For many students living with a flatmate is a necessity, allowing them to save money on rent, utilities and living expenses. However, getting along with a flatmate can be very difficult to manage.
There is always a chance that a conflict may arise living with another person under the same roof. The most often confrontation arise because of a different standard of cleanliness. If one person is extremely tidy, even pedantic, and the other is very messy - this could lead to conflict.
The other quite common reason of disagreements is blaming each other of being a "noisy flatmate". In most cases it occurs when there is an incompatibility with people's biological clock, i. e. one person is “morning person” (also called “lark”) and the other - a “night owl". It means the first one gets up early in the morning, is more energetic in the first part of the day, and goes to bed quite early. While the other is entirely opposite: gets up later and is more energetic in the evening or late at night.
All these differences, misunderstanding and conflicts cause stress. The anger builds up inside the people and eventually, one day, they can explode and to do some reckless or fatal thing. If not - they will start hating each other and living together will become unbearable
In order to prevent it, you should treat your flatmate like you'd like to be treated and to start communicate him. The best thing you can do to get along with your flatmate is to sit down with him the first day you move to discuss the rules of the flat. During your conversation about ground rules, you and your flatmate will possibly run into disagreements. Be flexible and work to compromise in order to accommodate each other’s differing lifestyles. If you have some disagreement with cleanliness of the flat - make a cleaning ruta. A cleaning schedule is a great way to divide responsibilities and make sure that your room is clean on a regular basis. You can print the schedule and stick it to the fridge or the front door so that both of you could see it every day. If cleanliness problems arise throughout the semester have a conversation with your flatmate and remind him to follow the rules.
Solving the other problem - incompatibility of biological clocks, when one person is sleeping while the other wants to watch a late night film. Here you will need to reach some compromise and be considerate. If your roommate is sleeping or attempting to sleep, keep the noise and light levels down. If your roommate is studying, don’t have loud conversations in the same room. If in doubt, ask yourself if you would be annoyed if your roommate did whatever it is you would like to do to you. If the answer is no, take it elsewhere.
Remember that there will be conflict. Conflict and disagreements are a normal part of any relationship. Don’t avoid conflict. Talk to your roommate directly when something is bothering you. Be direct. Be clear about what is bothering you. If you don’t tell your roommate that there is a problem they won’t be able to do anything about it. Remember that communication works two ways: talking and listening. Neither one is effective without the other.
Living with flatmate isn’t always easy. Sharing a living space may be stressful, and conflicts may arise. But after handling them there is a huge possiblity to become best friends with your flatmate.