fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2598 ]

[ SECRET POST #2598 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2598 ⌋

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Condensed (6-week) semester, so instead of a period of several days, it's one day for all exams. You're usually only supposed to take one class, maybe two, during these semesters, but for a variety of practical reasons, I needed to take 3.

End result: three final exams, all in one day. And seeing as I have some stuff I have to take care of by Friday that I will have to take care of tomorrow night, I'm basically not sleeping until the weekend.

I'm no stranger to all-nighters, but some of my methods, I'm either personally growing tired of or they are actually working a little less due to built-up tolerance. So, what are some ways you guys keep yourself awake when you're tight on time, studying, taking care of last-minute projects, etc.?

Both advice, as well as just general sharing time. What are some of the worst all-nighters you've pulled? Some of the best nights where you never went to sleep (or only got a nap) and it was totally worth it? Any other interesting sleep-related stories?

To be honest, my advice is that you shouldn't pull an all-nighter before an exam. I think sleep will be more beneficial than a few hours of completely strung-out studying time. I'm not saying all-nighters are bad in general, but I think they're a lot more useful for papers than for exams. Frankly, you need you energy for exams.

So my advice would be study really, really efficiently tonight, get at least 3 or 4 hours of sleep, and then destroy the exam.

I don't have any particular advice for staying up, besides caffeine, willpower, and good surroundings.

Eh, that's my normal method of handling exams (I try to take care of all my studying well ahead of time so I can get in a decent night's sleep for the exam). The problem is that due to the time crunch of the condensed semester (my teachers literally finished the courses today, so even if I had studied ahead of time, I still would have had a lot of new material to cover), I can't really do that.

I'm going to get in a nap here and there, but no solid sleep for quite a while.

(I am currently the poster child for WHY you're only supposed to take one class, two at max, during these semesters).

You don't. Multiple studies show it's insanely more beneficial to sleep the night before an exam than it is to stay up all night and cram. One of the benefits of going the psych route through university is that you have priority access to all the studies that are done about human and animal learning.

That is normally how I do it, it's just that some extenuating circumstances mean I have to study tonight (as in, I actually still have to learn some new material my teachers just finished covering today as well as study/review older material).

Yuck. Then I wish you the best of luck and I hope you manage to get at least a nap in there.

There is a way but you might be too late to start it: http://potionwine.tumblr.com/post/59395578441/how-to-pull-an-all-nighter-effectively-and-still-do

I find laughter, listening to music, stretching and exercising/dancing helps keep me awake.

Too late to get in the sleep, but the scheduling like that is definitely helpful. :)

Lotta diet cola and panic. Even if the caffeine doesn't keep you awake, the having to go to the bathroom will

Haha, never thought of the bladder as a way to keep away. I've already got some soda, so I think I'll just make sure to refill my waterbottle more often for this tactic. :)

I just... Don't sleep. Getting really involved in whatever you're doing and having coffee helps!

Then again, my skills at staying awake all night, or getting up after two or three hours and feeling okay running on next to no sleep, have been pointed out as straight-up freakish on several occasions. My advice might be useless. :P

Edited 2014-02-13 02:52 (UTC)

Haha, I normally stay up at night and sleep during the day, too! But that "sleep during the day"/being able to sneak in sleep here and there is kind of key to that, but right now that's not the most helpful option.

Though a lot of the point of this thread isn't even about seeking genuine help so much as new ideas and sharing the misery. :P

Besides caffeine, energy drinks, or drugs?

What used to work for me that, when I got too tired, I picked an upbeat song or two, and did a lil' dance for 10-15 minutes. It clears your head, energizes you, and it'"s generally a relief for your body if you've been sitting on your ass studying all day.

Also, a good "fruit shot" like a smoothie can temporarily energize you.

That being said, my body always protested to it. There's thus thing I have where my body goes into some sort of distress more if I do not go to bed before sunrise. Just half an hour before: perfectly fine. After: body protesting. And I find as I get older it gets more and more painful and less "worth it". I used to do it quite regularly in college, though. I've had sleep deprivation up to the point where I was hallucinating. Trust me, you do not want to go there. Also took too much ritalin once...not a grand idea.

The people saying don't do it have obviously never had to deal with a ridiculous school schedule before. Yes, it's not ideal to pull all-nighters, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to fucking do.
I recommend getting at least some hours of sleep (like going to sleep at 2 and getting up at 5). I usually do an energy drink while studying at night, and then a lot of coffee after the nap.
Lots of good food helps, if it I can manage it. A good study area, with no distractions helps me a lot too. And physical activity every so often also gets me through all nighter (like getting up and going for a brisk walk occasionally, or doing jumping jacks every hour)
Also promising myself I'll sleep the entire day after the exams are over also works as a great motivator, whether it actually happens or not!

This is pretty much what I already do. :)

It amuses me to no end, the people who say "just study ahead of time and get a good night's sleep before the exam". Up to a certain extent, that helps, but at the same time, real life doesn't really work that way.

That said, it turns out a lot of that may be a genuine misunderstanding - I remember a professor mentioned how surprised he was to learn that our school doesn't have a week break between the end of the educational semester and the exam week to give students a chance to study. He apparently found it sad that none of us had ever even heard of a system like this, letalone experienced it ourselves. Apparently this used to be a common thing to do/still is in some places?

nayrt

It's not just a question of "Study ahead and get a good night's sleep". I don't think anyone's been saying that. It's a situation of "It will be more valuable in your current situation to get four hours of sleep than to spend 4 AM to 8 AM studying." I honestly think, as a general rule, alertness is more important than a few hours of crammed knowledge you won't be able to remember because you're a zombie. If there really is so much material that there is no physical way you can approach the tests at all without staying up all night, them's the breaks, I guess. But it's not a "you should have studied earlier" thing, it's a "being well-rested is more beneficial than cramming" thing.

DA but that's how it is at my uni - break between the end of teaching weeks and the start of exams, I mean. I've never heard of going straight into them without one before O.o;

Would it be rude of me to ask where you live? Because I'd never heard of having that break before exams until that professor mentioned, so I'm curious as to where you live where you've never heard of not having a break. I can't help but wonder if I'm just oblivious or if this is a trend of some kind or what.

ayrt

Yeah, guess my advice is pretty typical!
There is also certainly no 'break period' before exams at my school either (other than a short grace period of a few days). I once had two weeks to study for 3 exams and write two lengthy term papers, and I also had to deal with non-school stuff. There was definitely not a lot of sleep going on during that period I can tell you! Sometimes all-nighters are the only way through

sa

Oh, and good luck with your studying and exams tomorrow! Forgot to mention that in my first comment

Eh, I used to do it in cycles? I'd start at afternoon, study for two hours, sleep for an hour, repeat. If you're going to drink caffeine, drink it immediately before going to sleep and you'll wake up with the buzz.

I once did that cycle for about three days, so it works in the long term. It's a little stressful over that length of time, but it was finals week in a packed semester. No choice.

According to Mythbusters, taking a 20 minute nap every 6 hours is totally effective and much better at helping you than pulling a true all-nighter. If that helps at all. :)

I'll try that! :)

Good luck! Get plenty of rest after the exams! Try and force yourself to be interested, set small goals and checkpoints, and try to get some naps in. Learn as many mnemonics as you can.

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[ SECRET POST #2598 ]

I have three final exams, tomorrow. How do you stay awake for all-nighters?

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Re: I have three final exams, tomorrow. How do you stay awake for all-nighters?

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