Each year of my college life I have had at least one new person move into my apartment. Sometimes it’s scary meeting new people and figuring out how to live with someone you’ve never met before. It’s even scarier trying to figure out what their habits are and how they deal with conflict. It’s important to remember that communication is key and if you start to notice these red flags, acknowledge them, and talk about them with your roommates.
Cleaning duties
Not everyone has the same habits when it comes to routines and you might have a different idea of clean than your roommate. When living with someone new, and especially if you’re sharing a room with this person, the sooner you have this conversation, the better! It will prevent a lot of unnecessary stress. Make a checklist of things that should be cleaned every day, week, or month. Establish that each person should tidy up after themselves, but weekly chores are essential in making sure the entire living spaces stays clean. Someone who never cleans after themselves will probably expect you to clean up after them or thinks their mess won’t affect you. This usually ends in maintenance request for pest control. Yuck!
Partying Too Hard
There’s a time for everything, and that includes having some fun, but we can usually agree that the time for fun isn’t 2am on a weekday night or 6am on a Saturday morning. Just in case, you don’t automatically agree on when it’s okay to have friends over or when it’s time to turn the music down, it’s helpful to just send a text checking in with the other people you’re living with. Ask if anyone needs quiet time or if it’s okay to stay up a little late. If your roommates aren’t being considerate consistently, and it begins to affect your daily life, it (unfortunately) might be a good idea to get an RA involved.