Wellness Wednesday: Communicating with Your Roommate(s)
Wellness Wednesday: Communicating with Your Roommate(s)
We’re back for another installment of our “Wellness Wednesday” series. If you prefer to listen instead, find our podcast, called Wellness Wednesday, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and other podcast platforms.
Communicating with Your Roommate(s)
Hi, my name is Amy Laskowski and I’m a writer here at BU Today. This is another installment of our new weekly podcast, “2 Minutes of Wellness.” We’ll be sharing tips and expert advice on issues from nutrition to mental health to sleep and from fitness and exercise to relationships to meditation.
OK, let’s get started.
A roommate is the first person you’ll see when you wake up, the last person you’ll see when you go to bed, and it’s more than likely you’ll eat plenty of meals together and maybe share friends, play video games, or binge-watch Netflix with each other.
That’s a lot of time. If you have to live with someone new in a 100-square-foot cube and wellness is important to you, finding ways to make that relationship as healthy as possible is a surefire path to a comfortable and rewarding school year.
That’s because you’ll learn that roommates squabble.
That’s why our wellness tip for this week is to open the lines of communication with your Boston University roommate right away. That means now. One way to do this is to share what you expect from a roommate—and make sure you listen to what your roommate expects. Yes, this can be an awkward conversation. That’s why it’s better to have it early, when you’re still relative strangers and in the honeymoon stage. Don’t let two months of being annoyed about crumbs on the desk go by before mentioning it.
For starters, think about your own triggers—what irks you the most. You might hate the idea of your roommate borrowing your AirPods without asking, and he might get unnerved if you are watching a TV show while he’s trying to go to sleep. One of you might not care if a stray T-shirt lays on the floor for three days, but it might drive the other one bonkers. All of this might seem petty. It’s not.
There’s a reason why the folks at Boston University Residence Life have come up with a questionnaire that quizzes roommates on their sleeping, living, and cleaning preferences. It’s important. After you and your roommate (or roommates) fill it out, you should sit down together and talk through your answers. Explain them to each other. Make a plan about how you’ll handle a disagreement and what you’re each not willing to budge on and what you each can be more flexible about.
When conflicts eventually come up—and they will—talk them through. Don’t be passive-aggressive and just assume your roommate knows why you seem to shut down after 10 pm. Text her beforehand to let her know you’re having friends over, for instance—don’t let her walk in and be surprised. Compromise. And realize that you don’t have to be best friends—in fact, you don’t even have to be friends. But you do have to be roommates, sobe respectful. And don’t forget to refill the Brita when you empty it.
A roommate is the first person you’ll see when you wake up, the last person you’ll see when you go to bed, and it’s more than likely you’ll eat plenty of meals together and maybe share friends, play video games, or binge-watch Netflix with each other.
That’s a lot of time. If you have to live with someone new in a 100-square-foot cube and wellness is important to you, finding ways to make that relationship as healthy as possible is a surefire path to a comfortable and rewarding school year.
Because along with death and taxes, there is another guarantee in life: roommates squabble.
That’s why our wellness tip for this week is to open the lines of communication with your Boston University roommate right away. That means now. One way to do this is to share what you expect from a roommate—and make sure you listen to what your roommate expects. Yes, this can be an awkward conversation. That’s why it’s better to have it early, when you’re still relative strangers and in the honeymoon stage. Don’t let two months of being annoyed about crumbs on the desk go by before mentioning it.
For starters, think about your own triggers—what irks you the most. You might hate the idea of your roommate borrowing your AirPods without asking, and he might get unnerved if you are watching a TV show with your headphones on while he’s trying to go to sleep. One of you might not care if a stray T-shirt lays on the floor for three days, but it might drive the other one bonkers. All of this might seem petty. It’s not.
There’s a reason why the folks at BU Residence Life have come up with a questionnaire that quizzes roommates on their sleeping, living, and cleaning preferences. It’s important. After you and your roommate (or roommates) fill it out, you should sit down together and talk through your answers. Explain them to each other. Make a plan about how you’ll handle a disagreement and what you’re each not willing to budge on and what you each can be more flexible about.
When conflicts eventually come up—and they will—talk them through. Don’t be passive-aggressive and just assume your roommate knows why you seem to shut down after 10 pm. Text her beforehand to let her know you’re having guests over, for instance—don’t let her walk in and be surprised. Compromise. And realize that you don’t have to be best friends—in fact, you don’t even have to be friends. But you do have to be roommates, so be respectful. And don’t forget to refill the Brita when you empty it.
This Series
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December 10, 2019
Wellness Wednesday: How to Chill Out during Finals
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November 19, 2019
Wellness Wednesday: How to Make Smart Choices at the Thanksgiving Table
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November 6, 2019
Wellness Wednesday: Resiliency—How to Bounce Back from a Setback
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