For whatever reason, we're taught that looking at answers is cheating. For me, this is absolute insanity for something like homework. The nuts and bolts of almost any STEM subject is just boring, rote, pattern memorization. I get solution manuals, whatever solved material I can find, and I whiteboard the problems. If I get stuck, I think for about 30 seconds. If that doesn't work, I look at the next step in the solution. I keep doing that until I don't have to look anymore. I'm not suggesting you actually cheat, but if I'm looking for practice, I often find solutions for problems related to assignments, etc. Don't just copy things down--do think about it. Just not for too long.

There is just no time to sit there for hours or days and beat your head against a problem. Coming from a semester CC, and as someone who loves to digest problems over the course of years, this was my big lesson at UCSC. Don't get stuck on stuff. Do whatever you can to not just sit there spinning your wheels. That could mean solutions to look at, getting help from TAs, etc.

Another one of my common mistakes is skipping the "easy" problems. That's a good way to miss something foundational and really screw yourself later.