Six ways to deal with your housemates during deadline season as a York student

Sometimes dealing with them feels more stressful than trying to get a seat in Morrell…

1 year ago

Deadline season is one of the worst parts of the uni experience and it always comes around way too quickly. Say goodbye to Sunday Revs and say hello to eating three meals a day at the Library Café. When you’re so stressed you can barely think straight, the people you live with can either make you feel better or much worse. So whether you’re in first year accommodation with people you only met this year, or you’re living with people you actually like in a tiny student house, there are bound to be tensions between housemates. Here’s how to keep the peace and make it through deadline season with your friendships still intact.

1. Give each other space

The first and probably most important thing on this list is making sure you’re not on top of your housemates all the time. There is such a thing as spending TOO much time together. Plus you all have degrees to get on with, and your tutors won’t be marking how well you can remember your housemate’s brother’s girlfriend’s name. Leave each other alone while you all have exams and coursework to focus on, and everyone will thank you for it later.

2. Get out of the house

Jason Reilly 4eva

Even if you’re not feeling a night out with Jason Reilly’s signature tunes rupturing your eardrums, it’s good to get out of the house with your friends. Go for pints at the Charles, or have a couple of blue shits. Remind yourself why you actually like the people you live with! If you don’t fancy drinking, there are plenty of cute brunch spots and cafes around York to have a catch up. I know you live with these people, but during deadline season you might not see them for weeks (a disappearing act we’re all guilty of at some point).

3. Tidy up after yourself

Don’t accidentally leave your pumpkin out until it gets super mouldy (oops)

Don’t leave all your dirty washing up festering for a week. If the bin is full, take it out yourself instead of leaving it to other people. If you feel like it, why not get closely acquainted with Henry and take your hoover out for a spin. I know it’s hard to focus on cleaning when you’re too stressed to think about what you’re having for dinner, but it helps a lot with keeping the peace. Plus, I don’t know about you but I can definitely focus better when my room doesn’t look like a tip.

4. Have some alone time

Shout out to Thai Season

Sometimes you need to decompress, and that might mean having a nice long shower, doing a face mask, and lighting your favourite candles. It could also mean treating yourself to a day of retail therapy and a pad thai from the Shambles Market. I’m not judging your favourite way to unwind – but from experience, you will eventually need a day to yourself without doing any work or socialising with your housemates. It’ll make things easier to deal with in the long run, I promise.

5. Let the little things go

If you’re going to make awful cocktails to procrastinate together, at least make sure everyone helps tidy up

It’s important to remember you are living with other people, and they might not all be as good a housemate as you. So if there’s a buttered knife on the edge of the sink for a few days, or clothes left in the washing machine for a bit too long, maybe don’t mention it? (Of course, this doesn’t apply to things that are genuinely disgusting). The last thing you need is an argument about emptying he dishwasher to interrupt your 24 hour exam.

6. Check in with everyone

Deadline season is stressful at the best of times, and sometimes it can all get too much. Don’t compare yourself to other people who look like they’re coping better than you because chances are, they’re not. Make sure to look after your friends if they’re having a bit of a rough time too. The uni has plenty of resources for you to take advantage of. It’s natural to be overwhelmed, but just remember there is light at the end of the tunnel (a month off for Easter) very soon.