Hello, strange traveler. Welcome to my humble hut. You’re a college student? Goodness, gracious! I happen to be a purveyor of unsolicited advice to college students. Can I interest you in any of my wares? No, don’t leave! I’ve already locked the doors. I accept payment in the form of Facebook shares and likes. Here’s a list of ways to make your life easier.

Note: All of this advice is based on my own personal experience. What works for me may not work for you. Figure out what works and stick to it. It’s a lot of trial and error.

1. Buy clothing in like colors so that everything is one load of laundry.

“Wow! You wear a lot of black!” Yeah, it’s because I’m lazy. This saves money and time, since you don’t have to pay for multiple loads and everything already matches. Nice. Alternatively, you can just wash everything in one load regardless of its color, but that can wear clothes out faster.

2. Figure out a way to do your hair that’s really manageable.

For me, this was getting my hair cut off really, really short, which meant that I didn’t have to spend as much time in the shower or worry about my hair getting in the way. Additionally, short hair means no lice, which was a problem in my freshman dorm.

Hopefully, that’s not a problem for you, but figuring out a way to make your hair look decent that doesn’t take a long time is a good idea. That, or just don’t care. However, not caring about your appearance can bite you since other people (read: professors/employers) may not take you as seriously. Yeah, that’s shallow of them and they shouldn’t do that, but they will, and you have to assume that they will and plan for that.

3. Change your sheets once a week.

This prevents disease. Please, for the love of all the things you hold dear, wash your sheets so that you don’t get sick. Get white sheets and white towels, so then everything is one load of laundry. Laundry is a running theme. Also, it’s good to get two sets of sheets if you can, since then if you do miss laundry one week you aren’t still sleeping on dirty sheets.

4. If you’ve finished all your work and it’s a weeknight, just go to sleep.

Okay, so I have trouble sleeping a lot. It’s not full insomnia or anything, but generally if left to myself I will not sleep because I’m generally an anxious and hyperactive person.

However, functioning on no sleep for no reason is bad when you have classes and work. If you have the opportunity to sleep, take it. That means that if you’ve finished everything and it’s only 8:30 on Wednesday, go to sleep. It sounds really boring but getting a little extra sleep throughout the week without sleeping in can really help. This does not apply to weekends since there are things that happen on the weekends.

5. Always wake up at the same time.

Yeah, this sucks. However, after a certain point you won’t notice it anymore. This also flows from the “just go to sleep” part of the list. I personally need about 3 hours of being awake before I interact with other people, so keeping a standard wake-up time helps me get the time I need to mentally prepare for the day. Working out/doing something active within an hour of waking up can help you get used to being awake early.

6. Do the reading/homework for your classes.

This seems obvious but after a certain point, you start losing the will to do things. This does not mean that you can stop doing things though, and doing badly in your classes just because you aren’t feeling it that day will end up biting you later in the semester. Do your work even when you don’t want to since it prevents Suffering in the future.

7. Stay active.

Working out and doing active things outside can help counteract depression.

Now, I am not saying “just do yoga,” since that is utter bullshit and I hate yoga. Activity doesn’t fix depression, but working out can help prevent from getting really bad. Working out can also boost your energy levels, so it can really help to do that in the morning if energy is a problem for you.

Alternatively, if you have Too Much Energy, working out can take that excess energy out of the equation so that you can focus better throughout the day.

8. Talk to your professors

Professors are just people who know a lot about a thing and are paid to tell you about that thing. They want to tell you about the thing. They care very much about the thing.

However, they can be very scary sometimes, especially if you aren’t doing well in their class. Remember: your professor probably doesn’t actually get off on your misery. Obviously, there are exceptions to the rule, but I’m not going to kink-shame them. Overall, it’s better to tell your professor why you’re having trouble with something, or to get their advice regarding their subject.

Don’t antagonize or accuse your professors, especially when it comes to their subject. They know more about the subject than they do, and if your quibble is something like “in my old school we always used set notation and you use interval notation” that is not a Real Problem and you are being a Jerk. Also, give your professors a heads up if you’re having issues in your life that may affect your work in the class.

That does not mean that you should tell them everything, or that you should give excuses, but sometimes knowing that your inability to do what seems like a simple thing stems from a problem in your personal life will help your professor see you as a good student who’s really trying rather than an asshole who just doesn’t care. This is especially important if you’re a very private person, since it can be difficult for people who don’t know you to tell when you’re having a problem. Always stay positive and be humble.

9. Have a set time by which you have to get everything done.

Giving yourself a deadline can give you the motivation to do your schoolwork. This is often repeated in these sorts of articles because it actually works. A really good idea is to give yourself a reward for meeting your own deadline, like watching a movie or going out with friends. Then, you can enjoy whatever thing you wanted to do without having your work hanging over you.

10. Value yourself and your time.

This seems counterintuitive (or at least it does to me), but in higher education you have to put yourself first. Your real friends will respect that you need to take care of yourself, and you need to respect that your friends need to take care of themselves. Being there for other people is hugely important, but don’t neglect yourself to help others. Don’t allow other people to walk all over you just because you love them. You matter.