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Organizing a small dorm room isn’t easy—but one thing you can do to make it a lot easier is to avoid making common organizing mistakes. In Part 1 of this set, I told you about 4 organizing errors commonly made by incoming freshmen:

1. Packing your plastic organizing bins full without thinking about weight distribution.
2. Forgetting to hoist up your bed as high as it will go.
3. Failing to realize only half that tiny space belongs to you.
4. Not leaving some extra space for new stuff (because you will be tempted).

Now I want to go over a few more common mistakes with you.

5. Not coming up with an organizing solution for cords.

You have probably thought about how you will organize your clothing, your socks and underwear, your bathroom supplies, your textbooks, and your school supplies. But how much thought have you given to cords?

Seriously, how much technology are you planning on bringing to your dorm? At the very least, you are bound to have a laptop and/or tablet. On top of that, you will probably have a smartphone. There is a good chance you will have a sound system (possibly an elaborate one, depending on your love of music), and a TV. And then there is your DVD player, your gaming console, your printer, your blow dryer … the list goes on and on. Let’s not forget your roommate’s devices and cords, which may very well start hooking up with yours if you are both cool about sharing.

Basically, you are going to have a ton of cords! Buy some surge protectors, and get your cords under control by tying them. There are a lot of cord organizing hacks out there, and it is wise to look over all the ideas you can. You will need your creativity here.

6. Doubling up on items that should be shared (i.e. the mini-fridge).

There are certain items you really do not need two of. You and your roommate should share a mini-fridge and a microwave. There may be other items you also can share—dishware, certain electronics (only one subwoofer per room is really needed), and so on. In some cases, you can split the cost of shared items. In others, you can each provide something (one person brings a fridge, the other brings the microwave). This saves so much space!

7. Packing totally unnecessary equipment and supplies.

There are a lot of things you might think of packing that you really do not need to, and which will only clutter up your dorm. Even if you have a lot of dorm organizing supplies, you should not bring superfluous items. That means skipping out on binders and composition books (unless you actually use them), a printer (your school has one), and a desk chair (the school will give you one).

Now that you know some mistakes to avoid when you are getting organized in your freshman dorm, be sure to read onto 8 Surprising Dorm Room Organization Hacks, Part 1 to find out some clever ideas to maximize your use of space!