Living with a roommate can be hard especially if you have never shared a room before. Getting used to living with a stranger or even your best friend can be challenging. There is nothing worse than having problems with your roommate. Here are our top tops for cultivating the best roommate relationship as possible!
1. Go Over Boundaries
This can be awkward at first, especially when you first meet your roommate. If you still haven’t gone over boundaries with your roommate, now is a good time to! You do not want to wait until it’s too late. Talk to them now before bad habits are solidified.
2. Be Honest about your Needs
It can be hard to be honest with your roommate. If they like to stay up until 3 AM with all the lights on and music blasting, but you have a 9 AM class 4 days a week, you need to be open about what you need. If you roommate is a night owl but you’re an early bird, talk about effective solutions that will work for both of you.
3. Establish What’s Shared and What’s Not
If you don’t mind sharing your snacks with your roommate but your closet is off limits, make that very clear. When you start sharing things with your roommate boundaries can get blurred, make sure to be clear about what you’re comfortable with sharing
4. Discuss Having Guests in the Room
If your roommate has guests over- daytime or overnight- talk about your comfort level. If you don’t feel comfortable sleeping over with her and her significant other, talk about that. Plus, if you are constantly being sexiled by your roommate, that is not okay, and you need to have that conversation. Our top tip, don’t push your beds together. Even if your best friends, pushing the beds together can lead to some awkward situations.
6. Get to Know Them and Their Interests
Utilize Facebook or social media to get to know your roommate if you’ve never met. Learning more about your roommate and understanding them will help you live with them.
7. Address Problems When They’re Small
If your roommate has been using your shampoo constantly but when it runs out she doesn’t buy you a new one, talk about it. Let her know that you have a problem with what she’s doing. Have the conversation when it’s just about shampoo and not something a lot bigger.
8. Don’t Do Everything Together
You and you roommate already have to live together, that doesn’t mean you have to do everything together. Time apart is very healthy especially so you two don’t start to get sick of each other. Set up a weekly activity you do together to have fun and catch up!
9. Don’t Force Yourself to Be Best Friends
You do not have to be best friends with your roommate. You don’t even have to be friends. At the end of the day, they just have to be someone you live with. If you live well together but have nothing in common, that’s okay! Don’t feel like you have to force a dep relationship with them.
10. Be Willing to Compromise
If your roommate is a party animal all week and you’re not, learn to compromise. If she stays out all night, agree that when she comes home she isn’t too loud. When you wake up in the morning after she’s been out all night, don’t open the blinds to let the sunshine in. Find ways you can compromise to make your living situation work.
11. Use Your RA as a Resource
If you are having problems living with your roommate, talk to your RA. They have been trained with different ways to help roommates live best together. Use them as a resource and let them know if you’re having problems. They’re there to help you.