LIFE HACKS

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Powerful College Hacks to Help You Master Student Life

Are you trying to figure out how to get through school without jeopardizing your health, finances, social life, or academic success? Don't worry. You've got this. All kinds of great college hacks exist for maximizing your effectiveness and well-being. You don't have to choose between enjoying your time and getting good grades. You can do both—and plenty more.

It's true. Over many decades, an almost endless number of useful school hacks have been invented by students like you. From techniques for studying smarter to strategies for making friends and thriving in a college or university dorm setting, students have come up with plenty of fun and practical ways to better manage their time and activities. So, why reinvent the wheel when you can benefit from the solutions of countless students who've come before you?

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Smiling young woman in a reddish-orange blouse writing in a notebook while sitting at a wooden table with a cup of coffeeThe Internet is teeming with both practical and hilarious ways to make life as a college student easier and more enjoyable. But when it comes to achieving greater success and overall effectiveness, some strategies have much more impact than others. Here are eight of the best tips you should always follow:

1. Prioritize your nightly sleep.

College and university students are notorious for having bad sleep habits. You may even be someone who thinks that college is the perfect time for following the popular saying "I'll sleep when I'm dead." But sticking to a consistent sleep schedule is one of the most beneficial life hacks for students. By getting at least eight hours of quality sleep every night, you can maximize your health, memory, ability to learn, and much more. By not getting enough sleep, you potentially damage all of your most important faculties.

That's why you should always go to bed each night and wake up each morning at the same times—even on the weekend. Also, ensure that your dorm room is cool and dark when it's time for bed. And if you still don't believe that prioritizing your sleep is all that necessary, be sure to watch the following video (and share it with your friends). You'll learn why sleep may be your ultimate superpower.

2. Plan almost everything.

Many college students feel overwhelmed as they try to keep up with all of their commitments and responsibilities. It can feel like trying to control things within a swirling vortex of chaos. But college life doesn't have to be that way. Successful students understand that planning and organization form the foundation of effective time management, which leads to a genuine sense of control.

So use a daily and monthly planner (paper or digital) and schedule all of the activities you need and want to get done. It will set you apart from most other students. Every activity in your college life should be accounted for, hour by hour. That includes class time, study time, social activities, work, eating, sleeping, and anything else you do.

Get everything out of your head and into a planner or calendar. Then, follow your plan, revising as it necessary (but as little as possible). It's a simple, common-sense hack that's too often overlooked. (The alternative—"winging it"—can result in procrastination, late nights, wasted time, stress, anxiety, and missed deadlines and opportunities.)

3. Sit at the front in every class.

Is your instinct to sit in the back row or hide yourself from your professor? If so, it's time to make a change. This is one of the easiest hacks to do, but few students realize just how powerful it can be. It's especially helpful if you're easily distracted or find it tempting to catch a snooze during class. By sitting in the first row, you'll force yourself to pay attention and learn the material, lest you look stupid or get called out by your professor for not being focused or prepared.

Also, many professors develop a positive bias toward students who sit up front. So if you're one of those students, you may be given slightly higher grades when your professors are deciding between, for example, giving you a B+ or an A- on papers or exams.

4. Quiz yourself regularly.

Taking practice tests is one of the most effective ways to learn and retain information. According to research published by Psychological Science in the Public Interest (PSPI), it's better than many of the most commonly used study techniques. Plus, there's no stress involved in quizzing yourself this way because the stakes are so low. If you get an answer wrong, you merely focus a little more time on learning the correct information. You don't have to worry about being graded.

It's easy to find practice tests online on a wide variety of topics. Many colleges and universities make them available on their websites. Simply type "site:.edu" into a Google search, followed by the topic you're learning, followed by the word "exam." The more practice tests you take, the more knowledge you'll retain—as long as you always make an effort to learn why you answer certain questions incorrectly.

You can also use flashcards, which are convenient and just as effective. They enable you to practice retrieving the information you've studied and, bit by bit, master the material. You can even take them with you wherever you go, whether you're out on long walks or waiting in line somewhere. The key is to shuffle the deck frequently and keep the cards you've mastered in the deck until you've correctly retrieved their information at least three times. You can even use an app like Quizlet to make your own flashcards or use the cards of other users.

5. Space out your studying.

Put another way: Stop cramming. You might feel heroic when you complete an all-night or last-minute study session, but you aren't really helping yourself. Cramming may work sometimes, for short-term retention of information, but it doesn't help you remember what you've learned over the long term. So it can come back to haunt you when you take more advanced classes in the same subjects, which require you to have a certain foundation of knowledge to build on.

Even for short-term results, cramming is generally less effective than beginning your studies as early as possible and studying at regular, spread out intervals over longer amounts of time. And for long-term retention of what you're studying, spaced learning is far and away the better option, according to PSPI research. Combined with taking practice tests, this strategy can be incredibly effective. And it allows you to schedule short bursts of study time as opposed to lengthy all-nighters that are best avoided.