Stardew Valley is a lovely game to spend your time on. However, some things require a lot of patience and input in order to progress. That's why I will be showing you a couple of tips to speed up your process!
Lie Down In Bed Or Go To The Spa When Lacking Energy
This is very helpful when starting a new playthrough and food is in short supply. The first days are usually spent on chopping down trees, fishing or gathering other resources. It consumes a lot of energy and leaves you exhausted in just a half day in. Without food, you'd consider going to sleep and start a new day with being back to full energy. You don't have to do that! Going to bed without skipping the day slowly regenerates energy. Additionally, if you already unlocked the spa you can take a bath and regenerate energy as well! But keep in mind, the spa will be unlocked in summer during the first year.
Try Unlocking The Greenhouse In Year 1
Growing crops is the most efficient way of making money in Stardew Valley. Unfortunately, it is not possible to grow outdoor crops in Winter (except Powdermelon, Winter or Fiber seeds). This will significantly slow your income. However, it is possible to unlock the Greenhouse in year 1 by purchasing it when choosing the Joja path or completing the Pantry Bundles for the Community Center. If you decided to go for the bundles, spend the first days planting as many Parsnips as possible. They're cheap and you can level up your Farming Skill quickly. This will increase the chance of getting golden-quality crops which are needed for the Pantry Bundles. Pay attention to make sure you've gathered all the seasonal crops, since they're required as well. Otherwise you have to wait another year before you can grow and harvest them again.
Make Seasonal Seeds And Sell Them
Throughout a season, you can find different foragables around the valley. Every season has four different ones. If you manage to get your hands on one of each, you can craft 10 seasonal seeds. Selling these seeds gives you much more money than selling all four foragables. This is a pretty good trick when foraging level is still low.
Let's look at Spring Seeds as an example: They require 1 Daffodil (worth 30-60g depending on its quality), 1 Dandelion (40-80g), 1 Leek (60-120g) and 1 Wild Horseradish (50-100g). If they're all normal quality, you'd have a total value of 180g. Now, if you use them to make 10 Seasonal Seeds, you'd have 350g since each is worth 35g. This is almost twice as much!
Upgrade Your Watering Can A Day Before Rain
I am pretty sure everyone who has played Stardew Valley before has missed at least one day of watering crops, most likely because their watering can was being upgraded. Whereas this may not be a big problem, its does delay the harvest by a day. However, you can prevent it by watching the weather forecast. If it's going to rain the next day, you should upgrade your watering on the current day. The rain will water your crops while your watering can is being upgraded. On the next day, you can claim your tool and hydrate your plants again! A similar thing I recommend is to bring your watering can to Clint a couple of days before the season changes. Perhaps there is not enough time for your crops to fully grow again before the season ends, so there's no point in watering them.
Did you know these already? If not, now you've learned some tricks to facilitate your progression. Feel free to apply them in your next playthrough.