An EE student at Cornell has put together a list of what works for him when 24+ hour days are required in order to complete an assignment. His suggestions for staying awake when you absolutely must, include the usual suspects of coffee, music and taking breaks, but he also throws showers, meals and walking around into the mix.
The piece seems to have struck a chord, because it’s attracted many comments that offer additional advice, such as dunking one’s face in ice cubes, consuming protein, ritalin, pita & hummus, double-brewed coffee, yerba matte, vitamin C, smoking, Red Bull, cold air and blue light. Absent from the list is Modafinil, used by fighter pilots and the like – it’s supposed to keep you alert for up to 90 hours, but requires a prescrip.
Cynics retort that all-nighters are the consequence of bad self-management and procrastination…but we’re cynical about their cynicism.
How to pull an all-nighter – christianmontoya.com, April 4, 2006
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All-nighters are probably unnecessary, but they’re part of the fun of college. I’m not sure how fun dunking your head in ice cubes is, though.
Ah, there’s nothing like smoking in cold air without any sleep while chugging Red Bull and dunking your head in ice cubes.