7 Ways to Escape Your Roommate When You’re Not Supposed to Leave the House

Quarantining has its pros and cons. For example, you probably have more time for yourself, so you can try new things, but those you live with are also eventually going to get extremely annoying, and with little to no way to escape outside, they’re bound to get on your nerves. You’ll go absolutely insane, and it may even ruin the experience of living with them. I know when I come home from my essential job, sometimes I just want to be alone, rather than socialize and be around my parents. And whether it’s your parents, a sibling, a friend or an S.O. that you live with, we can all agree on one thing: you cannot spend 24/7 with that person, and sometimes you just need to escape from them–especially during this quarantine. Here are seven tips for escaping within your own home. 

Communicate.

Communication is key; if you need space, say so! Let your roommate know you want to go and relax for a bit, or say something like, ”I need to be alone right now, but afterwards maybe we could do something together?” Doing this is the best way to ensure that you’ll get the time you need, and your roommate will respect you for speaking out and saying you need space rather than just ignoring them. You could also talk to your roommate about establishing a time frame where you two can separate and have your own time away from each other. When I need alone time, I always tell my parents that I need to go to my room and they let me have my time. I’m sure they’d be able to understand how you feel, since they probably feel the same way.

Close the door.

This one is simple for those days where you need a quick escape. A closed door for me is a universal sign that I need to be alone. And when someone needs me, they can knock and wait for me to answer the door to see what they need. A closed door also helps block out noise that goes on in my home, helping me to feel like I’m in my own space, rather than an open extension of the home.

Put up a sign.

If the closed door doesn’t do enough to signal your need to be alone, put a sign on the door. Don’t write “go away” on the sign though, as that signals anger and is not respectful toward your roommate, and could become a cause of tension. A nicer approach includes writing something like, “Relaxing, please knock,” or “Focused, please do not disturb.” Putting a sign on the door helps get the message of space across to your roommate without having to speak with them at that moment. 

Pick a different room.

Knowing your home, find a place where you could go that they either don’t go to or frequent. If I don’t want to be around my parents, I’ll either go to my bedroom or the space that we have downstairs to get away. If you want casual space, but don’t feel the need to be completely closed off, I recommend you escape to an open place with no doors so your roommate doesn’t think you’re completely avoiding them.

Do the chores they don’t like to. 

Do they hate doing the dishes? Vacuuming the floors? Well, if you want to avoid your roommate and be productive at the same time during this quarantine, take care of it for them. Not only will they appreciate you taking the initiative to clean the house, but they’ll also leave you alone as you do that distasteful chore. 

Do a workout.

Going to another part of the home and working out not only benefits your well-being, but your roommate will leave you be and you can exercise in peace. It gives you something to do so you don’t have to think about reaching for the bag of chips all day. Even if you don’t have time to do an hour workout because you’re working at home all day, taking quick breaks throughout the day or doing a small workout at the end of the night–whether it be a couple of leg lifts or some reps of a workout you found online–will get you moving and feeling better.

Try something new. 

Do you want to try your hand at a new hobby, or read more books than you have in a while? Well, if your roommate is annoying you, go spend some time on one of those activites you need or want to do. Painting or drawing gives you inspiration and creativity, and calms you down so you can go back and spend time with your roommate when you’re done with it. Plus, it gives you some pretty awesome décor to put up in your home. Reading gives you an escape to another world; it pulls you out of reality and into the story’s world. Fnd something you can do in that moment that your roommate doesn’t want to do, something that has to be done solo or something to calm your mind as a way to escape. Some of my favorite things to do to escape are to write or play solitare. Writing keeps me calm and fuels my creativity, while solitare gets my mind to strategically think. In fact, I’m currently writing now as a way to escape and calm my mind so I can go and spend time with the people I live with.

Whatever you may decide to do in order to try and avoid your roommate, just remember that you can’t hide from them for the whole duration of this quarantine. They’re going through this as well, and feeling the same feelings as you. Try your best to put your introverted tendencies aside and come out once in a while. When you have your space and you feel you can interact with your roommate again, watch a movie or a show with them, play a board game, or even just talk about things you two might want to do once this is all over. You guys are in this together, and while alone time is great, so is being there for each other. 

• Coronavirus
• Quarantine Tips
• Roommate problems