"How are you?"
"Tired, you?"
"Yeah, tired."
This is the most common conversation here at Oxford and on college campuses everywhere on the daily. It's a phrase I use nearly every day as well. Despite how exhausted I usually am, I still have never pulled an "all-nighter". To me, the concept has never made sense. If it is 3 AM and you're trying to study despite your lack of mental alertness, you're only going to forget what you think you're studying. Then, when you make it to the exam you're cramming for, won't you be so exhausted that you can't think straight and you'll do worse than if you'd had a good night's sleep? I decided to ask a friend with expertise in the area of all-nighters to try and understand why he continues to pull them.
I began by asking him why they're worth it.
"Its not worth it in the long run, it's worth it in the short run"
To elaborate, in his view, sleep is less important in the short run than time. But what about how you feel after pulling an all-nighter?
"You feel like absolute shit."
So, just as I imagined, you feel horrible the next day. So why do it?
"Because of the culture of excessive academics which damages physical and emotional health."
Interesting. To me, I can understand this. As a student, there's always a pressure to do better than you think you can. That means pushing yourself mentally and physically--it means staying awake and drowning in caffeine to avoid napping and it means late nights and often zero time for relaxing. However, there is something to be said about the idea of all-nighters.
They seem to mainly be a result of poor time management. As a very involved student myself, I know the pressure to constantly be busy and active doing something whether it's practice, a meeting, work, studying, or classes, I know it's hard. Most days are a blur of meetings and rushed meals on the go. Either way, if one can balance the number of extracurriculars they are involved in with work and other committments, there should be enough time to study and do work before the clock hits 4 or 5 AM.
Despite this, I know I will eventually get to the point of pulling an all-nighter. School will only get harder and no matter how well managed we think we are, there's always days when we fail to keep it all together. That is something I've learned as college has progressed. We all have days when we mess up and we can't make things go our way. It's hard to admit, but sometimes we can't always be perfect--we can't always be at the meeting on time or make it to breakfast before class or be bursting with energy at practice after 3 classes.
Sleep will always be the best tool for getting closer to making those meetings on time and managing to make it through long practices and exhausting days. It should be prioritized as highly as we prioritize getting the best grades because your physical and mental health is far more important in the long run than getting maybe one or two more answers right on the next test.
