Whether you’re living with roommates, sharing your home with your family members, or experiencing senior living in an assisted living community, you’re going to have to learn how to deal with having other people in your space. And while you can let others and their idiosyncrasies drive you crazy, learning how to make the best of a shared situation is usually going to be the most healthy solution.
So for those who are finding it hard to deal with the people they’re living with, here are three tips for making shared living spaces more manageable.
Work Within The Rules
In most shared living situations, there is at least some form of ground rules that people will need to live by. In some situations, those rules will be set by a landlord or management company. In other situations, those rules will be set by the person who owns the property or those living in the space. Either way, knowing the rules and learning to live within those rules will make life easier for everyone.
If there are rules that you wish were in place to make life easier for you, approach the other people in your space to see if they’d be willing to abide by your suggestion. While you might need to compromise on some things, having rules in place can make it easier for everyone to be on the same page.
Learn To Be Flexible And Forgiving
Because you’re going to be sharing space with people who are different from you, it’s very likely that some things will happen that will rub you the wrong way or won’t make you happy.
When something like this happens, flying off the handle about it will usually only make the situation worse. Rather, you should try to be a little more flexible on your end and be willing to forgive when mistakes happen. Because, in reality, the only person you have control over and can change is yourself.
Give Respect To Get Respect
Although this can be hard to do if you’re in a bad place with the people you’re living with, if you feel that there has been a lack of respect in your household, one thing you can try to reverse this trend is to give more respect to others. Usually, when you respect your housemates and their belongings, they’ll get the hint that they need to be doing this same thing for you. And when all else fails, you can simply have a chat with them about where respect has been lost and how it can be regained.
If you’re living in a shared space and are starting to have a hard time with the arrangement, consider using the tips mentioned above to make this situation a little more manageable for everyone involved.
