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Diffusing tension between roommates

June 22, 2012 | Filed under: Featured,Roommates | Posted by: Kombucha

If you’ve lived with roommates, you probably know that things are never going to be a perfect picnic all of the time. Like all relationships, even the friendliest of roommates are prone to tension, occasional arguments, and even unfortunate fallings out.

One way to prevent this type of discord and disagreement is to diffuse any tension between you and your roomie before it can spiral out of control. This won’t always work, of course, but it is certainly worth a try.

Here are a few of our tips for diffusing roommate tension before it can blow up into a problem of giant proportions.

-Talk to your roommate before things get weird. Even if you aren’t the best of friends and don’t spend a lot of time together, having a short check in conversation with your roommate daily or every couple of days can really help tension dissipate. It’s a good opportunity to let the roommate know what’s going on in your life, and vice versa, so you can anticipate behaviors, houseguests, and absences.

-Don’t stay home all the time. Shared housing is often more convenient for single people because it lowers your expenses, but put some of the money you’ve saved into getting out of the house every once in awhile. It’s great for both roommates to have a little bit of personal space and enjoy the apartment on their own from time to time.

-In a worst case scenario, bring in a mediator. If you have a mutual friend or acquaintance that you both get along with, use them to help diffuse the tension of any argument or disagreement. Of course, check with the mutual friend first before you bring them into the situation and thrust them in the middle of a heated debate.