Have you ever stayed up all night? If so, how did you manage?

With or without artificial help? Be strong!

I have never had a problem staying up all night. The problem comes when the sun starts to rise and I cannot pretend it isn’t so late.

Keep the lights as bright as possible. Stay busy, but take breaks. Do not sit or lie on a comfortable chair, couch or bed to just rest your eyes or think about what you need to do next. You won’t get back up.

Cold air and loud noises tend to help. If you can, stay upright. Not sitting or laying down.

drink & drugs

@mammal the drink would make me sleepy.

@jmah: Honestly, it depends on the drink. And your mindset while consuming. I know that if my friend and I are set on playing video games all night and we start drinking Jager-bombs… Not only will we indeed stay up all night, but we won’t remember half of what we did. The only proof will be the many pictures our friends take, and the incredible amount of mess the next morning.

I’ve done this many times in college and in the military. I can go for about 36 hours at a stretch without impairment. Beyond that, the judgement processes start breaking down. Once that starts to happen, there is no point in trying to stay awake any longer, even with artificial means.

Alcohol is about the worst thing to use when you must stay awake, being a sedative.

Stay busy.

If you concentrate on what youre doing and not the time, you should be just fine.

@stranger_in_a_strange_land: Absolutely agreed with you, inspite of my own statements. It’s much better to go at it without the aid of any stimulants, as well. Most stimulants involve a “crash” afterwards.

Coffee. Rinse and Repeat.

As was pointed out in another question (not sure if Spinel had been around for it or not…), caffeine is a stimulant that works off of your body’s adrenaline. Therefore once your body runs out of adrenaline, it stops doing anything useful. If you’re staying up all night, most likely coffee alone won’t do the trick.

I just listened to music really loud and then when I was starting to get tired I punched myself really hard. Stood up and walked around for a bit

@Jerikao The actual affects of caffeine may be in material, but because most people associate coffee with energy and alertness, the placebo affect makes people feel more awake. This is an example

I did this all weekend. A big part of it was talking to friends I hadn’t seen in forever and really good movies. My advice if you can get someone to do it with you and constantly be doing something. I have stayed awake all night because of cleaning and organizing things that would be a good project to keep you busy. Good Luck :)

Caffeine doesn’t “work off” adrenaline. Caffeine is a competitive adenosine inhibitor. As adenosine builds up in your body, you slowly get sleepier. Caffeine prevents this buildup, promoting wakefulness.

I did this a lot in college. Unlike others who relied on caffeine, for me the key was eating lots of food. More fuel, more energy. I’d say eat a big healthy meal at 1 am.

Good luck.

@ben Thanks. That will probably work best for me…since food is one of the highlights of my life…

i stay up all night, all the time. i work overnight shifts for a security company. its currently 2:40 am here and i will be on duty until 8am. im used to it but in the beginning i drank coffee. it didnt really work as well as i thought, something exciting will usually keep you up. and if your reading, getting up and walking while reading will help too. i would fall asleep alot during homework becuase i would be sitting down comfortably.

I just… do. I keep myself busy, walk around, waste massive amounts of time on teh interwebz.
One shower will help. And take one or two fifteen-minute naps, enforced by the alarm clock. Play mentally stimulating music. Try to get someone else to stay up with you. Talk out loud.
Don’t bother trying to stay awake after you begin to lose coherence; you won’t do yourself any favors.

I do this all the time. Eat a lot. Plenty of caffeinated beverages. And stay occupied. If you’re feeling especially tired, walk around or take a shower.

I used to be able to do this a lot easier than i can now. The most important thing is not to lie down or sit comfortably “just for a second”. Keep your mind active. Walking around is good. I actually find that eating a lot late at night is counterproductive and makes me more tired, so I guess that one is different for different people. Small snacks are good though. It is actually 4 in the morning here right now and I don’t have immediate plans to go to bed so I have stayed up most of the night. All I needed was conversation with my girlfriend to keep me alert, I recommend that.

Strangely enough, last night. I was so tired but had so much on my mind, eventually the tiredness passed and I just lay there until the morning. Right now I am just so tired and looking forward to bedtime.

@Dibley I know how you feel, I just want to sleep all the time.

I only did it a few times, and I hope I’ll never have to do it again. I was fine while it was dark, but when the daylight hit, I felt like a vampire. LOL. I managed to stay awake with lots of caffeinated sodas, continuous snacking, and by taking frequent breaks to go walk outside in the invigorating cold air.

Very action-oriented video games for long periods of times.

well i stayed up all night this past 10 hrs so i feel like shit and i have to go school in 2 hrs yawn!! and computer keeps me up or walking around or drinking energy drinks all night long.