All Nighters

closeline

I presume a lot of us have one of these during the exams. Have an exam at 9.30 tomorrow. Will probably stay up until 3 and get up at 7. what is the best way for energy. Tell us yer stories

calnand

i do architecture and as a result ive had a few all nighters. if you have something like berocca you can drink that. i wouldnt recommend a lot of coffee as it can give you headaches. other than that keep drinking liquids, listen to music or a favourite of mine is to eat chewing gum, it keeps your mouth active and keeps you going. good luck with it

closeline

Red bull?

blankblank

pro-plus tabs were my new thing this year,,, worked a treat! 50mg of pure caffeine per tab

Palytoxin

They're selling 9 toffee flavoured penguin bars in Tesco express for €1.78, for if you get sick of the liquids, I think I'm the only one buying them

deisedude

I wouldn't advise an all nighter. I know of a guy in my course the year below me who stayed up all night and then fainted in the exam.

confusticated

That's not an all-nighter! Four hours' sleep, that's grand!

Zonda999

All nighters are not recommended, speaking from experience! Get 2 or 3 hours sleep at some stage, I think the stay up til 2, up again at 6 or something like that is feasible, if the exam is half 9. But you will be feeling the effects of it. If you are motivated enough though, that tiredness won't show up until after the exam. If you're exam isn't til 2 or 4:30, just try and get up at 6 or something and you will have plenty time.

oh, and I had exams in April, finished now thankfully, my advice would be a cup of coffee at some point! Thought it was a safer bet than red bull or boost or the Tesco equivalent!

and while i'm at it, don't ever be planning an all nighter. You will only convince yourself you have a load of time, seeing as you're not going to bed, and therefore not get as much work done as you should, the evening before the all nighter.

Palytoxin

I usually go the "stay up til 2, get up a 6" route, and then go to the library from 8 to 9 or ten past 9, find it works well enough for me.

EyeSight

cans of monster works for me. although a few weeks ago i had too much before an exam and got a bad case of the shakes. kept me alert though

i never have more than 2 cans a day, that episode of the inbetweeners where will ****s himself during an exam turned me off that

Palytoxin

I never bother with any of those energy drinks or coffee, ice cold water is the best I find. The only time I had monster was in America last summer, I bought a 4 pack but brought it in the hand-luggage by mistake, I had to drink 2 cans and my cousin I was with had 2, couldn't get a wink of sleep for the whole flight :pac::cool:

rebel girl 15

confusticated wrote: »

That's not an all-nighter! Four hours' sleep, that's grand!

+1 that is not an all nighter, four hours sleep is 2 and a half sleep cycles.

I find that working through the tiredness by doing simple tasks is easiest, then keep going around 2-6 or 7. Found it very hard to pull them this year, given that I'm working 9-3.30 every day, and I'd be tired after that. Did do four days straight with only 6 hours sleep though, getting old so its not as easy!

TBH, I only ever did all nighters while doing assignments and I really would not recommend it for exam time. A lack of sleep can really cloud your mind in an exam, when you need to be sharp and alert. Only advice I could give you is when you do sleep, time it so that you won't be waking up in the middle of your sleep cycle, that causes a lot of tiredness.

ReacherCreature

EyeSight wrote: »

i never have more than 2 cans a day, that episode of the inbetweeners where will ****s himself during an exam turned me off that

"Phil!"

SEEMagazine

It's a question of knowing what way your body will react to certain variants of an 'all nighter'. Is this actually being up all night? Did you sleep the night before that?

Personally I do one 36 hour stint at work per fortnight. Just to make sure we get to print in adequate fashion.

In UCC I would stay up til 2-3am, then sleep until 6am, and start again from there - it gave me sleep, plus I had time to get the engine spun up in time for the exam.

In future it does work to have study groups - that's asking and answering questions of each other, rather than simply brooding in the library.

keepkeyyellow

Personal tale of an all nighter.

Was planning on staying up all night to study for an exam at 9am the next day. Around 2am I say to myself 'right 5 minute power nap!' and set my alarm.

However I wake up and wonder to myself, why is it sunny outside? I had changed the alarm to a beep to time study sessions in the Library and never thought of changing it back, thus I woke up at 9.20am. A 20€ taxi over to the RDS and I am left in with 1 minute to spare. However since I fell asleep while studying I could only stay in the damn thing for 30 minutes (exam was 2 hours long).

Long story short, don't do it the day before an exam.

However if you must a combination of Dr Pepper + Skittles works great.

JohnMearsheimer

Tea, toast and cereal worked for me. I think energy drinks should be avoided. I'd always study in the kitchen as well the night before exams for some reason. I never did a proper all nighter. If I had an early exam I would stay up until 4 or 5 and grab 2 or 3 hours sleep. My Dad worked nights at the time and would come home to find me at the kitchen table studying. He'd always try to shoo me off to bed saying I couldn't do well in an exam with no sleep. He was right. It was a tough few years on the study and exam front, 2 leaving certs and 6 years in college. Messing up my 1st leaving was a good incentive and I thankfully never failed a college exam. Thankfully those days are behind me!

IHeartChemistry

Best way for energy I feel is to take twenty minute cat naps once every two to three hours. They work for a while. All nighters destroy me though, hate em. I prefer my sleep. Awful headaches the next day as well and I find my concentration levels are awful. Lots of tea and chocolate and the odd Facebook break helps me though them

Corkfeen

IHeartChemistry wrote: »

Best way for energy I feel is to take twenty minute cat naps once every two to three hours. They work for a while. All nighters destroy me though, hate em. I prefer my sleep. Awful headaches the next day as well and I find my concentration levels are awful. Lots of tea and chocolate and the odd Facebook break helps me though them

I have only really worked overnight on essays.... But in terms of 20 minute naps, takes me in the direction of 5 hours to fall to sleep. So I don't think you're method would be workable for me. :pac:

Professional Griefer

All nighter tonight.

Needs to be done though, exam at 9 in neptune, and haven't looked at the module in weeks, if not months.

closeline

Ix Deadmau5 wrote: »

All nighter tonight.

Needs to be done though, exam at 9 in neptune, and haven't looked at the module in weeks, if not months.

will you actually get any sleep. Don't know how you could go into an exam with no sleep

Professional Griefer

Be grand.

UnknownSpecies

I've done it a good few times before, be grand plenty of Monster and you'll do it no bother, even if you do get jitters during the exam :P