Although I don’t necessarily advocate all-nighters, we all know that they happen. For example, I am currently writing a blog post at 4am after completing a fifty-page paper.
Here’s a screenshot from the word count on my Word Document:
This is the longest paper that I have EVER written. If you had told me that I would be writing college papers this long, I never even would’ve filled out my Common App. But let me assure you, it IS do-able.
Here are my late night or all-nighter tips:
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Establish that this late night or all-nighter is crucial. Trying to be productive on limited sleep is unhealthy. If you can sleep, sleep. Also if you can preplan this all-nighter, try to sneak in an afternoon nap to recharge yourself.
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Make a list. I love making lists and always feel like if you make a list at the beginning of the night and keep referring back to it, you can watch yourself cross stuff off and realize that you are making progress!
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Have the right attitude. You have to want to get your paper done, or want to finish studying to be able to effectively use an all-nighter to get work done.
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Keep moving! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at the clock and realized that I’ve been sitting in the same position for three hours and my butt has gone completely numb. Every couple of hours stretch or have a mini dance party just to get yourself moving. This is especially helpful if you have writers block or are having a hard time concentrating.
Follow these tips so you don’t end up looking like this.
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Cut out distractions. If you feel like you need to check social media, either get it out of the way at first (only if you know it’s going to take less than fifteen minutes) or reward yourself with it at the end. Whatever you do, don’t check Facebook every five minutes. I guarantee you, not much is going to change between two and three in the morning. If this is a big problem, there are programs such as StayFocused that let you block yourself out of time consuming sites.
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Music. This is completely person dependent. I personally use music to help me stay focused. If you have trouble working with noise, good. Middle of the night is usually a pretty quiet time anyway. I recommend either soft indie music for homework or studying and classical/contemporary music without words for writing papers.
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Avoid sugar or caffeine. It’ll just make you jittery and your attention span will be all over the place. Plus a couple of people have told me that they feel as if they’re racing against the clock to finish before they crash, which lowers the quality of their work. Chewing gum is said to help though.
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If you feel like you’re drifting off, open a window. Nothing feels better and wakes you up than fresh air!
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Do your work on a table. Beds and couches are too tempting to take a nap in. It’s much easier to stay awake at a table and in a well-lite environment.
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Stay positive. It’s really easy to get discouraged when you’re the only one awake in the wee hours of the morning, but keep pushing yourself and remind yourself of what you’ve already gotten done (see #2) and how this grade will be totally worth it. If you start getting sad, throw on some happy music to pick yourself up!
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Last but not least, if you can get a few hours of sleep at the end of the night, do it. Pack your bag, do as much of your morning prep as you can and then blissfully crawl into your bed.
Hopefully, you won’t have to pull an all-nighter this week. But if you do- follow these tips and good luck!