This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Mt Holyoke chapter.

College students are all busy with homework, papers, exams, and a lot of other activities. By “other activities”, I mean not only extracurricular activities, jobs and internships, but even basic things like finding a matching pair of socks, finding an unwrinkled formal shirt that you need for that interview, and so on. Have you ever felt that you wasted so much time and effort on these annoying jobs? Don’t worry, here are some small tips to save us time, energy, or stress in our already stressful college lives. Feel free to put your own tips in the comments or share them with us on social media.

1) Use a soda can tab as a perfect straw holder

What’s your favorite drink? Whatever drink you want, the carbonation will cause your straw to float up in the surface and sometimes even jump out of your soda can. It’s so inconvenient, but, wait a minute, do you know what that little hole in the tab is for? It’s meant to keep your straw fixed, suprise! No more trouble with soda cans!

2) Flip a button-up shirt inside-out to iron over the button side

I know we all have a hard time ironing that button-up shirt. This is a small tip for you to get rid of the trouble of ironing the buttoned side: try flipping the shirt inside-out. See? It’s so much easier and you don’t have to maneuver around tiny buttons.

3) Charge your phone faster by putting it in airplane mode

Enabling Airplane Mode helps you charge your phone 4 minutes faster than normal. It may not be worth it if you’re in a rush, but you may walk away with a bit more power in your battery than you would otherwise.

4) Prevent dresses from slipping off hangers by wrapping rubber bands around the ends of hangers

How can physics be applied to our real college life? At least, friction helps. Try wrapping 1 or 2 rubber bands around the ends of your hangers. The rubber bands help hold your clothes firmer and your clothes won’t slip off anymore.

5) Use binder clips to stack more bottles and cans in your fridge

Do you have a fridge in your dorm room? If yes, then awesome! Now I can show you how to save precious space in your small fridge: try using binder clips to stack more bottles and cans in the fridge. You can have more space to store all your glorious food now.

6) Save space in your tiny closet by hanging multiple garments with soda can tabs

I used to feel really sad about the small closet in my room, but now the inconvenience is solved. By using soda can tabs (shown in the picture), you can hang multiple hangers together. Tiny spaces cannot prevent awesome ladies from hanging all their favorite clothes in the closet.

7) Are you a heavy sleeper? Put your phone into a glass to amplify the alarm sound!

My roommate and I have slept through our classes many times, though we set the alarms on 3 different phones, and they ring at many different times! I hope my Mount Holyoke fellows are not stuck in the same situation as us, but if you are, here’s a tip- before going to bed, put your phone into a glass. The alarm sound will be amplified, and it will be more likely to wake you up on time.

8) Now, enjoy eating your snack bowl!

It’s usually a bit troublesome to eat the last snack pieces, as they stay at the very bottom of your snack packet. Now, roll the bottom part of your snack packet up, and you can enjoy your snack bowl easier.

9) Fold your t-shirts and stack them vertically so you can see all of them and save space

One more smart tip with clothes! Fold your t-shirts and stack them vertically so you can see all of them. This tip will not only save you time looking for ayour suitable shirt, but will also help you keep the shelf neat after pulling out a shirt.

10) Clean your keyboard with the sticky part of a post-it note

Post-it notes are still useful after you’re done with them: use one to clean your laptop keyboard. Thank you, post-it notes!

11) Hold pens using toilet paper rolls

Have you ever been pissed off looking for the pen you just used a minute ago? Problem solved! Use a toilet paper roll to hold your pens. Use your art ability to paint and decorate the rolls and make them fancy pen holders.

Hope that these life hacks can help you get rid of some annoying and sometimes stressful situations. Do you have any other tips to share with us?

If you would like to write for Her Campus Mount Holyoke, please email mt-holyoke@hercampus.com.

11 College Life Hacks