Saving sanity with share house tech

Share house living is many things: a rite of passage, a fascinating anthropological study, and the premise of many a 90s sitcom. It can also conjure some of the most draining and petty squabbles you’re ever likely to experience outside of a kindergarten sandpit. Luckily, there are many ways technology can play a part in solving share house problems before they start. Below, we address some of the more common scenarios and the solutions at your fingertips.

Dish users who aren’t dish-doers

Is there anything more irritating than a sink full of dirty dishes? How about not having any clean bowls in the house because they’re caked with long-dried ice cream and stacked on your housemate’s bedside table? When you’re sick of using your coffee mug for cereal, you might want to get everyone using an app designed specifically for distributing housework. There’s heaps to choose from – try Tody, Our Home or Sweepy. Before you add and assign all the jobs your household needs done to run smoothly, you might want to go offline for that awkward chat you’ve been putting off.

Home stayers who aren’t payers

Sick of chasing forgetful flatmates for their share of the broadband every month? No-one likes the labour and bookwork, but it’s got to be done. Thankfully an app like Splitwise can make it simple to split up bills and keep track of who owes what. As well as tracking rent and household expenses, you can use it manage costs for group holidays, eating out and special events like buck’s and hen’s nights.

Tip: Optus Subhub is great way to manage your eligible paid subscription services all in one place. Bring three or more available subscriptions together, such as Netflix and Prime Video, and you’ll save 10% on the lot.

The musician whose inspiration hits at 3am

With different work, study and sleep habits, striking a period of complete quiet can be near impossible. If you’d rather not hear the rapid gunfire from your housemate’s first-person shooter rattling the wall, or the guy in the next room who likes to call his significant other at odd hours, save your own sleep with White Noise. The variety of gentle sounds helps promote relaxation and deeper sleep – and a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones won’t go astray, either.

We’ve got plenty more ideas to help you catch some quality zzz’s. Check them out.

The social butterfly who stumbles home at 4am

We all love a housemate who’s out all night and asleep all day – except the part where you’re up all night worrying about their safety. If they’re an eligible Optus customer, introduce them to Sidekick. This feature in My Optus app allows your fun-loving roomie to set a timer whenever they might want a little extra peace of mind, such as meeting someone from a dating app for the first time or going for a late-night run. If they don’t turn the timer off before it runs out, up to three of their trusted contacts (that’s you!) will get a message to check in. Find out more about Sidekick.

Hey, who’s hogging the bandwidth again?

Just when you think you can unwind with some Netflix true crime after a long day, you find you’ve been slowed to a crawl. With an entire household throttling the internet connection 24/7, an upgrade could be in order. If your work, study or sanity depends on having fast internet available, go for a family entertainer or gamer plan with unlimited data, premium speeds and WiFi booster to make sure no one’s left lagging. Another solution is to invest in your own wireless service. You can plug-and-go with your own modem and enjoy reliable 4G or 5G home broadband on a private connection.

Time to farewell your flatmates? Get ready for moving day with this four-week plan.

Whether you’re living with friends, family or flying solo, the Optus Living Network is here to complement your lifestyle. Want to enjoy distraction-free dinners? Just press pause with  Optus Pause. Want to offset your device’s carbon footprint? Say hello to  Optus Eco. Find out more about the  on-demand Living Network features you can access in My Optus app.