So finals week has finally arrived, and you have just now realized that all of that procrastinating may have been a bad idea. You come to the conclusion that if you want to pass, you have to give up sleep for a few nights. You mentally prepare yourself to live on coffee and 20-minute power naps for the rest of the week, and get yourself to work. You can totally do this...right?
8 p.m.
You sit down to begin your night, and you are feeling really good about how much work you are going to get done. You feel prepared and ready to tackle this mountain of work you have let pile up. You lay out all of your work and begin. You aren’t even remotely tired and you are ready to go!
9 p.m.
Your work is slowly being accomplished and you are feeling pretty good about your progress. You may even have one assignment completed. You are still pretty motivated, and you still aren’t tired. You can do this!
10 p.m.
Your progress may have slowed a bit at this point, but you are still going strong. You still aren’t really tired, but you might start to get distracted by the internet if you aren’t careful.
11 p.m.
At this point in the night, you may need to invest in caffeine to take the edge off the fatigue that is beginning to creep up on you. After you’ve had your caffeine, your motivation and progress may pick up a bit. You may start feeling hungry at this point, resist those vending machine snacks!
12 a.m.
Motivation decreases significantly at this point in the night. You are thirsty and hungry and this is really distracting you. You may need a bathroom break just so you can get up and walk around to get your blood moving again. Your progress may have slowed a bit more, and procrastination really sets in. Especially if you are with friends.
1 a.m.
If you gave into the vending machine snack cravings, you probably just feel more gross than full. Your vision may begin to get blurry and fatigue is getting harder to manage, even with a steady flow of caffeine.
2 a.m.
Fatigue is pretty constant at this point, and a slight doubt may creep into the back of your mind of whether or not you will finish everything. Panic may begin to take hold if you are not careful. Progress and motivation may increase slightly from panic.
3 a.m.
Congratulations! You officially have a headache. Fatigue is in full effect, and you begin to panic even more. Your progress comes to a crawl and your motivation is barely there. You may cry at this point, it is okay, nobody will judge you. If you become distracted it is almost impossible to refocus. More caffeine is needed at this point.
4 a.m.
You may begin to fall asleep at your desk. Caffeine barely keeps you awake, and any noise or movement will distract you. You may begin to feel nauseous, and panic is in full effect at this point.
5 a.m.
You begin to calculate the lowest grade that you will still allow you to pass the class. You may cry some more, you have stopped drinking caffeine because it doesn’t work anyway. You eventually finish everything you needed to do, but it is not up to your standards and you are not happy with it, but it is done and you have survived.
6 a.m.
You go back to your room, you don’t change your clothes, and you might take off your shoes. You crash in your bed and hope you don’t sleep through your classes the next day. You did it!
