At the beginning of the semester my history professor assigned a 12 page term paper, due April 22nd. Did I start it? No way, I had 94 days. On March 1st I met with my professor to finalize my topic. Did I start the paper after the meeting? No, I had 52 days -- plenty of time. On March 7th I checked out some books from the library for research. Did I start reading them? Nope. I had 46 days, why should I worry about the paper now?
On April 21st I woke up in a cold sweat. My term paper -- you know, the one I had 94 days to write? The one I had been ignoring like the notification to update iOS on my phone? Yeah, that was due tomorrow. This could only mean one thing: an all nighter.
Each all nighter comes with the familiar moments of panic, regret and more. Here are 12 stages to pulling an all nighter that every college student will recognize.
Stage One: Denial
You only need to read three books, find articles and write a whole paper. How bad could that be? You'll be in bed by 4 am at the latest.
Stage Two: Acceptance
Is this a lot more work than you expected? Yup. Should you have started this earlier? Yeah, that would have been smart. Will you be up all night? No doubt. Do you regret everything? Yes.
Stage Three: Planning
If you give yourself one hour to do all of the reading and then organize your thoughts into an outline, you'll have exactly eight hours to write and that is more than enough time.
Stage Four: Break Time
Planning counted as working so you're practically halfway done. You deserve this break.
Stage Five: Panic
Wow, you should not have taken that break. You have no time to finish this paper, the only option now is to just drop out of school and run away to avoid the shame.
Stage Six: Actually Working
Fueled by caffeine and an intense fear of failure you diligently tear through stacks of research at an inhuman pace. Nothing can stop you as your hands fly across the keys, expertly sharing every fact you just learned in the past hour.
Stage Seven: The Decline
After a couple hours of intense typing your fingers aren't moving as fast and your eyelids feel heavy. You find yourself reading the same paragraph four times and you seem to have forgotten how to spell.
Stage Eight: Nap Time
You've been working hard. There's no harm in taking a ten minute break, right?
Stage Nine: Absolute Insanity
That ten minute nap turned into 45 minutes and now you're super behind. You fight exhaustion in any way possible -- from pacing around the room, to doing advanced computer yoga, to forcibly holding your eyes open.
Stage Ten: The Homestretch
This is it, the last two pages. Sweet relief is in sight as you put the last of your energy and focus into finishing this paper.
Stage Eleven: Victory
Congratulations! Your paper is done and you stayed up all night without dying.
Stage Twelve: Exhaustion
You turn in your paper and climb in to bed, all while vowing to never pull another all nighter again. At least until next week when your research project is due.
On a more serious note, as finals approach pulling an all nighter might seem more tempting than studying each night but it should never become a habit. Long term sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on your body, leaving you irritable and less likely to remember information over time. So make sure to get at least six and a half hours of rest a night. Your body and your grades will thank you.
