* use a prepackaged tmux config that makes it look nice and smooths out rough edges

* Spend some time learning keybindings and commands. Just an hour or two should be enough.

* Learn about the top plugins and install them. There's a plugin that saves and restores your session, I forget the name, but it's great

* If you use vim, set up both vim and tmux with the right plugins so that the same keybindings navigate across both vim and tmux splits seemlessly.