“It’s crazy no one’s telling me what to do or when to do it!” – a former freshman, probably.

That, my friends, is called independence. And with great independence comes great responsibility, aka discipline and exceptional time management skills. If that doesn’t sound like you, don’t fear. After a few weeks here you’ll be a pro. In the meantime, here are some things you should keep in mind as you start to tackle classes, sign up for clubs, and get settled for the semester:

Know you style

Everyone works differently, and the sooner you can figure out what works best for you, the better. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Can you brave long stretches in the library or do you need frequent breaks? Can you study with your friends or do you need to be alone? How long do problem sets take you? Can you study when it’s loud? Will you forget things unless you write them down? These are all important questions to ask yourself, and I could list a million more.

If that feels overwhelming, don’t worry. As you get into the groove of things you’ll build up an arsenal of habits and strategies that will make you absolutely unstoppable. Don’t believe me? I’ll give you some personal examples of what works best for me:.

I listen to music with words when I do work with numbers but not when I’m reading or writing because the words in the music make me unable to focus on the words on the page. I get distracted and lost and end up reading the same two sentences seven times before I understand what they’re saying. Humanities homework = instrumental music or white noise ONLY.

I work really well in loud places most of the time, but I know myself well enough to recognize when I need quiet alone time to get my work done. When it’s getting to that time of midterms or finals season, I’ll decline my friends’ invitation to study together and opt for a private room in a library somewhere, putting my phone away and minimizing distractions as much as I can.

Don’t overcommit

Everyone is realistically able to handle different levels of commitment. Some people are leadership in four clubs, volunteer on the weekends, TA, Greek life, and 19 credits type of people. Other people–most people–can’t do that, and that’s normal. Overcommitting because you feel like you have to do all of these different things not only hurts you and your quality of life, it affects all of the people depending on you. My take? Figure out what you really care about and give those things your all. If you want to join a competitive dance team that’s traveling every weekend, it might not be the best idea to run for the board of the debate team that’s also traveling every weekend. As much as I believe college is a time to try things out and explore your interests, it’s also important to be realistic and set your priorities so you don’t find yourself biting off way more than you can chew. It’s going to be better for everyone in the long run if you do less, but put your best effort into what you choose to spend your time doing.

Plan ahead

When life gets crazy, some things are going to get pushed to the side. Those are the very moments where you can’t let all of the good habits you’ve spent your time building up get thrown away. If when times are slow, you make a point to go to office hours before problem sets are due, don’t compromise on that when you have four other assignments to worry about, too. That takes planning, which can seem annoying, but taking the time to complete all of your assignments and fulfill your commitments thoughtfully will make you feel so much better about yourself.

Be the change

Everyone’s going to procrastinate; it’s inevitable. But that doesn’t mean you have to fall into the same trap. Just because something is “the culture” doesn’t mean it’s the way things have to be. If you know you need to attend class to learn, don’t listen to the people who are skipping. If you need 8 hours of sleep to function, don’t listen to the people who are staying in the library until 4am. If you need to make an appointment with your TA before an essay is due, don’t listen to the people who are waiting to start writing until the day of the deadline.

Sounds like boring advice, I know, but college is stressful sometimes and a lot of that stress can be avoided by taking steps to set yourself up for success. I promise you don’t need to be pulling all nighters everyday and living off RedBull. There are ways to have time for everything, so you can feel confident in yourself and enjoy your time here.

Image via Bwog Archives