Sometimes the dreaded all-nighter just can’t be avoided. Maybe you have a new job working night shifts, it’s finals week, or you’re having a sleepover party. Regardless of your reasons, staying up all night is tough.
Human sleep patterns follow natural circadian rhythms. Your circadian rhythms are like internal clocks affecting the way you think, feel, and behave throughout the day. Circadian rhythms are based on the lightness or darkness of your environment.
When your brain perceives darkness outside, your body begins to release a hormone called melatonin. Melatonin makes you drowsy and prepares your body for sleep.
Staying up all night means fighting this natural process, which is not only difficult, but also unhealthy. Sleep deprivation can impact your ability to learn and focus. It can even be dangerous. In 2013, there were at least 72,000 car accidents caused by drowsy driving.
If you must stay up all night, the following tips can help you do it safely.
The easiest way to stay up all night is to reset your internal clock. This can take up to one week, but it’s possible. You may experience serious drowsiness at first, but your body does catch on.
If you’re switching to the night shift, give your body a few days of practice. Your circadian rhythms still rely on light cues, so make sure you’re sleeping in a very dark room during the day. Blackout curtains and eye masks are particularly helpful.
Caffeine is a helpful pick-me-up and can increase your alertness. It helps fight one of the natural substances your body releases to make you drowsy.
Studies have found that moderate doses of caffeine (600 milligrams [mg] or more than four cups of coffee) can improve your ability to think and perform tasks, but high doses (900 mg or more) have the opposite effect. High doses of caffeine can cause symptoms like anxiety and shakiness that make it harder for you to concentrate.
To stay up all night, don’t rely on one big dose of caffeine.
Too much coffee can lead to stomach upset. Instead, try taking several smaller doses throughout the night such as espresso shots, caffeine pills, or caffeinated gum.
Energy drinks contain varying amounts of caffeine, typically the equivalent of one to five cups of coffee. They also contain guarana, an ingredient that also contains caffeine, which makes the total amount of caffeine higher than it appears.
When using energy drinks, it’s difficult to know exactly how much caffeine you’re ingesting, and extremely high doses of caffeine can be toxic. They’re especially dangerous when mixed with drugs or alcohol. In 2011, more than 20,000 people went to the emergency room because of energy drinks.
Taking a series of small naps throughout the night may help you stay alert. Although it’s not equal to a full night’s sleep, short naps can be restorative. Most studies on night-shift workers find that naps reduce sleepiness and improve performance.
Try to catch 15 to 20 minutes of sleep during a break.
If you’re driving through the night, pull into a rest stop for a quick nap.
Daily exercise helps you maintain a healthy sleep schedule, but experts recommend avoiding exercise late at night, if you want to sleep well at night. That’s because your body produces a lot of energy when you exercise, which can keep you awake.
If you’re trying to stay up all night, try 30 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise. If you don’t want to exercise, try getting up and moving around. Pace back and forth for 10 minutes, take a walk outside, or do a few jumping jacks.
Darkness cues your body to release melatonin, a hormone that makes you feel sleepy. One study found that using bright lights at night and creating darkness during the day can help night-shift workers reset their circadian rhythms.
Find a lamp that can distribute light widely throughout the room. Look for an LED bulb that can simulate sunlight. This should help you stay awake longer.
Your electronic devices, including laptops, tablets, TVs, and phones, emit something called “blue light.
” The blue light emitted from your devices can delay the release of melatonin, the sleep hormone. This can prevent you from becoming sleepy.
To keep yourself awake, use a device that you can interact with. Try playing video games on your computer or tablet. The closer the blue light is to your face, the more awake you will feel.
Taking a cold or lukewarm shower can help wake you up when you start to get tired. If you don’t want to shower, splashing your face with cold water can help. Brushing your teeth can make you feel refreshed.
Staying up all night isn’t good for you and should only be done as a last resort. After staying up all night, you’ll feel very drowsy. Try to make up the sleep the next day.
For more sleep support, check out our sleep shop.
Try these tips for keeping the sandman at bay when you just have to be awake.
By Dennis Thompson JrMedically Reviewed by Farrokh Sohrabi, MD
Reviewed:
Medically Reviewed
Staying up late can be tough on the body, but sometimes it's unavoidable.
Maybe you’re working late, or you might need to stay up for a one-time event like a family trip or a kid's sleepover or even adjust your sleep schedule to accommodate a new night shift assignment. Either way, there are tricks you can use to successfully become a night owl.
Keep in mind that success is relative when it comes to staying up late. The longer you're up, the more your mind and body will feel the effects of sleep deprivation. "Our bodies are programmed to sleep during the night and be awake and alert during the day," said Christopher Drake, PhD, a sleep researcher at the Henry Ford Sleep Disorders Center and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit. "When we try to stay up late and sleep during the day, we are working against our own bodies."
Officer Shane Sevigny can testify to that. During the summer he works the graveyard shift patrol for the Salem Police Department in Salem, Ore.
, which runs from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
"As you get older, it's harder," said Sevigny, 47. "I have a harder time sleeping during the day. My body clock would like to be sleeping at night. I have experience doing it, but going back and forth is the hardest for me, especially if it's for a short time. I just don't feel rested."
6 Ways to Stay Up Late
If you're pulling a single all-nighter or trying to adjust to a night shift, there are some basic ways you can improve your chances of staying up late.
Nap beforehand. Either sleep a little longer each night before your late night or grab an afternoon nap that day. "One can bank sleep," Drake said. "Prior to your all-nighter, get nine hours of sleep a night for a week and bank some sleep."
Keep busy. People who stay busy while they are sleepy tend to rally, pushing sleepiness aside because they are interested in the new task. That's what helps Sevigny get through the night.
He's happy that his night shifts start on Friday and Saturday, typically the busiest nights for police officers. "If we stay busy, you don't even notice it until you're done with your shift and you're on your way home," he said.
Use caffeine…the right way. Caffeine is an effective aide for staying up late. However, just chugging one big caffeinated beverage at the start of the shift will not help you through the whole evening. "My recommendation is not to utilize a giant Venti Starbucks but to use small doses equally spaced throughout the night shift," Drake said. "That will help maintain alertness throughout the shift but also avoid people having significant sleep disturbance once they are home and ready for bed."
Nap smart at night. Taking a short half-hour nap during a shift can be effective, but some people will feel sluggish afterward. Drake's solution: Drink an 8-ounce cup of coffee, which is about 75 milligrams of caffeine, before your nap.
"Taking a small cup of coffee right before one takes that short nap will eliminate the sleep inertia effect," he said.
Stay in bright light. Light has a powerful effect on your internal clock, and bright light can temporarily fake the body into thinking it's not yet time for bed. "That circadian clock has connections to the eye, and bright light can reset our internal clock," said William Kohler, MD, medical director of the Florida Sleep Institute in Spring Hill, Fla. "That clock is what tells us when we're alert and when we're tired." Stay in extremely well-lit rooms or intermittently use a light box that produces between 2,000 and 10,000 lux.
Prepare for 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. Banking sleep will get you only so far through the night, however. "You can't escape the negative effects of the circadian clock," Drake said. "One is going to be sleepy around 4 a.m. to 5 a.m. because that is the sleepiest time of the day." Be prepared to feel extremely sleepy in the hours just before dawn and use all possible countermeasures to help you stay awake.
Adjusting Your Schedule
Switching to a regular night shift schedule takes more effort. You have to work hard to fool your mind and body, and even then you must expect that it won't be completely successful. Sleeping during the day is fundamentally different from night sleep.
Keeping that in mind, people who need to work night shifts should try these strategies:
Establish a fake day-night cycle. A 2013 study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that night shift nurses were best able to adjust to the schedule if they exposed themselves to extremely bright light during the beginning of their shift and then wore dark glasses after the shift. You can extend this effect by using a sleep mask and earplugs once you're in bed.
Don't try to sleep all at once. Many people make the mistake of trying to replicate night sleep during the day. "Most night shift workers will go to sleep within 10 or 15 minutes, but after four hours, their sleep becomes fragmented," Drake said.
"They fall asleep and wake up and fall asleep and wake up. It's probably better to use two sleep periods that last three or four hours. Don't try to stay in bed. Get up and do what you need to do. Run errands. After three or four hours of wakefulness, take another three- or four-hour nap before going back to work."
Avoid alcohol. The idea of a nightcap doesn't work during the day (nor does it work at night). Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but it can cause disturbances that ruin the quality of your sleep.
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October 1, 2020 Adviсe
Discomfort, coffee with chocolate and trolling will help you stay awake until the morning.
You can listen to this article. If it's more convenient for you, turn on the podcast.
Getting ready for bed usually involves some sequence of activities: putting on pajamas, drinking milk, reading a book. For ordinary days, this is an advantage: the body immediately understands that now you are going to bed. If you need to stay awake, these habits are best avoided.
Being slightly hungry will keep you awake, as you are supposed to be active in order to get your own food.
Do not change into pajamas, even if they are very comfortable. Wear something you can't sleep in, like brand new, unworn jeans. Another helper will be shoes with laces. It will not give you the opportunity to "just lie down for five minutes." Unless, of course, you are used to falling asleep in your shoes every Friday.
If you want to sleep badly, you will fall asleep even on a hard chair with nails sticking out in some places.
A soft bed will not leave you a single chance to hold out until the morning. Therefore, choose not the most comfortable seats.
Studies have shown that bright light suppresses drowsiness. Turn on the overhead light, sconce, table lamp. It is impossible to overdo it in this matter. True, you should not pull this trick at parties: other visitors to a nightclub may be dissatisfied with the lights suddenly turned on.
Find a person with a questionable position on Facebook* and try to convince him. You can sincerely argue or frankly troll, but the effect will be the same: from indignation, you will not only fall asleep - you will not be able to sit still.
Not the most unexpected, but working way. A sleepless night the day before leaves you virtually no chance to be productively awake. Unless, of course, you flew from the future to save John Connor.
Therefore, before a strategically important night, sleep as hard as you can.
Caffeine does suppress sleepiness. True, there are nuances of drinking coffee, depending on how you want to spend the morning. If you drink it too actively, there is a risk that you will be too alert even when it's time to go to bed. If you drink just a little bit of coffee, you will easily fall asleep when the caffeine leaves your bloodstream.
Instead of trying to pinch yourself to stay awake, outsource this activity. Eat a portion of spicy, burning food. It will irritate the mucous membrane in your mouth enough to make you forget about sleep.
On a sleepless night, just the property of fast carbohydrates that adherents of a healthy diet scold them for is useful: they quickly break down into simple sugars and give a strong, albeit short-lived burst of energy. So ignore the advice of grandmothers "do not eat sweets at night, otherwise you will not fall asleep" and stock up on sweets.
Keep an eye on your level of fatigue, as the energy will leave your body just as quickly: as soon as you feel tired, it's time to take another bite from the chocolate bar.
Rinse face and wrists. Cold water is a kind of stress for the body, and therefore it will inevitably cheer up to eliminate discomfort.
Research has shown that chewing will keep you awake. The brain receives a signal that food is on its way to the stomach, and does not allow the body to relax in anticipation of a portion of energy. In general, you can chew anything, but chewing gum will be a longer-lasting option than food.
Dehydration can lead to fatigue, so listen carefully to your body's signals of thirst. The advice has an added bonus: Have you ever tried to sleep with a full bladder?
Physical activity invigorates, and if you get up every hour and do 15 squats or push-ups, this will significantly extend the period of wakefulness.
But jumping is better to avoid, although communication with the police squad, which the neighbors will call because of the noise, can invigorate better than any squats.
Surely there are puzzles that make you forget about everything in the world. For some, these are puzzles, for others - a new level of computer games. If you choose a movie or game, it is better that they are new to you and that you have to carefully follow the twists and turns of the plot.
A sleepless night is a great time to practice multitasking. Switch between different tasks to avoid switching to automatic work mode.
What methods do you use? Share in the comments.
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*Activity of Meta Platforms Inc. and its social networks Facebook and Instagram are prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation.
September 30, 2015 Adviсe
Who likes to walk around sleepy? Nobody. But it has to. All night long you can study tickets for the exam, finish the project, wait for boarding a delayed flight at the airport. It needs to be experienced. How - read this article.
No one denies that even a slight lack of sleep negatively affects the body. The mood deteriorates, the brain works more slowly, metabolic processes are disturbed, the risk of obesity and diabetes increases. Unfortunately, no amount of fighting spirit will help you make the right decisions if you don't get enough sleep. Even stimulants, such as coffee, will not allow you to think better.
But one can prepare as well as one can for a night's wakefulness. How to stay awake and survive the night away from bed and recover as soon as possible? So…
It is not always possible to plan a sleepless night, but if you guess that you will have to suffer, prepare your body for the load.
If you already sleep little, and then do not sleep at all, the negative effects of such a regimen will only accumulate.
But if you usually adhere to the regime and rest within the normal range, from seven to nine hours, then one sleepless night will not hurt. And if you sleep longer for a few days before a night marathon, then the consequences for the body will be minimal.
Yes, the article is about how not to sleep. But sometimes 20 minutes is better than nothing. If you can get some rest, it is better to give preference to short sleep.
Two problems. The first is the risk of oversleeping. The second, just as serious, is the inability to sleep. Well, how to take a break for 20 minutes if your head is full of business, tasks, tickets? Lie down on the floor in the yoga pose "Shavasana". Even if you are not a fan of meditation and other things, just lie down on a flat, hard surface, spread your arms and legs to the sides, set the alarm (20 minutes!), And then relax the muscles in turn, starting from the toes and up to the top of the head.
Consciously, forcing yourself to be completely liberated. It will take two minutes to relax. Another 18 you will either sleep, or at least just rest.
Sleep for an hour or an hour and a half if possible. This will wake you up from REM sleep and feel refreshed.
We need darkness to produce melatonin, the sleep hormone. If you don't want to fall asleep, turn on the lights. For example, a light source located near the eyes (table lamp, monitor) will bring the brain into an active state.
We sleep better when the room is cool, that is, the temperature is about 18°C. If you want to be cheerful, the room should be neither warm nor cold. 23–24 ° C is the temperature at which it will not make you sleepy.
Sometimes just thinking about getting into cold water wakes you up. It is necessary, it is necessary to wash (at least) if an invigorating shower causes panic. The action of the method is short-term: the charge is enough for half an hour or an hour, then you have to go through the procedure again.
But remember that it is useful.
Replace washing and showering with ice cream or popsicles. No more than once a night, so as not to conflict with the next paragraph.
Candy will respond with irresistible fatigue after a few hours. Sweets will not help you retain energy: sugar will dramatically increase your energy level, and then your strength will leave you just as abruptly.
Better eat foods that will provide you with energy for a long time. For example, light foods with a high protein content. What is this food? Nuts. Eggs. Nuts again. Eat it with vegetables and fruits.
Do not put anything heavy and greasy on your plate, temporarily forget about fried chicken legs and hamburgers. And instead of gorging yourself once, eat small meals throughout the night to keep you fueled all the time.
Coffee is a stimulant, but don't overdose on caffeine.
A couple of liters of coffee invigorates just like a couple of cups, it's not just about the quantity. The main thing is not to drink the entire dose of coffee at once.
When there is a night without sleep ahead, you need to focus on tasks. If you drink more than two cups of coffee at once, you will overexcite the nervous system and lose concentration.
Therefore, when you start to get tired, slowly drink a cup or two, it is better to chew something. Then, after four hours, you can go for a coffee supplement.
Once you've hit your coffee target (four cups a day), switch to water. With sufficient fluid supply to the body, each cell works better, and it is much easier to focus on work.
There are also folk remedies for cheerfulness. For example, tincture of Eleutherococcus or ginseng. Add them to tea (in therapeutic doses!), they are natural tonics that will help fire up the brain and make it work.
Chewing gum increases activity and may even improve brain performance.
Help yourself and choose mint gum. Peppermint promotes brain activity, and its aroma improves memory.
Speaking of smells. Essential oils of mandarin, lemon, orange, rosemary also invigorate. Do not like flavorings and oils - just seize your dream with oranges, or better - a fruit dessert with citrus and mint.
flickr.comTake a short break every 45 minutes to take a short walk. If you drink a lot, as advised above, then you will have to constantly go to the toilet, so use the forced break to walk a little more.
This is especially important if you work all night at your computer. From time to time, do the well-known exercise: take your eyes off the screen and focus on a distant point.
Massage instead of a little warm-up. A full body massage will turn you off, but it’s better to stretch individual points. Neck, ears, head, fingers - restore blood circulation in these areas to make it easier to think and move.
Set aside sounds of nature, mantras, lullabies and romantic music until the next day.
Tracks that are too monotonous, even sharp and loud ones, will also not help to keep cheerfulness. Make a dynamic playlist that you want to dance to. At three o'clock in the morning there will be no time for entertainment over the abstract, but it will not pull you to sleep.
Sit in an uncomfortable chair. Straighten your back, grab your gadgets and set reminders. Only no armchairs, sofas and soft pillows. Stools, a flat floor - these are your jobs. Keep the body in good shape so that the brain does not relax either.
When a sleepy veil closes your eyes, you need to wake yourself up with an emotional bomb. Talk to someone whose views are obviously opposite to yours, and on the most sensitive topic (you can arrange a discussion in the comments). Open a link to a resource that you sincerely hate. The task is not to get carried away and not to prove to your opponent that you are right with all your might, but simply to get a dose of adrenaline and open your eyes wider.
All attempts to artificially increase vigor can only be a temporary measure.
You don't add more resources to yourself when you pour an energy drink inside. You're just helping your body burn its own fuel by working two or three shifts in a row.
Therefore, throw all your strength into recovery.
Research shows that a sleepy driver is no better than a drunk driver. So if you have a sleepless night on your schedule, ask someone to drive you to work or take public transport. Until you get at least four hours of sleep in a row, no driving.
If you don't want to destroy the normal regime, don't go to bed during the day. Otherwise, you risk falling asleep so that you open your eyes only in the evening. And then it will be much more difficult to return to a normal schedule. If you sleep, then according to the night mode: 20, 60, 90 minutes.
Not more.
When your hands reach for a can of coffee and energy drinks, resist. Even if you drink coffee six hours before bedtime, caffeine disrupts your rest. You need to drink a couple of cups in the morning, but after 16:00, stop going to the coffee machine. Otherwise, despite the nightly adventures, you will not sleep well.
Instead, choose two tasks and work on them one at a time. When you feel that you no longer understand what you are doing, take a break, and then sit down for another task. Don't do them all at the same time - your brain just can't switch fast enough. But he also cannot be busy with routine work. From the same actions you will be pulled into a dream, and a new task activates thought processes. Leave yourself some room to maneuver to keep your thoughts on track.
Yes, yes, yes, drink water! We are aware that this is the most popular advice when it comes to health.
Well then, follow him. :)
If we don't get enough sleep, we crave high-calorie foods and eat more often than usual, although physical activity decreases. Therefore, by the way, regular lack of sleep is associated with a high body mass index.
Proper nutrition is especially important when you are not doing well with the rest of the regime.
The solution is to crunch on vegetables and fruits, nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants will protect cells until you can ensure their normal recovery.
It is better to pull iron on another day, as well as to run many kilometers. But exercising and warming up will help you get through a difficult day and disperse sleep. Well, after light physical activity, even an overloaded brain will sleep better.
A tired brain will demand pleasures, and the easiest way to get them is through food.
The dangers of overeating have been known for a long time, so you will only feel unbearably tired if you eat an extra piece.
And a tip from the cap: don't drink anything alcoholic. Lack of sleep + alcohol = disaster.
Scientists have long established that alcohol generally has a detrimental effect on sleep, so if you want to recover from yesterday's night run, even a glass of wine will be superfluous.
Even if you are chronically sleep deprived, you can improve your condition by sleeping 10 consecutive hours. Such a dream will help restore motor skills, and in the morning you will feel much better.
flickr.com So, if you need to survive a sleepless night, remember that the body will not be delighted. This means that in other areas you need to take care of health: proper nutrition, a sufficient amount of liquid (and not alcohol), both at night and the next day. Schedule opportunities to recover and take breaks from work.
