OHHHHH SNAP!!
Guess it’s an all nighter that comes to the rescue!
However, the reality of the situation is that you hate pulling all nighters and you know that you are going to feel awful in the morning, and the quality of the assignment may also be jeopardized.
As an expert that pulled all nighters pretty much on a weekly basis during my undergraduate years, I give you my ULTIMATE ALL NIGHTER GUIDELINE!
The first rule of pulling an all nighter is to not pull an all nighter. Ya, I know that sounds kinda weird. You always hear people around you saying Nothing good happens after 12:00 am legally on the weekdays, and it is quite true. Therefore, if you can avoid them, by all means, please do!
Also, it is very important to self-review one’s own action. If you need to stay up because of school work then you probably have bad time management. Everyone has 24 hours in a day, the difference between people who pull all nighters and the ones who don’t is the ones who don’t are more productive with their time.
Pulling an all nighter is preventable and should be avoided. If it can’t here are some ways that you should prepare…
TAKE A NAP DURING THE DAY If you know that you are going to be pulling an all nighter during the day then it would be wise for you to take a quick nap. This could give you an extra 1-2 hours of wake time without the aid of stimulants.
PLAN FOR THE NEXT DAY If you have ever stayed up before you know that you will feel like crap in the morning. You will not be in the right state of mind to perform any activity that requires mental processing. So it is best to prepare before hand what you will need in the morning so you do not leave the house looking like a maniac. Here are some things that you should prepare ahead of time:
- Backpack
- Lunch
- Coffee
- Outfit
- Transportation
- Any event for tomorrow (test, celebration, presentation, and so on)
GATHER MATERIALS It is best if you make sure that you have all the materials you need ready so you don’t waste time looking for them.
Here is a checklist of things that you should have:
- Timer
- Writing utensils
- Alarm
- Headphones
- Paper
- Textbooks
- Flash Drive
- Laptop/Desktop Computer
- Notebooks
- Music
- Index Cards
- Calculator
NUTRITION This is one of the most important sections that must be done right. If you have stayed up before, then you will understand how hungry one can get. The go-to food is usually cereal, bread, or chips. It just so happens that opening up a cereal box and pouring it into the bowl at 2:00 am is equivalent to pouring a bag of nails into a bowl. It’s as if the sound of everything gets amplified x10 once the clock hits 12. Don’t even talk to me about opening a bag of chips. It’s like a bomb in a bag, ready to detonate. You can save yourself the mission by preparing food before hand. Here is a nutrition checklist of food that you should have ready and prepared:
Main Meals
- Pizza
- Lunchables
- Bread + Peanut Butter, Jelly, Nutella
- Cereal
- Ramen Noodles
Beverages
- Water (Carry a water bottle and you will unconsciously drink it even when you aren’t thirsty. It will also help keep you awake by making you urinate every 30 minutes)
- Caffeine (Caffeine pills would be more efficient but people tend to take more then they should so know your dosage)
- Tea (I wouldn’t recommend to much of tea because tea has a calming effect which for some could result in sleeping)
- Diluted Juice (Pour half a cup of juice and then add water to the rest. This will reduce the amount of sugar while still giving you some taste to your drink)
Snacks
- Apples
- Cheese and Crackers
- Gum
- Ice
- 1 or 2 candy or chocolate bars (limit the amount of sugar so you don’t crash)
Now that you are prepared the useful nutrition, it’s time for the real deal! As time drags on, you will find yourself in a losing battle against the desire to sleep. Here are a list of techniques that I found to help keep you focused and awake:
Frame of Mind If you think you’re going to fall asleep you will. You need to believe you can stay up and get things done. Watch some motivational videos or read some motivational quotes. Do whatever you need to do to get pumped for that night.
Always Have Light Our bodies have rhythms and cues that tell us when to sleep and when to wake up. We have been cued to sleep when the lights are off and to wake up when the light is out. So to help you stay awake you need to keep your room well lit. Avoid dark and dim lighting. Bright light is good for fighting sleepiness and drowsiness because our bodies response to bright light is wakefulness.
Don’t Lie Down Lying down is a cue for our body to relax and sleep. Don’t trust yourself. DO NOT LIE DOWN ON YOUR BED OR THE FLOOR.
Don’t Take Naps This applies for any time after 10:00 pm. This is risky which is why I recommend it during the day when you aren’t tired. If you have done this before and you are absolutely one hundred percent sure that you can than you should. However, most people can’t. We’ve all had those “just 5 more minutes” moments and it never is just 5 more minutes. Look at yourself in the morning trying to get more sleep. Now imagine when you are absolutely dead tired. It’s best to stay away from naps at night. You won’t get up. Trust me. Don’t trust yourself.
Set Alarms This is more of a precautionary measure. Set up multiple alarms to go off every 2 hours just in case you fall asleep.
Change Environments If possible change environments, either go the basement or an area of your house where you can’t be disturbed. If you are staying up for studying then go somewhere where
they are open 24 hours. Most schools have a 24 hour study room.
Take a Shower Showers wake you up. While you are in the washroom, you might as well brush your teeth. You will feel refreshed and awake.
Take Pets for a Walk If you have a pet, then take it for a walk. You will get some physical activity, while taking a quick break from studying and walking your pet will exhaust them which will prevent them from bothering you when studying.
Work in Short Bursts You have all experienced this. You prepare everything. Everything is good and ready. However, by the end of the night you have a P.O.S. paper in front of you with a total of 2 hours spent studying from the 8 hour window that you had. What the heck? What you need to do is get started. Plain and simple. Once you get started it is much easier to keep going. Working in short bursts will help you get shit done.
Grab a timer. Set it for 50 minutes. Once it rings take a 10 minute break. You are to only work for 50 minutes straight with no interruptions. Short bursts of work followed by breaks will increase your productivity significantly.
Listen to Music Create a study playlist of songs that you can study to without getting distracted and doesn’t put you to sleep. When it’s late and you’re tired you need to keep your mind stimulated and having music playing in the background will help. You don’t want to be tripping out over creepy noises at night. That could inhibit your ability to work.
Checklist/To-Do List You need to understand what needs to be done during this all nighter. Writing it down will give you a visual of all the things that you need to do.
Breakdown Assignments If you have an assignment make sure that you break it down into small pieces. This will make it easier for you to get things done. Why? Because an assignment or project as a whole may seem intimidating to some and that could paralyze people from starting. Breaking down tasks into pieces makes it easier for you to start. For instance, if you are writing an essay you could breakdown the assignment like this:
- Gather and compile research into a word document
- Write down the headings. introduction, body, conclusion.
- Write one paragraph for the introduction. (What you want to do is start. Save the editing for the second draft)
- Write the thesis.
- Write down the main arguments for the body.
- Write down first paragraph for the first main point.
- Provide research to support for first point.
- Summarize all main points for the conclusion.
- Write down one paragraph for the conclusion.
The point of breaking everything down is to make it easier on how you perceive the difficulty of the task. If it seems like too much work you will procrastinate. But if the task was to write down one paragraph you are more likely to start. And for anyone who has done any essay writing, the hardest part is starting.
If you follow this guide you should be good and prepared for every all nighter that you decide to pull. If you have any suggestions or advice please comment in the comment section below and I will update this guide with some of your ideas. Let us keep striving for excellence!
S4E- Joe
S4E - Strive 4 Excellence 
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