If you're anything like me, through most of your school years you've almost never studied. You haven't needed to--for the most part. But eventually, especially in college, you'll realize you definitely need to. Then discover a problem: you have no idea how to. You've maybe tried to, but after about five minutes, you gave up and found lots of 'better' things to do. So here's some tips I've tried to make studying easier.

1. Clean your space

The first thing to do before you study is to make sure you have a clean space awhile before you start. If you have a bunch of clutter around, you won't have a place to put anything, and it will distract you. And then you'll go on a cleaning spree, and your room will be cleaner than it's been years. I speak from experience.

2. Have everything ready

When you're studying, you're going to find a million excuses to get up. The best way to fix this is have everything ready to make sure you can't. Everything doesn't just mean your textbook and notes, it means everything. If you might need extra supplies, make sure to have them in arm's reach. If you might get hungry, have snacks and drinks ready. Anything to make sure you don't reorganize your whole room or unleash your inner gourmet.

3. Plan ahead

When you know you have a big test or final coming up, plan ahead for when you'll start studying. Don't lie to yourself. There's no way you're going to go through a semester's worth of material in a night. Start at least a week in advance. That way, you avoid a panicky all-nighter fueled by Red Bull.

4. Break it up

To make a semester's worth of material a little less daunting, break what you need to study up into smaller chunks. Rather than studying hours on end at the end of the day, study in thirty minute periods throughout. That way, you can sleep (before 3 in the morning), which is important; because that's how your brain retains what you study. Which, yanno, is pretty helpful.

5. Create a reward system

No matter how much your prepare for it, studying is never really fun. Or easy. So, promise yourself little reward after you complete so much or study for so long. It doesn't matter if it's a YouTube video or a cookie. Whatever works to keep you from burning out ten minutes in.

6. Just do it

No matter how much you clean and prepare, the only way you're ever really going to get down to studying is to just do it. Even if it's just for ten minutes, as long as you've studied, it's fine. Don't make excuses. Don't say you don't have time, or you'll do it tomorrow, or whatever other excuses you have. Just do it!