Building Healthy Relationships With Your Roommate

It's always a crazy set of events when you move to a new city. If it's for studies or work, or for any reason at all. If you are a working professional and want to cool off, then moving into a shared space would be pretty good. You could save money while making new friends. It's always a great option to move in with someone when you're starting but, sometimes, conflict may happen. 

People are different and unique in their own ways. You sync up with them on several occasions, and you might not sync up with them on several.

Each person would have different likes and dislikes like, what movie to watch or what song to listen to. Some people might be night owls and some might be the early bird special. It's always going to be different and that is exactly why you've got to think differently as well. 

We know that it isn't easy to adjust to new people and, being an introvert myself, it's extra hard to talk to people or even listen to them.

Let us show you a few tips and tricks to ease conversations with your roommate.

It's not every day that people start agreeing with everything you say. There must be some adjustments you may have to make to live together with your roommate or co-worker. That's why we wish to recommend a really unique approach when it comes to sharing space. 

Communication

It's always awkward when you first meet your roommate. He/she might be very distant or very conservative. The thing is, first meetings just are like that. The first thing you have to do is to communicate, tell your roommate who you are and what you like. When it's a shared environment your roommate must know how you function.

If your late sleeper, a messy eater or a very active person, just let them know or if you are an early riser, just let them know about it. Both of you might be living in different worlds and it's always the right thing to respect each other.

When a person is oversleeping, let them oversleep and let's not disturb them. If you're listening to heavy metal music, use an earphone, not everyone might like the music. It's always better to adjust than to initiate fights because you have to live with them for a long time. So our genuine advice to you is to not bang doors, or switch on the light and never open the curtain, in the morning at 5:00.

Boundaries

Setting boundaries is one of the most important aspects when moving in. All of us love different stuff. We might like movies, gory and violent video games, and our roommate might like silence, and reading books compared to the other things. Leaving interests, sharing material objects may be a deal-breaker. Specify to your roommate that, if they're going to borrow your gamepad or press, they should ask first, or they should use them carefully. These things lead to conflict, and this conflict could be avoided if you set ground rules at the beginning itself. 

Even in matters concerning snacks, you should tell them if you wish to share or not because you should be known. It's totally fine to be a bit selfish when you share food.

Share responsibilities

When it comes to maintaining the co-living space, it's a pretty big predicament. We all have different skills to flaunt but, the main thing is that you have to separate chores between your roommates.

When one person cooks, the other person can clean and these chores can be interchanged as per your liking. It is a lot of work but, still, it is totally worth it when it comes to creating a bond with your roommates. 

Asking is better than forgiveness

Asking is always the better option than later asking for forgiveness. Your roommate might have had a long day at work or at college, and might want to enjoy a drink in silence, so if you're making any plans to bring friends home or make huge meals, it's always best to ask your roommate. Like we discussed, creating boundaries and approaching each other with mutual respect goes a long way in strengthening the bond.

So always ask before doing anything. You don't want to invade your roommate's personal space and you don't want them to do the same to you either.

Personal space

When you share rooms with someone, you basically share values together as well. Leaving clothes around and keeping the room messy might not go too well with your roommate. It's hard to work around the issues, so a certain effort is required from both sides to maintain space. 

You've got to figure out how you can maintain cleanliness in the room to maintain peace.

Creating relationships

The thing about people is that there are extroverts and introverts. Both people recharge themselves in different ways. In the case of introverts, the less communication they have with people the more their energy is recharged, and the thing about extroverts is that the more they meet new people and talk, the more they recharge their energy. 

So when you approach someone, don't try to force a relationship. As all things should be, it should grow organically and not in a really forced way. Give your roommate space when they need it and assistance when they need it. It's all about balancing between both. 

Say no when you need to

It's a precarious situation when your roommate asks for something and you agree to it, but later you are filled with resentment. These situations can be avoided by saying a simple no.

The reason why saying no is ok is because your roommate can understand what your likes and dislikes are and act accordingly. So when you want to, you should say no.

Keep an open mind

This might be the biggest lesson that you may have to learn. People are different, they come from different backgrounds and may have different sexual orientations. 

The world being a big place, it's quite natural to be overwhelmed. There might be something you may not be able to control so you have to be empathetic. 

If your roommate is gay/lesbian or identifies as someone else, it is always good to make them comfortable by letting them know, even if you don't understand it, you have a mind to accept it. The world is changing, and so should you.

The bottom line

The world is changing, and it's becoming much more diverse. it's not like before that you might meet a single category of people, but you do meet different kinds of people. When moving into a new place, it is always great to get to know your roommate as much as possible and stay happy with them. Everyone has their negative sides but, the thing is that you should focus on the positive and negate the negative. A person is a person because of these flaws. It's always best to understand people as it shall create bonds and widen your mindset in the end. We hope that you found this blog interesting and, we sincerely hope it is helpful to you for maneuvering through any sticking roommate situation.

Until next time!! See ya!!

Cozy Stay

Living Cozified.