2 posts in one day...... It must be finals week.

Yep I'm pulling my first all-nighter of the year. I thought it out, and it was going to be better than the alternative of giving up and taking a late grade. For me sometimes that can help- but not in the end of a quarter. I have POWER THROUGH in mind (note also in mind: never allow 2 tests and 2 papers to be due on the same day.... I plan on writing the date purposefully wrong and putting earmuffs on whenever a professor speaks of the real dates)

Interesting WikiHow that is my bible right now.... I was a little rusty on all of my old tactics.
How to Pull an All Nighter
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"How to Stay up All Night"
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Ah, the desperation of an important test the next day, or a large amount of missing homework due 4th period. Whatever it is, the Sleepless Night Before is always annoying. Here's how to pull it off and live.

[edit]Steps
Actually do your darn work. Plenty of times, you get sidetracked. Avoid this by setting a constant pace for yourself: 50 minutes of work, and a 10 minute break. Besides, keeping your mind occupied will make it easier to stay awake.
Avoid caffeine, if possible. See warnings for why. Drink two brimming glasses of ice cold water every 30 minutes. Not only will the cold keep you awake, but you'll need to urinate very often. It's difficult to sleep on the toilet.
Play (softly, if you have a roommate) a fast-paced, grating music. You may enjoy it, but it must be, at all costs, harsh and a bit arrhythmic. This will keep you from being lulled to sleep.
Work with windows open: cold air will keep you awake. Warm air knocks you out.
Set your computer screen to a lower setting, (duller and darker) so as not to strain your eyes. See warnings for why.
Turn off Instant Messengers, the TV, and do not surf the internet or edit wikiHow or read, draw, etc. In fact, pinch yourself if you do.
Do not work in bed, on a couch, or on the floor. If you work in any other place than a cold, hard table and chair, you will feel very tempted to sleep. If possible, work somewhere far away from your room/bed, so it's a pain to go back and sleep. Try to be around some other people so you do not feel comfortable sleeping in your chair.
If you're going to nap, set a timer. Don't nap for more than 20 minutes, and stay half-awake. Avoid napping at all costs, though. "Just 20 minutes of relaxation" will more likely involve you waking up past your class the next day.
If applicable, rotate subjects every hour. You'll quickly mentally wear out on one topic.
Work through it all. If you have time at the end, pack up your stuff, lay out your clothes, then set your alarm as late as possible, to achieve the most possible sleep.
Try sitting in different places around the room.
If you are tired and are completely slumping over your work, sit up straight. It could immediately make you feel more awake. Yes, it sounds stupid, but try it.
Eat protein-rich foods like sandwiches, cheese, and other dairy products. (no sugary stuff!)
Think positively: "I am almost done" "This is actually not too bad" "I will get to see the sunrise" "I will get a good grade"


[edit]Tips
Realize if you are "hitting the wall" and you can't even remember what you just read or you are nodding off involuntarily. Sometimes it's better to get four hours of sleep and cram what you can in the morning rather than be in a complete dreamworld for the test.
Avoid coffee or soda until just before the test. If you drink a lot of it while studying, you will completely crash a few hours later.
Before you leave for the test, jump around, do push-ups, drink a little caffeine drink and get pumped up and awake. Be ready to do well on the test. You worked hard for it, and you probably know a lot more than you think.
If you feel your eyelids drooping: pinch yourself, rub your face with a piece of ice, stand up, run in place, and do a few jumping jacks to get an adrenaline rush, or, if at worst, take a ten minute nap. Be careful with naps! (See below for how to nap in an all-nighter.)
Napping: Take them for about ten minutes. Set a loud timer to wake you up, and stay half-awake. Short naps refresh you. Anything longer and you'll fall into a deep stage of sleep, which will leave you groggy when you are forced awake.
Cold air keeps you awake and so does cold water or ice.
Work with good lighting. You don't want anything too bright, but too dim and you'll doze.
Don't nap! Eat high-protein foods on an infrequent basis through the night: smoothies, cheese, a sandwich, a plate of stew will all keep your energy levels as high as they are during the daytime.
If you can't skip the caffeine, don't stop drinking it until you have time to crash.
If you are using Microsoft Word, you can set the screen to blue with white text in the Tools > Options > General menu. This helps reduce eye strain.
If it can be helped, never pull an all nighter. Avoid this by keeping up with your study schedule ahead of time.
Never do one alone. Staying up and doing the work with "responsible" friends makes it easier. (These are friends who are responsible now that the paper and/or project is due.) They will help you stay on track so not only can you stay awake but you can all get your assignments done.
Watch your time. It will not do to work on the project all night only to miss your class. Don't rush. You have all night, but also don't procrastinate any further. Neither will have a good grade outcome.
Have a good time! As hard as this sounds, you need to not want to go to bed! Instead of napping, take those ten minutes to put on your favorite music and dance around. You'll be exhausted bodily, but your mind will be completely refreshed. If you're doing this with friends, keep each other motivated and laughing. If you're all by yourself, and have comedy tapes, put those on. Avoid movies, however, or things with plot. You won't be able to concentrate on your work if you are trying to follow the intricacies of "The Usual Suspects".
Music channels and news channels work very well because they don't demand your attention all of the time, and yet are interesting enough to keep your attention and keep you awake. They may be somewhat of a distraction, but if it's just books you're poring over for hours and hours, it'd be a lot harder to keep going.
This sounds like a joke, but it actually works. Buy some mentholatum (it comes in a small green pot) from your pharmacist. Apply a small layer right below your eyes like a football player. The vapors may sting a bit, but will give you a burst of alertness. Burt's beeswax works well also, but be careful not to put it on too close to your eyes or they'll hurt and start watering.
Go for a mid-study run, it will wake you up.


[edit]Warnings
Caffeine and Sugar: Both, while giving you a temporary high, will induce a "crash" which will only make you more tired. These are both to be avoided, as they'll screw up any chance of performing life-like in class or work the next day. If you are used to coffee, know what it does to you and feel you can get it all done by the time you "crash", it may be worth it.
Eye-strain: This is caused by excessive tiredness, reading in bad light, or staring at computer screens for long times. Take a break at reading or computers every ten minutes, simply by turning your head and looking around the room for a few seconds.
Pulling multiple all nighters within a week can really take its toll on anyone.
Pills - While there are a range available, the more innocuous might appear to be caffeine pills. These can make you so alert, you'll be thinking you spotted little green men running by your window - no one needs to be that alert.
Be careful about driving and operating machinery after an all-nighter.
Take a shower and freshen up every so often.

Can I brag that I have the coolest friends ever? We had all been wrapped up in our own business for awhile this quarter/semester- for the first time ever I actually thought "Ok maybe maybe we will grow apart in college...." --- psh Never! We just needed the shit to hit the fan to realize the best stress reliever is always going to be a e-mail or phone call to one of the scones.


Anyone else hate sharing struggles with their friends abroad?? I used to overshare and now I will only write e-mails or blogs when I feel in control of a situation.
That doesn't help anyone I almost want to apologize to my friends to underestimating that you guys wouldn't want to hear crap going on. Completely false, because I would be PISSED if I found out they were struggling alone.
After reading struggles of a completely different nature from other friends-- it made me feel so good! We validated that it's ok to have a bump, lets go through this together and not try to give advice- just be there.

Yeah---- I have the coolest friends ever. Now I will go study for finals.