This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bloom U chapter.
With finals just around the corner, there can come a time where you’re faced with a choice; pull an all-nighter to get all of your studying and work done, or get a good night’s sleep and fail your final exam. So for those of you who can’t afford a bad grade, I’m going to give you some tips on pulling an all-nighter, and still survive the next day.
- The most important part of an all-nighter is to stay hydrated—with water of course. Keeping yourself hydrated will help keep you awake and make it much easier to focus. Along with this, try your best to stay away from caffeinated drinks. This might sound strange, but the more caffeine you drink, the more you’re going to crash later on. Try to limit yourself to one coffee or one energy drink for the night and drink it slowly throughout the night.
- Write down your goals for the night, check them off as you go, and don’t stop until you’re done! This will help keep you on track and focused, and make sure you don’t forget to do anything.
- Snack the right way! Steer clear of junk food and sugary snacks. Instead, adopt fruits and protein as your best friends for the night. Doing this will help you avoid the dreaded junk food slump, and it will also give you consistent and long lasting energy.
- Keep out of any dim lit rooms. Bright lighting will make your body think it’s still daytime, and it will make it easier for you to stay awake. If you’re in a dorm room and your roommate wants to sleep, lug the books and laptop to the study lounge – it will make a huge difference.
- When you feel like your crashing, it’s important to take a break, but whatever you do, don’t take a nap. Once you’re asleep, you’re not waking up until the next day. Instead, get your blood pumping! Do a couple mini exercises like jumping jacks, jogging in place, or push-ups to get an energy boost. As well as exercise, getting some fresh air and washing your face with cold water can wake you up when needing to push through those last few hours.
So you just spent all night cramming, and are probably running on only a couple hours of sleep, if that. Now what? Taking the final is obviously just as important as studying for it, so here’s how to get through it with minimal sleep.
- First things first: set an alarm! Before you even start studying the night before, make sure you have a few alarms set just in case you unintentionally fall asleep. After all of that studying, it would be a shame for it to go to waste because you slept through the test!
- Don’t skip out on breakfast, it’s especially important after a long night. Some awesome energy boosting breakfast foods are oatmeal, eggs, fruits, and whole grains. Starting off your day right is crucial! Along with this, make sure you’re still drinking plenty of water.
- Now it’s time to bring in the caffeine! Aim to drink caffeine about a half an hour or less before your test, and if you can bring drinks into class, grab an extra to sip on throughout the exam. Drinking caffeine so close to the time of the exam will keep you from crashing mid-test.
- A nice pick me up while taking a final is peppermint. Gum, mints, and even Chap Stick that are peppermint flavored is a great way to keep focused because it has such a powerful and energizing scent.
Now go and kick that finals butt. Good luck!