Apartment living means you've got close neighbors to deal with. Coronavirus has made it even more difficult to deal with neighbors as everyone is at home all the time, and we're all trying to pass the time in different ways.
Sometimes, your neighbors aren't considerate and don't seem to care if they annoy you from the other side of the wall. Other times, they simply don't realize that they're bothering you.
In any case, you should restrain yourself from communicating through the wall, ceiling or floor via Morse code knocking. It probably won't do much except to annoy your neighbors, who may think you're trying to start a war.
While some noises can be loud and jarring, not everything your neighbor does is reason to get upset. If they play their music loud once a week, it may be worth it to put in earplugs or headphones for a couple of hours instead of getting angry at them.
However, if their music is loud for hours every day, or they decide to have a dance party at two in the morning, then it may be time to take action. Use your judgment to decide when you can handle it and when it becomes a real problem for you.
Ideally, you would have their phone number, but if not, you can try writing them a note or knocking on their door. If you do take the door-knocking route, take precautions, like wearing a mask and gloves (if you have them), along with washing or sanitizing your hands before and after the encounter.
When you contact your neighbor, do it nicely. If you don't already know each other, introduce yourself and explain the situation. Avoid being accusatory and making it seem like they're being a nuisance and it's all their fault you can't focus while working or hear your TV show, or else it might anger them and they may begin to do it on purpose.
Rather, ask them to keep it down during certain hours, like during your workday if you have one, or to lower the volume of their dance party a little bit. Remember to say "please" and "thank you," and use your manners!
You may need to play it by ear once you've talked to your neighbors. Maybe they've turned down the volume as you've asked, but it's still too loud for you. You may need to ask them again (kindly!) to turn it down a little bit more. Remember, they don't know how it sounds from where you are, so it may take some trial and error to come to an agreement or compromise.
If you've asked your neighbors nicely, and they still aren't changing their ways after you've asked them a few times, it may be time to move up the chain. Get in touch with your building's management or landlord to file a complaint letting them know what's going on.
The best way is via email so both you and management have a written account of the complaint. Tell them the problem and what you've already done to try and solve it. From there, management has a record of the complaint and can handle it.
Management may not take care of the issue the day you contact them, so be patient with their timelines. It may take a few days, so you can check in with management after three or four days if your neighbors haven't changed anything and find out what's going on.
If you've done all of the above and there are still major issues, you can try calling the police. This should be the last thing you do and only if it's an extreme problem, like wild partying or you think there's abuse or real danger next door.
Keep in mind that calling the police may put a target on your back and everyone in the building, not just your neighbors, will hear about the situation and interpret it in their own way.
When living in an apartment, you should expect to deal with a few things from neighbors. After all, you do share walls, floors and ceilings with others. You may enjoy peace and quiet during quarantine, but your neighbor may miss going to movie theaters and try blasting their surround sound to mimic that experience at home.
Do what you can to make sure you're not being an annoying neighbor yourself and remember that others are trying to live a normal life, too — it just may be different than yours.