Tips for pulling an all nighter
People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.
~Leo J. Burke
Today I was reading a recent article on Jonlee.ca about his set of tips for prolonged Computer Usage.
Most of them where the standard; not to use a bright monitor, Posture, Take Breaks, and Avoid High Caffeine Drinks but I didn’t agree with all of them.
- Room lighting - He suggested that you keep the room dark after the sun has set. This is not a good idea for a few reasons. When we where young as a species before there was artificial light we went to sleep when it got dark. This programing is still in us to this day , When its dark go to bed. A dark room just enforces the idea of sleep in our bodies. One of the other points he made was about not using a bright monitor, if you are in a dark room with any monitor it will be pretty bright compared to the rest of the room and bad for your eyes. If you are going to work long hours work in a well lit room.
My own tips for pulling an all nighters
A all nighters in my books is when you see the sun come up before you head to bed. I’m lucky in my programing job nothing is super time critical so I almost never have to pull an all nighters at work. My private life on the other hand I regularly work strait thou the night on Friday, sleep most of Saturday, go out on the town Saturday night, crash out of shear exhaustion on Sunday. Its not a good thing to do to your body but sometimes you got to do what you got to do.
- Take a shower - One of the best ways that I have found to keep going when I am past my 20th strait hour is to take a shower. The water wakes me up right away and I tend to do my best thinking when i am way from the computer anyways. Take a break and take a shower.
- Dark background with white text - Most good editors allow you to change the color schema of your workspace and having dark backgrounds with light text puts a lot less stress on your eyes. With less stress on your eyes it should be easier to keep them open.
- Eat high natural sugar food - An apple or a mango or some kind of natural fruit juice helps alot to keep you up. An apple keeps you up with out the sudden crash of energy that you sometimes can get with chocolate bars and pixi sticks.
- Eat a 4th meal - If you are up for a longer time eat anther full meal. Stop around 3-4 am and have a 2nd dinner to give you the energy to continue the night. Don’t eat fatty foods like hamburger and french fries they will put you strait to sleep.
- Loud music - Listen to some loud music, metal, punk, or something very active. My all night play list includes Mudvyan, Lamb of god, Chimaira, MSI, Freestylers, and Slipnot.
- Walk around - After a few hours of stitting at your desk, get up and take a walk, get the blood pumping again, get some oxygen to your brain.
What are your tricks for staying awake for all nighters?
Jordan Lapp wrote:
“strait” is a body of water. I think you mean “straight”
when we where young = were
Posted on 18-Jul-07 at 12:36 pm | Permalink
jamie wrote:
try to drink lots of water! it keeps the metabolism going. i find that an all nighter will dehydrate me more than if i were getting proper sleep; water helps the kidneys and liver keep going after they want to sleep
Posted on 18-Jul-07 at 5:01 pm | Permalink
ms danielle wrote:
oh man, i don’t think i’ve ever successfully pulled off an all-nighter. i tried it ONCE in college and almost died during my final. i can’t function, literally, on less than three hours of sleep. if i go to work on 3 hours, which has happened, i’ll usually be very confused while trying to complete the most menial of tasks.
Posted on 24-Jul-07 at 11:56 am | Permalink
What Are June's Top Commentators Up To? | Hannes Johnson dot Com wrote:
[…] posts some tips for pulling an all-nighter. I’ve used some of these tricks - going out for a walk can often help you make it for a few […]
Posted on 29-Jul-07 at 8:01 pm | Permalink
Christine wrote:
I’m pretty used to it, since I bounce back and forth between doing overnight stock at work friday/saturday/sunday, then have class pretty much all day tuesday/wednesday/thursday. The absolute best advice I could give anyone is to sleep, sleep, sleep the day before, as much as possible. I wouldn’t normally condone skipping, but if you have an afternoon class that you’re doing well in and must pull an all-nighter to get ahead the next day for a morning class, by all means skip the afternoon and get a good six-eight hours in before getting up to work. Just make sure that you’re waking up with a little sunlight left, otherwise your body will just want to keep snoozing through the night.
Cold water, caffeine after the halfway point of the night, and multivitamins and nutritious food the day before also help.
After you’re done messing up your sleep schedule, melotonin tablets can help get you back on track, as well as valerian root.
Good luck!
Posted on 01-Nov-07 at 6:06 am | Permalink
nav wrote:
i find that if i take shower in the night, it puts me to sleep. I try to get up every 2 hours and stretch my back and get a glass of water. Never eat sugary foods at the beginning, you;ll be energetic for like an hour and then you’re gunna be fallin asleep
Posted on 06-Dec-07 at 12:55 am | Permalink