It’s tough to live with someone who has lower cleanliness standards than you. You feel as though you’re the one doing all the work to keep things looking presentable and fear inviting company over for fear of embarrassment.

Lifehacker has some suggestions for making the living arrangement work without going insane or having your roommate resent you as a domineering neat freak.

Key advice includes resisting the urge to nag. Instead, it’s best to work out some ground rules of cleanliness you both agree on — example: the last person to use the video game controllers puts them away — and hope they stick.

When it comes time to tidy up, you can spur your roommate into action by offering to do one task in exchange for him doing another. You can also set up a common to-do list and try to establish routines, such as Sunday morning is when the floor gets vacuumed, so he can’t leave his stuff everywhere at that time.

How Can I Live with a Slob? [Lifehacker]

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