We have all been faced with an urgent task or assignment that requires long hours of work that can not possibly be completed during the daytime. And then there are the crazy people who want to stay awake through the night just for the fun of it. No matter what your reason is, there are certain tips you can follow to make your all-night entertainment/work/study extravaganza a success and still have enough energy to make it through the next day.
All-Nighter Tips
Knock-Out the Boring Tasks First–Break down your overall assignment into a series of smaller, more manageable tasks. Be sure to take care of the most monotonous tasks early into your all-nighter while you have enough energy to deal with them.
Find a Companion–If you have a friend who is notorious for keeping late hours, recruit him or her as your all-nighter buddy you can text or instant message whenever you feel your energy start to sag.
Do Not Get Comfortable–Not getting comfortable means avoiding working on your cushy bed or couch. Choose your desk or dining room table as your designated work station for the night.
Give Yourself a Natural Energy Boost–Take frequent breaks from the assignment at hand and get your blood pumping. Run in place, do some ab crunches, walk around in circles, or engage in any other brief physical activity.
Eat–While the human body may need alternative sources of energy to run on when deprived of sleep, this does not mean you get carte blanche for having an all-out pig fest. Eat light foods that do not contain high concentrations of starches or sugars, which will eventually cause an energy crash.
Power Nap–Power nap your way through the night by laying down and closing your eyes for 20-30 minutes every 2-3 hours. Be sure to put the alarm clock in a location that will force you to get up and walk to turn it off, preventing you from being tempted to hit the snooze button or worse, turning it off completely.
Get Mad–Did something happen to you recently that ticked you off? If so, take a couple of minutes to dwell on it in order to get your adrenaline pumping.
Caffeine Is Your Best Friend–Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that will increase your alertness. Although sodas and chocolate contain caffeine, they also include sugar as a main ingredient. It is usually best to choose a caffeine source such as coffee or tea.
Yes, you can skip the beverages all together and pop a caffeine pill; however, some people become slightly nauseous or extremely jittery because the entire 200mg found in a typical caffeine pill will hit the body all at one as opposed to ingesting it at a steady rate through caffeinated, non-sugar beverages.
Background Noise–Silence is one of the worst enemies you will face when you are trying to stay up all night. Find something that is makes noise and is entertaining enough to keep your interest–a favorite television show, an action-packed movie, or loud, rock music.
Cold Showers–When you feel it is time to take drastic measures, go to the bathroom, turn the “cold” knob on your shower, and jump into the freezing waterfall you have created. It is an undeniably instant pick-me-up.
For Your Information
Of course, an all-nighter should not become a nightly ritual. It should be done a maximum of once a week and only if necessary; otherwise, it can have adverse effects on not only your physical health, but also your mental faculties. If you are curious about what may happen to you, here is an outline of what a typical adult may experience through six days of not sleeping.
Night One–The first night of depriving the body and mind of sleep is the easiest. While it may be slightly uncomfortable, the effects are highly manageable.
Night Two–During night number two, a person will have a strong urge to go to sleep when their body temperature reaches its lowest point, which usually occurs between 3am to 5am.
Night Three–On night three, the person will experience difficulty focusing their attention on the task at hand and clearly processing multi-step thoughts, especially when working on a task they find boring and repetitive.
Night Four–The body on night four is now desperate to get sleep and will do so whether the individual wants it to happen or not by engaging in micro-sleep. The involuntary microsleep process is marked by the sleep deprived person staring off into space for several seconds followed by returning to full mental awareness. They will also experience feelings of irritability and confusion as well as the “pressure band” feeling that can only be described as having a vice grip tightened around the head.
Night Five–Once night five rolls around, the person will begin to lose control over their common sense. Once common side effect that occur after five nights without sleep is the beginning of delusions and paranoia.
Night Six–On the final night, the individual may enter a sleep deprivation psychosis where they lose their sense of identity and become depersonalized, much like a “zombie.”