I have my lights in my room on a timer, which REALLY helps imo, especially for college. Pardon if I'm repeating anything previously stated (I haven't glanced thru the thread yet) but one thing for students which is common is that during the day, there's sunlight, and at night while you study there's artificial light, leading to waaaay more than 12 hrs of light in a single day. This can force molting all year long!!!
The timer helps regulate me where I might lose track of time on my own. Then when the lights shut off in my room, I either stop reading/studying or I move to a different room to give them their sleep. I know this isn't exactly what you asked--but I really do think it's important to note, since I'm a student too and I know we're all nocturnal, lol. Birds aren't!
I also do my feeding and cleaning at night. With the lights off they don't touch the food until the morning but it's there for them when they wake up. And then before I head to work, I give them their daily fresh food.
Other than that, I just make a point to let the birds out Whenever I'm home. Absolutely whenever, as long as it's still daylight out! I aimed for night jobs when I was a full time student. And depending on what kind of bird you have, a companion might not be a terrible idea. I have my conure and cockatiel caged side by side. I'd cage them together if I could but of course my conure could do some damage if she got ticked off so I don't think I will... even caged separately tho, birds are very verbal and keep each other company quite well, just keep them in the same room.