Staying up all night

[mdg60]

So, I have some pretty important exams coming up tomorrow and Saturday. I really need as much time as I can to study so I was thinking of staying up all night and tomorrow studying for these exams. They are stats and macro econ. I was hoping you guys could give me some good ideas for staying awake and focused without having a crash. I find that once it is daylight I have no problem staying awake. I don't smoke or drink so things like that won't help me. Any other ideas you guys can give me would be appreciated.

[APAT]

I recommend staying awake until 1 or 2 and waking up early, 6ish, and start studying again. Sleep is more important than the 4-5hrs of sleepy studying you'll cram in. Your school maybe more difficult than mine was but those exams wont be as bad as you think they're going to be. Trust me on the sleep thing though man. No sleep = a bad idea.

[mdg60]

The only problem with sleep is I am a very deep sleeper and when I am out, I stay out for a long time. Example: I went to sleep last night at midnight and slept till 2 this afternoon. Granted, I have been doing a lot lately and it was my body trying to catch up, but I am afraid if I fall asleep then I will be worse off than if I had stayed awake.

In terms of difficulty, the class average on the last test was a 60% and we aren't graded on a curve, so it will be pretty difficult. :(

[APAT]

60%! So the professor is going to flunk over half the class. Not likely. Tough exams though. My advise stands. Get some sleep or your brain wont be working at full capacity. Its science my friend.

[jmhc74]

Get ur sleep....period.

[Yentis]

i work third shift and stay up all night anyway so take this as you will.

now when i was in school i was working 32 to 35 hours a week and going to school 40. what i used to get though it was energy drinks Monster, Rockstar, and sobe where my favorites. plus i also just like the taste of energy drinks also cool showers and steping outside when it is cold helps too.

[nd32479]

MDG....get some sleep. If you only had the Friday test...then maybe you could pull it off, but even then you would still be better off get some sleep. This is a well proven fact, buddy.

It sounds like your issue with just getting 4-5 hours sleep per night is you difficulty with getting up. So tackle that issue and find a solution to waking up instead of trying to find a solution for trying to stay up all for the next 60 hours.

Suggestions for waking up and being able to get on with your day.

1. Before going to bed, do some visualization / self hypnosis. just before going to bed, sit up in the bed. Close your eyes and meditate. Tell your you will get a good sound peaceful sleep. You will wake up feeling refreshed and ready to begin your day fully alert and energize. It's a little corning...but your mind is powerful and can control your body and its own energy. ie..use the force! Warm milk can help too as the proteins in milk actually cause the body to spend energy on digesting the proteins. Thus you get sleepy easier.

Waking up. Set alarm(s) to be as annoying as possible. Keep them AWAY from the bed so you have to get out of bed. Get help from someone and tell them you need them to get you out of bed no matter what. Tell a buddy to throw water on you and smack the shit out of you if you don't get up. If you have a girlfriend or just a free spirited female friend ask her for help in getting you going in the morning. If she will blow you that would be a great start to the day. Better yet, if she will give you a rusty trombone that should wake you right up! *Google RUSTY TROMBONE is you don't know what it means.

Once up, get out of your house. Perhaps take a walk or do some exercising even if it is 20 minutes. Instead of filling up on tons of coffee / energy drink that will just make you crash...eat an tart apple. It has more stimulate than 2 cups of coffee and will not cause you to crash.

Avoid the house / dorm room as you will be tempted to "just lay down for a little bit". Go to the library, coffee house etc to study.

When you start to get sleepy or feel yourself spacing out. Get up, wake around, get some fresh air. Eat multiple light meals instead of a couple big meals.

Get AT LEAST 4 hours each day

[BOSS]

I hear ya MDG, I don't look forward to Statistics as I've heard similar averages on those exams (who hires these professors?). As already mentioned, sleep is CRUCIAL! Don't push yourself to stay awake more than you have to or you'll find yourself not being able to concentrate on what you're doing. Besides, the time you're sleeping is actually when your brain processes the information you gathered so get enough rest and you'll do fine. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Reaper316]

I would just like to say that I worked 7 days night shift every two weeks and took 18 credit hours of hard science classes. I was awake for over 30+ hours every day and I got all A's and 1 B.

My day went like this....Wake up 7am go to class until 1pm come home, study, quick nap go to work all night saving lives. Come home, shower, change clothes then back to school until 1pm. Eat maybe then I could get some sleep...rinse and repeat.

[APAT]

@Reaper My days only last 24hours.....lol


Also, great advise for anyone who cares. When you wake up in the morning slam 16oz of water. Just started doing this 3 weeks ago and its amazing. Apparently your body is dehydrated from sleeping so get hydrated then drink the coffee and whatnot.

[EagleOne]

Eat some carnitas, the runs will keep you up, just ask Darkhelmet.

[mdg60]

thanks for the advice guys. I have tried setting up alarms on the opposite side of the room. The only problem is I will wake up and they will be turned off. Apparently, I will get out of bed, turn them off when they go off, and then go back to sleep all without remembering it. I plan on sleeping tomorrow night, so this is just for one night, but one good thing is I can take a 4x6 notecard with me when taking the test. Hopefully it will all turn out. I am pretty good at staying awake when I am awake, but waking up from sleep is another story. I was watching some special about Ranger training and apparently some people will rub tobasco sauce in their eyes to stay awake. Hopefully it won't get to that.

[jmhc74]

First off.....why are you posting on this site......concentrate and study!!!! FOCUS

[mdg60]

I have been focusing!!! I just need breaks every now and then. I'm still going strong though.

[Hogezz]

You realy don't want to stay up all night practicing for exams dude... I don't think you guys over the pond would be farmiliar with the TV series "The Inbetweeners". However I have a little snippet from the epesode where the guy did exactly what you were saying (up all night drinking energy drinks studing)

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX7YWpbUGbs"]The Inbetweeners | Exam Time | Series 2 - Episode 6 - YouTube[/nomedia]