MY MEDALLION
Sharing a living space with a roommate comes with a lot of benefits. You can split the expenses, chores, and responsibilities, of course, but if you choose well, you can get a lot more out of the arrangement. You can have someone to enjoy your downtime with, embark on new adventures together, and even form a lifelong friendship with. To help you find that ideal person and make the most out of living together, here are our four tips for choosing a compatible roommate.
Match Your Values
To ensure a successful partnership, make sure you share similar values. If you are hardworking and give your all when it comes to school or work, look for someone who demonstrates a similar attitude. If you are financially responsible, you deserve a roommate who takes their own financial goals and commitments seriously too. If you pull your own weight around the house and value a clean and orderly space, whomever you choose to live with should share those habits—appreciating them and doing their share to contribute. A good overall values match gives you a much better shot at domestic harmony.
Compatible Lifestyles
You also stand the best chance of success if you can ensure that you and your roommate’s lifestyles sync up pretty well. While you don’t have to have the exact same schedule, it can help to narrow down what might be a deal-breaker for you. When considering whether someone will be a good match, ask about their habits: are they up until the early hours every night? Do they work shifts? How often do they socialize, where, and what does that look like? (i.e., Do they go out a lot, have people over often, let friends crash overnight?) Try to get as clear a sense as you can about their weekday and weekend lifestyles so you can minimize any future surprises.
Insist On Good Personal Habits
Your day-to-day living situation will be much more enjoyable if your roommate is generally well-groomed, has good personal hygiene, and is dedicated to keeping a clean home. While these may seem a little fussy, you’ll be living in such close proximity with this person (and their things) that these details will indeed matter to you in the long run. Chances are that if these boxes are checked, they might also be responsible and show respect for others: respect for people, their things, and your shared living environment.
Great Communication Skills
Any strong partnership hinges on open communication. Start by committing to working on your own communication skills, staying open to feedback, and listening to (and welcoming) others’ ideas. Strive to be a good communicator yourself: address issues as they arise, be diplomatic and courteous in your dealings with others, have a co-operative, growth mindset, and be willing to problem-solve and tackle challenges together. You should always feel comfortable approaching or talking to your roommate, confident that whatever situations may come up, you can handle them together.
Get to know your potential roommate as well as possible to see if your personalities will indeed complement one another and get this partnership off to a great start. Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to follow the Medallion blog for more helpful tips about sharing a living space.
