I don't know about you, but sticking to a solid study schedule and holding myself accountable to the goals I set out for myself at the beginning of the semester becomes increasingly impossible as we get closer to finals week.

I recently pulled an all-nighter as a result of a recent study binge, and to make my night count, I researched some effective methods to make the most of your study cram session. Check out five tips that will help you overcome those early morning hour blues.

1. Eat fruit, not candy for your late night sweet tooth

Processed sugar is the main ingredient in candy. It's also the main reason for high spikes in blood sugar shortly followed by energy crashes. When you're studying all night, feeling like your eyelids weigh a ton and your head has been turned into a brick is the last thing you want.

When you're craving sugar at two in the morning, turn to citrusy fruits like oranges or apples instead. These fruits provide your body with natural sugar that wakes you up without the side effect of a sugar crash. In addition, because fruits like oranges are associated with morning bursts of energy, your body will be tricked into thinking it's morning all through the wee hours of the night.

2. Change locations every hour

When I heard this one, I thought it was completely ridiculous. How on earth was changing location in my tiny apartment going to help me study for my morning exam?

It works, trust me.

When you're holding yourself accountable and changing location every hour, you're stimulating your brain activity by creating a new environment that keeps you aware of your hourly surroundings. Not only do you get a change of scenery that will prevent your mind activity from becoming dormant, you will also force yourself to move from your cozy and warm study nook and cat nap mode in order to transition to your cold dining table high productivity mode.

3. Exercise every 30 minutes

You can initiate this step while moving study locations every hour. Taking a study break every half hour to wake your body up and increase your blood flow will force your mind to stay activated and your body to stay warm and awake.

I would suggest doing a couple jumping jacks, or skipping across your living room floor or dorm room. Don't sit down to do sit-ups because you might lie down and not get up again.

Not only will exercise help rejuvenate your mind and body and help you regain focus on the task at hand, you will also get that work out session in that you didn't have time for during the day. Also, don't forget to hydrate. Water works wonders to wake you up during your mega cram session at four in the morning.

4. Hold off on the coffee and drink water instead

A common mistake most students make when attempting to accomplish their first all-nighter is binging on the coffee throughout the night and early morning. This is bound to fail because caffeine can only give you about three hours of energy before you need another shot.

If you start drinking coffee at ten o'clock or before you absolutely need it, you will be forced to drink at least three cups of coffee between ten o'clock at night and seven o'clock in the morning.

This amount of caffeine in nine hours will only make you jittery and will prevent you from focusing. Don't let your hard earned all nighter go to waste because you're bouncing off the walls from caffeine overload instead.

5. Take one 15 minute nap every hour

Finally, allow your brain and your eyes to take a brain from your laptop screen. However, be careful with this tip; there's a science behind why you should only allow yourself to indulge in 10-15 minutes of napping every hour.

If you allow your mind to rest for more than twenty minutes, studies show that you will slip into the beginning of your REM sleep cycle. This is the start of a deep sleep cycle which is extremely difficult to wake up from and will mess up your natural sleep cycle more than the all nighter.

Hold yourself accountable and respond to your alarm when your 15 minute nap is over; anything over 20 minutes, and you are running the risk of wasting your all nighter dozing on the couch.