Improving communication with boyfriend

Hi everyone,

This year I got into a relationship with a guy who I truly love. We are long distance and for me, the one thing that is worrying me about my relationship is the communication shared between us. For me it feels like I’m doing all of the work.

As we all know, communication is paramount to a healthy relationship, but for me, we don’t communicate enough. Even though everyone gets caught up in their everyday lives, his replies are always short and sometimes up to 7 hours between getting back to me. This is on his day off, too.

He also very rarely speaks to me on the phone and will often say that he wants to be on his own. In six months, he’s called me once out of the blue. And when we arrange calls, he always tells me he “might” be around but never guarantees he will be.

When we are together too, I often feel our time is rushed and he will never spend an entire weekend with me as he’s either tired, busy or wants to be left alone.

I’ve tried to address these communication issues before, he tells me they will be worked on, but they never are. He always says we never need to talk all the time, but the lack of communication is becoming heartbreaking.

How can I address these problems once again honestly and in a tactful way so he gets the message without coming across possessive? And are these worries normal?