Fuel your body well to stay up and study
By Constance Dillon
April 22, 2008 9:00 p.m.
It’s after midnight and your paper is due in 8:00 a.m. lecture, so between gulps of room temperature coffee and handfuls of Cheez-Its you type furiously at your computer.
With a huge sigh, you gear up for a night without sleep, wondering if it was your jam-packed schedule or the past few hours spent Facebooking that forced you into this all-nighter.
Many students will inevitably have to pull an all-nighter during their college career, and strategy is necessary in order to survive the night.
Consuming huge quantities of caffeine should be the backbone of your plan so that your eyes remain open and the urge to nod off at your computer disappears.
Caffeine wards off feelings of sleepiness, though it has not been proven to increase memory or help you focus, said Alon Avidan, professor of neurology and associate director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Program.
Between sugary energy drinks like Red Bull and the endless options of Venti-sized lattes and black coffee, college students never face a lack of caffeinated beverages. But, your poison of choice depends entirely on how caffeine affects you.
Eating food throughout the night also helps keep energy levels up, so it’s always a good idea to have your favorite snack foods on hand.
Benson Wang, a third-year business economics student, said he likes to eat sunflower seeds while studying late into the night because the snack doesn’t fill him up and keeps him constantly doing something.
While the food itself gives you energy, the physical act of eating also prevents you from falling asleep as the hours pass.
Taking breaks during the night is crucial so that your mind has a rest and your body wakes up.
“I try to move around so that I don’t get bored,” Wang said.
Jonathon Glucksman, a first-year history student, said he tries to drink a lot of water during an all-nighter so that he is frequently forced to get up to take bathroom breaks. While walking around wakes him up, Glucksman added that the constant interruption helps him not get too comfortable and relaxed so that he can continue focusing on his work.
A study break on the horizon can also be an encouragement to keep working, even if you have begun to start shaking from the double-shots you drank a few hours ago.
“I tell myself, “˜OK, at this time, I will let myself have a break,’ and it’s motivation to keep going,” said Jackie Kuo, a third-year art history student.
It’s a bad idea to wear uncomfortable clothes during an all-nighter because feeling physically uncomfortable can distract you from your work.
Wang said when he knows he will be studying all night he likes to wear either gym shorts or pajama pants, but just has to make sure that he doesn’t get too comfortable or he will fall asleep.
Even once you’ve time-stamped your paper and delivered into your professor’s box or filled in the last of the bubbles on your Scantron, your all-nighter is not complete over until you’ve recovered by finally going to sleep.
Avidan said it takes multiple days for an individual to catch up on one night of sleep deprivation.
“Sleep is not an expense account; it can’t just be made up for by sleeping the next day,” he said.
Though pulling all-nighters is as common a study practice for some students as consulting Wikipedia, you may find that you only need to experience a sleepless night once before deciding that next time you’ll sign off of Facebook and write that paper.
