Adapting to Working Life in a Houseshare

Plan your mornings

This tip could save you so much stress in the morning rush. If you share a house with a group of working people, the chances are you’ll all need to get ready at the same time, leading to a manic queue for the bathroom. Don’t fall into that trap. Plan your mornings smartly and set alarms at different times to other people, giving yourself a 15 minute window to use the facilities and leave them free for everyone else. This might mean you lose out on a bit of sleep, but you can always change your times around every week, keeping everyone happy and stopping anyone from smelling bad at work.

Turn your music down

If your uni house was the place for a party, your new house needs to be the place for relaxation, comfort and a good night’s rest. Sorry, but you’ve got a job now, and you need to consider that your actions could be affecting other people who also have to work. Invest in some good headphones and let everyone else sleep on their schedule, it’ll make you a very popular housemate.

Arrange your social calendar

You’ll quickly find that socialising becomes more of a challenge when you start working. For a start, you can no longer access those dirt cheap student drinks deals, and the middle of the week is no longer the best time to hit the town. While it’s still important you have fun, make sure you do it at a time when the rest of your house won’t be upset. For example, don’t get all your mates round for the night if someone has to get up early the next morning, and don’t come home singing at 3am for the same reason.

Get to know your surroundings

If you’ve stayed in your uni town or city for work, you’ll know the area pretty well by now, but if you’ve moved you’ll have whole new surroundings to explore. Either way, get to know the best places to grab a morning coffee, discover the best lunch spots, and if you work remotely, find out where’s good for some hotdesking. This will help you feel less housebound, which can make a big difference to how well you settle into a new home.

Accept people’s different needs

You might be living in a house with people of varying ages now, or different religions, dietary habits and hobbies. Live and let live, and unless someone is really into thrash metal karaoke at all hours of the night, you’ll rub along just fine.

Let people work

Whether you work from home or from an office, your housemates will need the time and space to get their jobs done. That could mean arranging desk spaces for people to use, agreeing on a more powerful internet package, or just car sharing in the morning. Whatever it takes, you’re there to work, so make sure your living situation works for you.

Need more tips on overcoming classic houseshare working from home struggles? We’ve got you covered.

Understand all your bills

A lot of student houses already include bills in your monthly rent, but this perk quickly goes away after graduation. Things like council tax, gas, electricity, water and internet will all need to be considered, and can soon add up. Make sure you and your new housemates do the maths to understand what needs to be paid and when, or better yet, let Split The Bills do the work for you and make it easy for everyone to pay their fair share.