Coachella 2016 is right around the corner, and by that, I mean it is very, very far away. Although that precious weekend in Indio is still far off in the future, anyone who has gone before or has a ticket has probably already started thinking about it again. It’s like having a birthday that doesn’t remind you of your own mortality.

The anticipation of Coachella is in itself an experience, and these are the stages we all go through leading up to it.

1. Incorrectly predicting that your favorite band will be on the lineup.

You’ve begun fantasizing about the lineup at this year’s festival, because hey, it’s only 175 days away. And there’s a solid chance Led Zeppelin might reincarnate John Bonham and get back together despite not making music together since 1979. 2016 will be the year of the Zep, and you’re totally calling it now.

2. Recognizing that you should make travel accommodations, but not doing so.

It’s easy to forget that other people go to Coachella, so it’s difficult to find a place to stay in the surrounding area that doesn’t cost the equivalent of a Hillary Clinton pantsuit per night. You should probably get going on it now to save money and be certain that you’ll have a place to stay. Or not, it’ll probably be fine. You can sleep in a Denny’s or something.

3. Listening to bands you don’t enjoy to try to make your upcoming experience more enjoyable.

When the lineup is released, you may notice the majority of the acts are written in a really small font. Or you may not notice, because a majority of the acts are written in a really small font. These are the afternoon acts, and you’re forking over money to them whether you see them or not, so you might as well see them. So in the weeks leading up to the festival, you Spotify the hell out of the Night Terrors of 1927 because goddamnit, you’re going to enjoy Coachella at 12:30 p.m. too.

4. Choosing what to wear.

Now, I’ve heard that girls put a lot of effort into the Coachella look. I’ve been shopping for my girlfriend in spring and seen the “Coachella Section” of popular stores, and I know fashion at Coachella is a tumblr, or something. But guys also have to think about what they’re going to wear too. They may pack a black tank five minutes before getting in the car to leave, and their roommate might say, “You’re going to wear black? Dude, it’s going to be 112 degrees,” and then they’ll have a tough choice to face. Does he take the effort to go all the way into his bag and take it out, or suffer second degree burns? Decision making is tough.

5. Making plans to see friends you have absolutely no chance of seeing.

“You’re going to Coachella? No way, me too! We should meet up for an act, text me!” is one of most obvious, yet for some reason, most accepted lies you can tell someone. First off, texting doesn’t exist at Coachella. When you send a text at Coachella, instead of going to the other phone, the text is murdered on the spot and sent immediately to heaven to rest for all eternity. Second, meeting up with someone at Coachella is about as easy as finding Waldo in a pile of peppermints. It’s difficult to find the person standing next to you at Coachella, and definitely impossible to meet up with your friend from high school, but it’s still mandatory to make plans to do so.

6. All of a sudden liking bands you were lukewarm about before.

Your relationship with Alt-j used to consist of just not changing the radio when “Breezeblocks” came on, but when you saw that they were on the lineup, you tweeted about how “fire” the lineup was, because they were on it. You’ll do the same this year with a DJ who you think you’ve heard at a party, and that band whose tour t-shirt your friend wears every other week.

7. Writing a eulogy for your GPA.

Coachella requires you to skip one day of school, which, in the quarter system, is the equivalent of throwing your GPA off the top floor of a large building. Also, the exhaustion of spending all day on your feet dancing in the midst of dry 112 degree heat takes a physical toll on you that won’t wear off until you’ve had your first grandchild. Coachella is also conveniently timed to be right before your midterm. So, yeah, it’s usually a good idea to prepare something nice about your GPA before it kicks the bucket.

Coachella is one of the best experiences you can have, so take the time now to get ready.