuff that happened a long time ago probably has no bearing on what we are talking about now but it's a quick, cheap, easy way for us to feel good about ourselves by saying, "Oh yeah, but you did something wrong." The thing is, it gets us completely off point. We don't really solve the issue at hand when we start deciding to refight fights that were fought two weeks, three months, five years ago.