The new year is already underway and the desire to do better, to change one’s habits remains relevant. If the wish to take care of yourself is at the top of your list (we will come back to this later in a future post), then maintaining your interpersonal relationships proves important as well, especially when it comes to roommates.
Those famous roommates! Whether friends, family members or complete strangers, they are an important part of your life. You live with them, share meals & common areas and perform everyday chores together. A situation that can be super nice but that can sometimes prove a little more complex.
In order to make 2018 the best of years, we are proposing some of the best resolutions to adopt in order to fully respect those sharing living space with you.
Here goes!
Letting go
Living together is a matter of learning to let go. By deciding to live with fellow humans, you choose to share your habits with other people who have habits of their own. You agreed on cleaning the floors and your roommate is not doing it your way? Let go. The goal here is not to lower your standards, but to accept that you cannot control everything. Find some middle ground pleasurable to everyone. The time calls for compromise on both sides. Less quarrelling and fewer misunderstandings… guaranteed!
Allow yourself the permission to live in your respective bubble
You are the morning type and prone to chatter away as early as 6:30? Everyone is not the same though. Learning to respect personal space is an art. To get things right, take a moment to exchange on how everyone prefers their day-to-day. The objective is not to shut down if you have a joyous disposition, but to learn to allow others the time to have their coffee first, for example.
In return, they must welcome you as you are as well. We learn and grow by living with different personalities and by becoming self-sufficient. Everything is a question of balance.
Do not take what isn’t t yours without asking permission first
There are all kinds of people. Some are super generous and have no problem sharing food, soaps or cleansers of any kind. On the other hand, others will tend to be more calculating or feel it as an intrusion if their consent has not been sought prior.
In short, in order to promote mutual respect, ask your roommates before taking anything. This universal rule will save you a lot of hassle.
The boyfriend or girlfriend is not a roommate
Be it someone new that you crave spending time with or the love of your life, be very careful about how you manage your relationships at home. First of all, consider that you have an agreement with your roommates that did not involve your sweetheart. He or she should not occupy the sofa full time.
In return, that does not mean that they can’t be home with you. A tip: Talk to your roommates and establish ground rules. Manage the discomforts and expectations from the very start. With healthy compromises, find that middle ground where you will be comfortable to invite your boyfriend or girlfriend to the apartment.
Managing emotions
Some of your roommates’ habits get under your skin to the point where you get angry or even sad. A simple tip to respect your roommates and ensure true harmony in the apartment: Communicate rationally, without giving way to emotion.
The goal here is not to suppress your emotions but to keep them in check before communicating with your roommates. Another tip: Take time to write what you want to say and the reasons certain actions or habits are disturbing. By speaking sensibly and by making your message clear, it should come across more easily and you should be able to find more suitable agreements for all parts involved.
Do you have any tips to share with us to promote harmony with roommates?
By Julie from Bohos.ca
