We’re less than a month into the semester and I’ve already done something that has impaired me as much as having a blood alcohol content of 0.10%. Earning a true badge of honor among students, I’ve pulled an all-nighter.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, an all-nighter is the act of staying up all night, especially to study or work. I define it as last-semester-you assuming present-you would be an academic weapon.
Unfortunately, being an academic weapon sometimes means that 8 a.m. lab you spent squinting into a microscope, pretending to see something, now needs to magically transform into a coherent lab report.
If you find yourself in this situation – realizing that the lazy river you were floating on has suddenly turned into a roaring rapid of information – this guide will be your life jacket.
Plan Ahead
Before you gather your notes and bag of Expo markers, think of yourself as a phone battery. Just like a battery needs to be charged to function for an extended period, you need to charge before tackling a long study session.
The Sleep Foundation recommends starting the process by getting “plenty of sleep for several nights leading up to it” and taking a nap immediately before embarking on your journey.
Your plan should also, of course, include food. The FDA recommends 2,000 calories a day, though your specific needs may vary based on factors like your age, sex, height, weight and physical activity level. However, during an all-nighter, your extended waking hours may require more energy than usual, regardless of your typical calorie needs.
Being awake much longer than usual requires snacks to keep you up. Earlybird, Amerisleeps blog, recommends “protein-rich foods like chicken, tuna, cheese, nuts and protein shakes, as well as fresh fruits and veggies like oranges and carrots.” Foods that are high in sugar or fat will taste good in the moment, but a sugar crash will take you out of the race before you begin.
If you choose to consume caffeine, rather than grabbing an energy drink, try what Calm, a mindfulness platform, calls a “caffeine power nap.”
A chemical called adenosine builds up in your brain throughout the day, making you feel tired. While short naps help clear it out, a caffeine nap allows the caffeine to take adenosine’s place, blocking it from making you feel sleepy. Amerisleep suggests drinking your serving of caffeine right before the nap, dimming the lights and setting “an alarm for 15-30 minutes – no longer!”
The building you choose for the nap and studying also makes a big difference. I like to opt for a cool place with bright lights to help me stay alert. The science building is usually open late, but if you’re not a fan of that environment, a dorm lounge or your room can offer a good alternative.
Instructables, which published their own how-to guide on surviving an all-nighter, recommends keeping your study room “brightly lit to avoid any dim-lighting drowsiness.” If you feel your eyelids getting heavy, focus on a dim spot in your room and slowly move your eyes towards bright light. This motion stimulates a sunrise, helping to get you back on track.
Phone Down, Laptop On
Besides picking a building with bright lights and the shared, somewhat comforting aura of collective suffering from others pulling an all-nighter, the right technology setup can make a big difference. Extended screen time exposes you to blue light, which can strain your eyes.
According to APAC, a pain management clinic, “when you look at screens for long periods, your eyes have to work harder than usual, and the muscles in your eyes get tired,” which may lead to tension-type headaches. As someone who works night shifts, I’ve accumulated enough blue light glasses to open my own eye clinic. I recommend Uline’s selection; while made for warehouse workers, they also work for panicked students facing an exam mere hours away.
Once your laptop is open and your eyes are protected, it’s time to actually get to work. As a certified yapper, I’m unable to study around other people. However, the University of Maryland states that a benefit of studying in groups is that “students tend to retain more information by paraphrasing notes and summarizing information in a way they can better understand it.”
Studying in a group allows you to observe a variety of study methods, including the Leitner system, mind mapping and my personal favorite: staring at a whiteboard and hoping the information magically transfers into your brain.
Pushing Past the Slump
Just like when you start to feel the burn at a certain point during a marathon, you will start to feel exhaustion clawing at you at some point during the night. Johns Hopkins states “most adults feel the sleepiest between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.”
By then, you’re out of snacks, your friends have given up and you’re this close to giving up. As Rocky said, “every champion was once a contender who refused to give up.”
Now is the time to run up and down a set of stairs, or as the Harvard Business Review suggests, “the key is simply to move, which gets oxygen flowing and helps your body and mind overcome fatigue.” Once you sit back down, focus on what’s most important. According to Dragana Kostic, an Academic Development and Retention Specialist at the University of Waterloo, “if there are many sources of information, try to skim them for high-level ideas or summaries.”
So, even if you’re running on fumes by exam time, you’ll at least grasp the basic concepts.
Recover from Your All-Nighter
After your hard work pays off and you finally look up at the sun for the first time in over a day, there are two more crucial steps: eat and sleep.
Casper Mattress recommends nourishing “your body with foods that are high in nutrients like protein and whole grains to help you feel full and energized.” While hitting up the campus’s Starbucks might be tempting, “you’ll want to avoid too much added sugar the next day. Eating too much sugar may cause a crash, slowing down your recovery time and causing you to feel tired and groggy.”Once you’ve picked up a rice bowl from Qdoba and a banana from Baldwin, head back to your dorm, text your roommate to keep it down when they return and get some much-needed sleep.
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