Procrastinator's guide to Staying up.
Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 7:03 amI have to say, if you were a real student (or are) in school, you will agree with me when I say that staying awake is the best tool realistic people like you and me can ever have. But such a gift is difficult to come by for some. Have no fear, I'm going to explain my ways as best I can.
Supply: In order to have any kind of _____-rush or _____-high, you must take precautions to ensure the quantity will suffice for a given amount of time. Not all coffee shops are open 24/7 you know. Ensure your stash will be enough for the night and then some, so you won't 'crash' before you turn in that project or assignment.
Liquids:Have a good amount of energy drinks ready. Have multiple cans of your beverage of choice or several bottles of that starbucks cold stuff you students love so much. The three things you should always look for in a liquid are as follows: Caffeine, Ginseng, and Guarana. They are listed in many of the tall-can energy drinks like "Monster" and "Full Throttle" and are easily available. While Caffeine is consumed daily by about 90% of North Americans, I reccommend trying Guarana-based beverages, which have similar advantages to Caffeine, but usually aren't loaded with sugar. Sugar is burned quite fast, and will cause you to crash unless you stuff tons of it down constantly. Guarana seeds contain about 10% caffeine, which is called Guaranine. Note that the estimated lethal dose of caffeine/guaranine is ten pure grams taken at once. To put that into perspective, an 8 oz. cup of coffee has around 65-130 milligrams of caffeine; some very strong guarana-based syrups can contain up to 350 milligrams.
It is advised that you don't consume a large amount of sugary foods, because, once again, you'll crash later and hate yourself for it.
Conduct: While working on the computer, typing up that last-minute college application or AP European History project, try not to sit in too-comfy a chair or keep yourself entirely warm, lest you dose off in the midst of an oncoming caffeine-frenzy. It is very much possible to doze off while you wait for that third energy drink to kick in, so be careful! Listen to loud music on you computer or mp3 player with headphones to keep yourself alert. Close any instant-messaging programs in those early hours of the night so as to get the work done sooner and avoid any distractions.
Some more warnings: Do not try to pull an all-nighter or stay up very late during any time of the week before a major exam, such as the finals or the SAT's. Repeated insomniac tendencies in a given time period will result in very poor train of thought, major emotional stress, short term memory loss, really sore and bloodshot eyes, impaired judgement, dizziness, increased blood pressure and heart rate, psychosis, and hallucinations, so I'm begging you, for your own good, don't repeat these all-night fiascos too often, and catch up on your sleep over the weekend if possible.
Anyone got any tips to add? And no, adding shit like "Adderal" to the list does not count.
Supply: In order to have any kind of _____-rush or _____-high, you must take precautions to ensure the quantity will suffice for a given amount of time. Not all coffee shops are open 24/7 you know. Ensure your stash will be enough for the night and then some, so you won't 'crash' before you turn in that project or assignment.
Liquids:Have a good amount of energy drinks ready. Have multiple cans of your beverage of choice or several bottles of that starbucks cold stuff you students love so much. The three things you should always look for in a liquid are as follows: Caffeine, Ginseng, and Guarana. They are listed in many of the tall-can energy drinks like "Monster" and "Full Throttle" and are easily available. While Caffeine is consumed daily by about 90% of North Americans, I reccommend trying Guarana-based beverages, which have similar advantages to Caffeine, but usually aren't loaded with sugar. Sugar is burned quite fast, and will cause you to crash unless you stuff tons of it down constantly. Guarana seeds contain about 10% caffeine, which is called Guaranine. Note that the estimated lethal dose of caffeine/guaranine is ten pure grams taken at once. To put that into perspective, an 8 oz. cup of coffee has around 65-130 milligrams of caffeine; some very strong guarana-based syrups can contain up to 350 milligrams.
It is advised that you don't consume a large amount of sugary foods, because, once again, you'll crash later and hate yourself for it.
Conduct: While working on the computer, typing up that last-minute college application or AP European History project, try not to sit in too-comfy a chair or keep yourself entirely warm, lest you dose off in the midst of an oncoming caffeine-frenzy. It is very much possible to doze off while you wait for that third energy drink to kick in, so be careful! Listen to loud music on you computer or mp3 player with headphones to keep yourself alert. Close any instant-messaging programs in those early hours of the night so as to get the work done sooner and avoid any distractions.
Some more warnings: Do not try to pull an all-nighter or stay up very late during any time of the week before a major exam, such as the finals or the SAT's. Repeated insomniac tendencies in a given time period will result in very poor train of thought, major emotional stress, short term memory loss, really sore and bloodshot eyes, impaired judgement, dizziness, increased blood pressure and heart rate, psychosis, and hallucinations, so I'm begging you, for your own good, don't repeat these all-night fiascos too often, and catch up on your sleep over the weekend if possible.
Anyone got any tips to add? And no, adding shit like "Adderal" to the list does not count.
