Staying up all night is not an easy job, be it when you want to stay up all night at someone else's house for fun or study fast for a final exam. If you really want to stay up all night, you'll need to prepare ahead of time, eat right, follow a proper diet, and stimulate both mind and body. If you want to know how to stay up all night, follow these three easy steps.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Making a Plan
Step 1. Get plenty of rest the night before
It's much easier for the body to go a night without sleep than a night without sleep and a night of insomnia, so make a plan to get as much sleep as possible the night before.
- Go to sleep the night before. If you wake up late in the day, you'll be a little tired when it's time to start staying up late.
- Try to not only get up really late but also go to bed a little earlier the night before. If you go to bed at 9 the night before, your body will start to tire around that time.
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If you can, take a long nap a few hours before you plan to stay up late. This method will provide additional rest and extra energy.
Step 2. Eat well during the day
If you want to stay up late, you should eat three healthy and balanced meals a day before staying up late, otherwise your body will feel tired from unhealthy food or tired from not eating enough. Here are the foods you should eat the day before:
- Eat a healthy and complete breakfast. Eat healthy carbohydrates such as oatmeal or whole grain cereals, protein such as lean turkey or ham, and fruits and vegetables. Add yogurt or soft cheese to your menu.
- Eat a healthy lunch. Eat a sandwich consisting of whole grain bread and a hard-boiled egg, or a salad consisting of avocado, carrots, cucumber, and tomato. Whatever you eat should increase your energy without making you sluggish.
- Eat the right dinner so you can stay up all night. This is the last dish you eat before getting ready to stay up all night, so don't waste it. Avoid greasy or fatty foods that will make you feel bloated or full. Instead, eat chicken or turkey, couscous (a meal made of semolina (durum wheat seeds)), whole wheat pasta, fruits, and vegetables. Make sure you eat carbohydrates for energy and protein such as soybeans, chicken, or, ham.
- Avoid caffeinated drinks or heavy sugary foods. If you drink coffee throughout the day or eat sweet snacks like candy, then you will feel weak and sleepy after dinner.
Step 3. Prepare healthy food supplies for the evening
Prepare some healthy snacks that you can eat if you are hungry throughout the night and keep some healthy foods in the refrigerator if you are going to spend the night at home. Here are some foods to keep in mind when planning to stay up all night:
- Healthy vegetables. Slices of carrots and celery are great snacks that won't tire you out. You can eat celery with a little peanut butter.
- Healthy fruits. Apples and bananas are easy to carry around and will keep you energized.
- Nuts. Almonds, walnuts, cashews, are a delicious and nutritious source of protein.
- If you're at home, make sure you keep chicken, tofu, or turkey in the refrigerator as well as healthy pasta or coucous to cook in a pinch.
Method 2 of 3: Stay Alert
Step 1. Stimulate your body
There are a few little tricks you can do to stimulate your body and keep yourself alert throughout the night. You are less likely to fall asleep if your body parts are active and working.
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Stretch. Stretching your forearms, calves, and wrists will make your body feel more active and loose.
- Rotate your shoulders back and forth and turn your head from side to side.
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Do a quick massage on the hands.
- Put your feet on the floor.
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If you are really asleep, pinch yourself or bite your tongue.
- Pull the earlobe slowly
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Chew gum or suck on mints to keep your mouth active.
- If your eyes get tired, rest by looking out a window or a new location.
- Stimulate your five senses. Turn on bright lights and play music at a slightly louder rhythm to awaken your senses.
Step 2. Stimulate the mind
Keeping the mind alert is as important as stimulating the body. To keep your mind alert, you must always switch activities and keep yourself mentally occupied with whatever you are doing. Here's how to stimulate the mind:
- Pay attention. Pay attention to everything that is happening around you and ask questions if you don't understand something, such as a passage in a textbook that you didn't understand during your study.
- Start a conversation. If you're in a flash study, it's certainly easy to keep talking to the people around you. If you're at home and trying to stay up late, call a friend who likes to stay up late or have a quick chat with a friend online.
- Keep yourself busy. If you watch a movie, ask yourself about it to make sure you understand the plot.
- Don't let you fall asleep. If you're watching television or having a conversation, make sure you're focused on what you're doing and don't daydream.
Step 3. Alternate activities
If you want to stay up all night, you should always switch activities to stay fresh and keep your body from falling asleep. There are some changes you can make to help you stay up all night.
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Change activities every three minutes. If you're watching a movie during your stay, go to the restroom or eat a snack. If you're studying fast for an exam, replace your notebook study with study cards.
- Change the mood. If you can change the mood, it will be easier for you to stay stimulated. If you are studying fast for an exam, move to another part of the library or dormitory. If you stay overnight, invite your friends to gather in different rooms.
- Gather in another part of the same room. If you fall asleep at your friend's New Year's party, move from the couch to the kitchen and keep the conversation going with your friend. If you must remain seated, choose a different seat.
Step 4. Do light exercise
While you'll only feel more tired if you start strenuous exercise when you feel tired, doing ten minutes of light exercise can wake your body up and remind your mind, "Hey, it's not time for bed yet." Here are some things you can do:
- If you're at a party, use the stairs to get to the upstairs bathroom instead of using the closer bathroom.
- Take a ten-minute walk outside or inside the house to awaken your senses.
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If you're alone in the room, do 30 jumping jacks or run in place for two minutes.
Method 3 of 3: Having a Proper Diet
Step 1. Drink caffeinated drinks when in a pinch
While caffeine can make you weaker and more tired than ever before, if you have to spend time at night and your eyes feel heavy, it may be time to drink a caffeinated drink in an emergency.
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Start with a cup of black tea. The side effects are not as strong as coffee.
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If you are already a strong coffee drinker, have a cup or two of coffee.
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If you're really desperate, drink an energy drink. This will certainly increase your energy for an hour or two, but the feeling of weakness afterward can be significant. You should have some experience with energy drinks before staying up all night.
Step 2. Eat the right foods
When you're trying to stay up all night, you should eat enough to maintain healthy energy, but not so much that you feel immobile and weak. If you've eaten three healthy meals, then you shouldn't be so hungry when you stay up all night, but there are still some foods that can help you stay up late if you want to eat something.
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Eat hard-boiled eggs or soft-boiled eggs if you are at home.
- Eat a handful of almonds, cashews, or pecans.
- Eat crunchy apples, celery, or carrot chunks. Eating these foods will make your mouth move and you will be more alert.
- Eat a piece of toast with a little peanut butter.
- If you want to eat something after dinner, try to eat healthy carbohydrates like brown rice and protein like turkey. If you can't resist the urge to order food from outside, choose foods that are not too oily or fatty.
Step 3. Drink lots of water
Staying hydrated can help you stay up late significantly. Drink a glass of ice water to wake your body and drink water often to keep the body hydrated and refreshed.
Drinking lots of water will make you frequent the toilet. This method can also help you not to fall asleep
Tips
- Splash water on face. If it's cold outside, let some cool air into the room, and take a walk around the yard. Make it cool if you feel tired. This method will wake you up.
- Don't forget to drink water with ice. Dehydration can make you tired.
- Find ways to keep yourself busy.
- Get some fresh air as this can wake you up, get rid of headaches, and stretch.
- Move and exercise to stay awake.
- Always eat small meals.
- Find out why you stayed up all night. To look dashing? Completing a paper assignment? Set yourself up to stay motivated.
- If you have a phone, you can download games to play like temple run games.
- If you have a Netflix account, you can watch a lot of movies/TV shows to stay awake. I recommend watching foreign horror movies because being afraid will keep you awake. If the film is an original film from abroad and not a remake of an American film, then you should pay attention and read the translation.
- Eat a healthy diet, processed foods can make you feel sick.
- Take a cold shower.
Warning
- If you stay up late, you could start experiencing negative side effects. You mess up your sleep patterns and lose REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep or sleep with random, fast eye movements! You can start hallucinating. Don't stay up too late.
- Don't drink energy drinks. Energy drinks are bad for the heart and will eventually make you weak.