When you finally become able to live on your own without parents you tend to fantasize about all the adventures you could get up to. You think of all the times you and your future roomies will have from staying up late exploring the city to binge watching your favorite t.v. shows (because of course you have the same taste right?). However, you tend to not think about potential disagreements, or maybe not clicking how you imagined. When the day comes and you finally move into your apartment/dorm it seems like all your dreams come true and that you guys mesh really well. Well, fast forward a few weeks and you realize certain habits that your roommates do that you find particularly annoying. Here's a few tips to help you, hopefully, avoid a few fights and bond even more.
1.Bring up issues early on
When starting living with someone the first few weeks are crucial for how the rest of the term will be. If you notice something that could potentially be a problem tell them nicely and quickly. The faster a solution is found the more fun you guys will have.
2. Learn to compromise
It's important to realize that no two people are completely alike and that there will be things you don't agree on. When one of these topics is brought up try to find a mid-point. For example, if you don't like how your roommate's boyfriend is spending the night a lot try agreeing on having him over just on the weekends.
3. Be accepting
If you live in a dorm or student living there is a chance that you will have random roommates. They might be extremely different from you. It is important to understand that. You guys might not like the same things and have completely different perspectives on life, but most of the time you can't change who you live with. So while spending the months/years together it's very important not to judge them. Judging only leads to conflict.
4. Don't expect to be best friends
You might dream about instantly becoming best friends with your roomies. Taking the big step of being out on your own together will bring you closer, but probably won't make you best friends. They might grow stronger with other people from school/work, and your schedules might not align. It's very easy to feel dishearten, but you will find other people outside of your dorm/apartment who you can become very good friends with.
5. Have activities to do together
It is important to have some bonding time between you and the roomies. Try having a movie night or crafts nights. One of my favorites from the past year was decorating for Christmas together. Having fun things to do together can strengthen your relationship and create memories.
6. Keep everyone responsible
With the busyness of life it can often be easily forgotten to clean or do chores. From the start it is strongly suggested that you figure out who is doing what when it comes to keeping the home looking as clean and organized as possibly. Installing policies like doing your own dishes and wiping done the counters can save a lot of time and hassle later on. No one wants to live in a house with dirty dishes over filing the sink.
7. Label your food and make rules about what is to be shared
Food is literally essential in everyone's life, and we spend good money on it to. So, to save everyone some trouble label your food and stick to just eating it. You don't want arguments about whether or not someone drank the last bit of milk without replacing it. Labeling is so important so that get your foods don't get mixed up. Keep the waters calm by eating only your things.
8. Cherish your time together
You only get to live with these people for a few months/years. They might even be your first set of roommates ever. You will always have memories, but eventually you will have to leave them. It's important to create memories together that you can look back on and see how much everyone has grown.
Living with roommates freshly out of the nest can be both fun and challenging, but with these tips there can be smooth sailing.
