Making your life easier doesn’t have to be a hassle. Two small and simple steps, sleeping and packing snacks, can help a college student’s life in the largest ways.

Pack a snack or a meal

Let’s be real, as college students, we at least feel like we’re hungry all the time. We also eat whatever is cheap (or free), which is usually trash.

To end the cycle of Taco Bell and attending a new and different club meeting every week (only as a way to get cheap, hot and tasty meals), pack your own food.

When you pack your own food, there’s a bit more thought put into it than just, “Will this end my hungry feelings?”

When packing your own food, there are considerations that go into it like: “How much will it cost?” “Will it taste good?” “Is it transportable?” “Can I really pull this off?”

Yes, you can.

The first thing to consider are your favorite foods that don’t require any cooking, such as apples, bananas, oranges, carrots, granola bars, etc. All of these can be relatively low-cost options when grabbing a snack on the way out the door in the morning.

Additionally, think about which foods are good for the occasion. Going to study in the library? Maybe go for a banana or some carrots.

Also consider how full you want to feel after the snack. If you’re looking to get through an hour-long class, an orange will do the job, but if it’s much longer than that, the granola bar may be the better choice.

When you think about meals, stick to the stuff you know how to make. Don’t know how to make anything? Stick to wraps and sandwiches, then teach yourself one new simple meal every weekend and have it sometimes late that week.

Soon you’ll be building your cooking skills, and eventually you’ll almost stop thinking about how to make something and start asking yourself what you should make.

Sleep like you mean it

Sleep is hard to get in college, and although trying to get your eight hours worth is a good goal, sometimes it just doesn’t happen.

Instead of worrying about how much sleep you get, try to focus on the quality of sleep you’ll get. You can toss and turn for eight hours and feel worse than when you got into bed. In contrast, four extremely restful hours of sleep can sometimes get you through at least part of your day.

How do you go about improving your quality of sleep then? One way is to try and wake up at your lightest stage of sleep.

To do this, you need to know that every sleep cycle is about one and a half hours. So, if you know you have a seven-hour window to sleep, wake up at the six-hour mark. You may get less sleep, but you’ll probably feel more awake.

If you’re under extreme stress like the rest of us and you feel like it’s keeping you up, try an herbal supplement. There are several out there marketed as sleep aids, but let’s focus on the de-stress part first and the sleep will follow.

One supplement you can try is theanine. This is a naturally occurring compound found in most teas, but more regularly attributed with green tea.

What this supplement is known for is relaxation.

If you don’t relax enough to fall asleep or can’t walk down to Swanson Health Products on Broadway to pick up a bottle of this stuff, try sipping tea one to two hours before you get into bed.