How do you stay awake?
- Thread starter lRookiel
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Take it from a pro:
Drink caffeine, but don't overdo it. Otherwise you're too restless to get any actual work done. Learn and keep in mind your tolerance. A cup of coffee every few hours ought to do the trick. Caffeine is still not the sole resolution. The mental idea of "I'm drinking coffee, I'm staying well awake" is more important than the chemical reaction alone. Sometimes caffeine feels almost counterproductive and it's quite easy to go to sleep straight after an energy drink or something.
Keep your environment cool. Your brain works better and you won't feel drowsy
Eating food is a lot more powerful component in building a day rhythm than caffeine. Keep eating normally. Staying awake, especially at night time, requires a lot more energy than sleeping, so you have to eat to keep the energy levels up. Don't eat too much at once though, that should go without saying.
Drink. Water, coke, juices, whatever you usually drink. It's important to keep the energy levels up. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the eating, except you should constantly have something to drink next to you.
Do not do anything that belongs to your regular going-to-sleep -ritual: brushing teeth, wearing what you wear when going to bed. Whatever you tend to do within an hour or so before going to sleep... Don't do any of it. Even if it seems not that big of a deal, it can have major mental and subconscious effects.
In interrelation to the previous: Do things that you would do during the day. Feel like cooking something easy at 4 AM. Just do it. Wear your regular leisure clothes you would during the day
If you smoke cigarettes, you'll be even more likely to smoke when you are tired and/or need/want to stay awake. Smoking does it's own things, but going out for a couple of minutes every now and then works wonders. It's really effective, and people who don't smoke underestimate the power of fresh air, no pun intended. Take short breaks outside.
If you're familiar with the Flow [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)]-concept, do your very best to get into that. Immersing yourself within the task at hand and the bombardment of ideas and handling them is perhaps the most effective method of staying awake. Do whatever improves your concentration.
Keep an active mind. Don't move to watching a simple comedy while you eat. If you're only observing, you're brain is not far from sleeping. Active thinking, coming up with ideas and bouncing them around works wonders, and often has a positive avalanche-effect. This is important as well. If you're
Do not touch your eyes. Do not rub them. Don't do anything to them, even if they feel itchy or irritated, just no. They're so sensitive that basically every touch just irritates them more. That might sound a bit silly, but it's true. And anyone who has ever fought against falling asleep knows that it's the eyes that go first. You might even feel energetic enough otherwise, but seriously, stay away from the eyes. Taking a shower takes its toll on the eyes too. Wouldn't recommend taking showers anyways.
Drink caffeine, but don't overdo it. Otherwise you're too restless to get any actual work done. Learn and keep in mind your tolerance. A cup of coffee every few hours ought to do the trick. Caffeine is still not the sole resolution. The mental idea of "I'm drinking coffee, I'm staying well awake" is more important than the chemical reaction alone. Sometimes caffeine feels almost counterproductive and it's quite easy to go to sleep straight after an energy drink or something.
Keep your environment cool. Your brain works better and you won't feel drowsy
Eating food is a lot more powerful component in building a day rhythm than caffeine. Keep eating normally. Staying awake, especially at night time, requires a lot more energy than sleeping, so you have to eat to keep the energy levels up. Don't eat too much at once though, that should go without saying.
Drink. Water, coke, juices, whatever you usually drink. It's important to keep the energy levels up. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the eating, except you should constantly have something to drink next to you.
Do not do anything that belongs to your regular going-to-sleep -ritual: brushing teeth, wearing what you wear when going to bed. Whatever you tend to do within an hour or so before going to sleep... Don't do any of it. Even if it seems not that big of a deal, it can have major mental and subconscious effects.
In interrelation to the previous: Do things that you would do during the day. Feel like cooking something easy at 4 AM. Just do it. Wear your regular leisure clothes you would during the day
If you smoke cigarettes, you'll be even more likely to smoke when you are tired and/or need/want to stay awake. Smoking does it's own things, but going out for a couple of minutes every now and then works wonders. It's really effective, and people who don't smoke underestimate the power of fresh air, no pun intended. Take short breaks outside.
If you're familiar with the Flow [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)]-concept, do your very best to get into that. Immersing yourself within the task at hand and the bombardment of ideas and handling them is perhaps the most effective method of staying awake. Do whatever improves your concentration.
Keep an active mind. Don't move to watching a simple comedy while you eat. If you're only observing, you're brain is not far from sleeping. Active thinking, coming up with ideas and bouncing them around works wonders, and often has a positive avalanche-effect. This is important as well. If you're
Do not touch your eyes. Do not rub them. Don't do anything to them, even if they feel itchy or irritated, just no. They're so sensitive that basically every touch just irritates them more. That might sound a bit silly, but it's true. And anyone who has ever fought against falling asleep knows that it's the eyes that go first. You might even feel energetic enough otherwise, but seriously, stay away from the eyes. Taking a shower takes its toll on the eyes too. Wouldn't recommend taking showers anyways.
Most of the time, it's not a voluntary ability (blasted insomnia!) but I've also got a wee bit of skill in staying awake when I want to. A few hints-
-If your eyes are fuzzing out and you can't think, stand up and touch your toes a few times. Try a yoga pose or two, especially if they make you feel silly or require concentration to balance. In fact, stand up regularly, walk around.
-Eat something protein-rich that requires you to chew. (Beef jerky is not a bad idea, if you're not a vegetarian.) Not enough to send you into a food-coma, just a few work-intensive bites or so.
-Music is all well and good, but make sure it's stuff you're not quite familiar with, to keep you from being able to comfortably zone out to it.
-Open windows or turn up the AC just a bit- not enough to freeze you, just enough to make you slightly uncomfortable.
-Take a 5-minute shower, if necessary, for the sake of standing up and moving, plus the bonus of being just a bit cold as you dry off.
There's also the always helpful 'high dose of caffeine' approach, but remember your usual limit and don't go more than double that in 4-6 hours, or you might just end up jittery and nonfunctional. Also, ginseng extract tastes foul, but helps un-fuzz the mind.
That's the best I can offer, at the moment. I wish you luck, both tonight and after the sunrise.
-If your eyes are fuzzing out and you can't think, stand up and touch your toes a few times. Try a yoga pose or two, especially if they make you feel silly or require concentration to balance. In fact, stand up regularly, walk around.
-Eat something protein-rich that requires you to chew. (Beef jerky is not a bad idea, if you're not a vegetarian.) Not enough to send you into a food-coma, just a few work-intensive bites or so.
-Music is all well and good, but make sure it's stuff you're not quite familiar with, to keep you from being able to comfortably zone out to it.
-Open windows or turn up the AC just a bit- not enough to freeze you, just enough to make you slightly uncomfortable.
-Take a 5-minute shower, if necessary, for the sake of standing up and moving, plus the bonus of being just a bit cold as you dry off.
There's also the always helpful 'high dose of caffeine' approach, but remember your usual limit and don't go more than double that in 4-6 hours, or you might just end up jittery and nonfunctional. Also, ginseng extract tastes foul, but helps un-fuzz the mind.
That's the best I can offer, at the moment. I wish you luck, both tonight and after the sunrise.
Staying awake is easy: just have a drink at the ready (soda, tea, etc) and keep the mind busy. I've been awake since about...4am 5-31 (currently 6:18am 6-1) and the number of drinks I've had...while probably a bit unhealthy...has helped me stay awake. Gotta sleep soon though since I work tonight though. Falling asleep is a lot harder than sleeping for me though...
The usual splash water on my face or walk around or an energy drink (a very small amount) or a 15 min nap in an uncomfortable area.
Well I guess it's mostly willpower. Netflix helps as well. Browsing the internet keeps the mind going somewhat. You could always go watch an entire let's play of a game you never really got to or are interested in.
I never had any trouble just staying awake through sheer willpower if I was doing something, but I also never had to do it to finish assignments or anything. I would just pick away at them over the course of the due date because pulling all nighters is incredibly counter productive. Spend a night doing half-assed work that I might not be able to finish on time anyway AND fuck up my sleep for the next few days after? No thanks, I'd rather just not end up in that position.
I realize that doesn't really help now, but seriously, anything you can do to avoid all nighters is a good thing, and so easy it's silly.
I realize that doesn't really help now, but seriously, anything you can do to avoid all nighters is a good thing, and so easy it's silly.
By procrastinating more and willpower. If I had an energy drink on hand though I wouldn't sleep for days. That stuff does weird things to me.
Metric craploads of tea. Keeping the mind focused on whatever it is I'm staying up for. Willpower. Oh, and whenever your mind says "Just a 5 minute nap" don't listen, it's a filthy liar and you'll wake up at 3pm the next day. Trust me.