If you don’t want to be repaying your loans for the better part of your career, there are options to tackle this obligation sooner. In fact, trying out these three techniques could help your loans disappear in about half the time.

The most obvious way to reduce the timeline for paying off your student loans is to choose a short repayment plan and stick to it.

If your loans are federal student loans, the standard repayment plan would result in you becoming debt-free in a decade. As long as you don’t opt for an extended or income-driven plan that stretches out your payoff time — and as long as you don’t refinance or consolidate your loans to one with a longer payoff term — you will be done with repayment after just 10 years, instead of 21 like the average borrower.

As for private student loans, your repayment timeline is determined based on the payoff schedule you select when you first borrow. Pick a shorter loan payoff schedule that lasts 10 years or less. And, if you refinance your loans later to try to reduce the rate, don’t extend the total time to become debt-free. For example, if you have seven years left to repay your loans, choose a refinance loan with a five- or seven-year repayment period instead of a 10-year one.

A shorter payoff schedule means you’ll have to make higher monthly payments, which could require some financial sacrifices to afford them. But, if you watch your spending for a short time and keep on track with that payoff plan, you’ll be saying goodbye to your debt in much less time than your peers. You’ll free up cash then to focus on other things, like growing your 401(k) balance.

The career you choose can help you to become free of your student debt in half the time of a typical borrower.

If you have federal student loans alone and take a job working full-time for the government or a non-profit, you should be able to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and have any remaining balance of your debt forgiven after 120 qualifying on-time payments. This means after a decade, you could be done with your debt for good.

Some government agencies, non-profits, and even private companies also either offer direct loan repayment assistance or make you eligible for loan repayment programs. Taking advantage of these could allow you to repay your debt more quickly — often in half the time of a typical borrower or less.

Finally, you can cut your payoff time considerably by paying more than you’re required to. If you pay extra each month on your loans, focusing on those with the highest interest rates first, you will pay down your balance faster. As your balance falls, the interest you owe is reduced since you’re paying interest on a smaller sum. So, more of your payment will start going toward the principal, and your balance will decline more quickly.

Any of these three steps should help you pay your loans in half the time of a typical borrower. While they take effort, being debt-free sooner is often worth the price.