Being a third-year college student, I've had my fair share of all-nighters, or nights when I essentially don't sleep and instead work on homework. It's usually the result of procrastination on my part, so I don't tend to complain about this lack of sleep. In fact, I now have somewhat of a process that I follow to both prepare for and execute an all-night homework session, as awful as it may sound.
As this semester draws to close and more assignments are due, I doubt that my time of all-nighters is over, and I'd like to believe that I'm not the only college student who thinks similarly. So to help my fellow procrastinators out, either now or in the future, here is the method of my madness. Take it with a grain of salt and good luck!
3pm: Make the pact
It's usually around mid-afternoon that I decide that the amount of homework isn't going to get done unless drastic measures are taken. Then the plan for an all-nighter is born.
4pm-ish: Start caffeinating/hydrating
In order to stay awake, one (read: me) must ingest obnoxious amounts of caffeine. Coffee, Dr. Pepper, anything that has that wonderful and unfortunately addictive substance, I'm drinking it. So that I can feel a little bit better about putting all that "filth" in my body, I alternate the caffeinated beverage with a cup of water. Yay, hydration!
6pm: Eat foods
That much caffeine tends to make my stomach yell at me, so I try to eat a relatively healthy meal at a relatively normal time.
7pm: Work time
I know you're probably saying, "Marisa, if you have all this nonsense to do, why on God's green earth are you going to work?" Well, human, even though I have 12 billion assignments due in the very near future, I'm also an incredibly broke college student. So, I'll take the hours. Also, I work in a coffee shop, so I can continue the whole caffeine-water-caffeine-thing.
11:30pm: Stop the work thing and start the homework thing (sorta)
I close the shop at 11pm, and then I'm usually there doing closing nonsense until 11:30pm. Since I work in a library, which is conveniently a fantastic study place, I like to meander down to some quiet study spaces to work for a while. However, before I do this, I usually eat another meal of a work-provided sandwich and chips. I give myself 30 minutes to eat and goof off on Facebook or YouTube, and then I get to work around midnight.
3am: Go the heck home
Three in the morning is when I usually start hitting my first wall, per se, so I pack my stuff up and walk home. This also saves me from being that one person who falls asleep at the library and gets things stolen. Yay for being (somewhat) responsible!
3:10am: Nap
Sometimes (read: always) the walk doesn't actually wake me up like I was hoping it would, so I take a quick nap to refresh myself. This usually lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how unmotivated I am. I like to sleep on my floor because it's comfortable enough to sleep on but not so comfortable that I can actually get REM-level sleep (then I would never get up).
4am-ish: Guilt myself into working again
Like every other normal college student in the universe, I like sleep, so I usually have to use some choice words on myself to become vertical again and to continue working on homework.
7:30am: Y'all better be done, 'cause the sun's up and life's starting again
After another three and a half hours of working on homework, I'm usually done, or as done as it will ever be. My real indication that it's time to stop working on it is one of my roommates getting up for class. If they're up, then I've truly pulled an all-nighter and I need to call it good. Now, I'll go take another baby nap, take a shower to wake myself up, and continue with the day, trying not to fall asleep standing up.
I'm not saying this lifestyle is healthy (because you and I both know it isn't); however, it is a system that works for me. So, until I can find the time to find a better one, it looks like I'll keep getting my fill of sunrises.
