How to stay awake at night

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This article was co-written by Ted Dorsey, MA. Ted Dorsey is a test prep tutor, author, and founder of Tutor Ted, an organization that provides SAT and ACT tutoring in Southern California. Ted achieved very high scores on the SAT (1600) and PSAT (240) in high school. Later, he also achieved high scores on the ACT (36), SAT Literacy Test (800), and SAT Level 2 Math Test (800). He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Princeton University and a master’s degree in education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

There are 21 references cited in this article that you can view at the bottom of the page.

This article has been viewed 152,297 times.

Sometimes we have many good reasons to stay up all night. Maybe you have to study for a sprint before an important exam or complete an assignment, maybe simply to plow through a movie. It’s also possible that your sleep has been disturbed while abroad, and one night of staying up will help you get back to your normal routine. Whatever the reason, it’s not easy for everyone to stay up all night. You need to have a strategy to be able to do it safely and effectively.

Table of Contents

Plan ahead

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Get plenty of sleep the night before. Our bodies can go through a sleepless night much easier than a sleepless night plus a sleepless night, so you need to get as much sleep as possible the night before.

Sleeping in. If you wake up around 8 or 9 o’clock, you’re less likely to fall asleep when it’s time to wake up.
Not only do you wake up really late in the morning, try going to bed a little later the night before. If you go to bed at 9pm, your body will start to fall asleep around that same time.
If possible, take a nap a few hours before your scheduled wake-up time to give your body time to rest and store energy. ^{[1] X Trusted Sources American Psychpogical Association Go to Source}

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Try to take a nap in the afternoon. This way, you will be energized for the whole night. If possible, get 2-3 hours of sleep and block out any distractions while sleeping. Remember to set a timer so you don’t fall asleep! ^{[2] X Research Source}

If your eyes keep closing due to drowsiness, take a short nap during the night you need to be awake, but remember not to take longer than 20 minutes. If you sleep longer, you may sleep all the time until morning!
If you wear contact lenses, be sure to remove them, as it can damage your eyes and interfere with a good night’s sleep.

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Eat well during the day. If you want to stay up all night, you must eat three healthy and balanced meals during the day before trying to stay awake at night; otherwise, you will feel sluggish from unhealthy foods or exhausted from lack of nutrition. Here’s what you should eat that day: ^{[3] X Research Source}

Eat a filling and nutritious breakfast. Eat healthy carbs like oats or wheat-based cereals, protein like turkey or ham, plus some fruit and vegetables. Add some yogurt or fresh cheese.
Eat a healthy lunch. Eat a slice of sandwich bread, a hard-boiled egg, or a large salad with avocado, carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Choose foods that give you energy without feeling sluggish.
Eat the right dinner to stay up late. This will be the last meal before you prepare to stay up all night, so you have to make the most of it. Avoid greasy foods that will make you feel bloated and heavy. Instead, eat chicken or turkey, couscous, whole-wheat pasta, and fruits and vegetables. Remember to eat carbohydrates for energy and proteins like soy, chicken or ham.
Avoid foods and drinks that contain a lot of caffeine and sugar. If you drink coffee all day or eat sweet snacks like candy, you will be very tired and just want to go to bed after eating dinner.

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Stock up on healthy foods for late-night snacking. Prepare some healthy snacks to nibble on at night on an empty stomach. Store some food in the fridge if you plan to stay up all night at home. When preparing to stay up all night, you can stock up on the following: ^{[4] X Trusted Source Science Direct Go to source}

Healthy vegetables. Carrot and celery bars are great snacks to nibble on without making you drowsy. You can even eat celery with a little peanut butter.
Nutritious fruit. Apples and bananas are easy to carry and provide great energy.
Nuts. Almonds, walnuts, and cashews are nutrient-rich forms of protein.
If you’re staying up late at home, be sure to stock up on some chicken, tofu or turkey in the fridge and some noodles or couscous seeds that you can quickly cook when needed.

Stay up at night and stay awake

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Stimulation of the body. There are a few tips to help you stimulate your body and stay awake through the night. You will rarely feel sleepy if the parts of your body are always active. ^{[5] X Research Source} Do simple movements like tapping your feet on the floor and stretching. Once made into a habit, these movements can save you from falling asleep in what seems like a “out of breath” moment, and help you stay alert and focused. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Muscle relaxants. Stretch your arms, calves, and wrists to make your body more flexible and less tense.
Rotate your shoulders from front to back and back to front, at the same time turning your head to the sides.
Quickly massage your hands.
Tap your feet on the floor.
If you feel like you’re about to fall asleep, pinch yourself or bite your tongue lightly.
Gently tug the earlobes.
Chew gum or suck on mints to force your mouth to work.
If your eyes start to get tired, give them a rest by looking out a window or another location.
Stimulating the senses. Turn on bright lights and play music at medium volume to force the senses to stay awake.
- Try playing background music. If the music has a good rhythm, you may even unconsciously tap your feet to the beat of the music.

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Brain stimulation. Keeping your mind alert is just as important as stimulating your body. To keep your mind alert, you have to switch activities from time to time and focus on what you’re doing. You can stimulate your brain as follows: ^{[7] X Research Source}

Focus. Notice everything going on around. Ask questions if you don’t understand something, such as a passage from a textbook that you were confused about during class.
Chat. If you are in a group study to prepare for the exam, you will easily talk to your classmates around. If you’re at home and struggling to stay awake, call a “night owl” friend or chat with a friend online.
Stay interactive. If you’re watching a movie, ask yourself questions about the movie to make sure you understand all the details.
Don’t let your mind drift. If you’re watching TV or having a conversation, remember to focus on the task at hand instead of letting your mind wander.

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Breaks. Avoid feeling low on energy and unmotivated by setting a certain pace for yourself. For example, try working for 40-55 minutes, then take a 5-20 minute break or go out for a quick walk in a safe, well-lit area. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Don’t keep looking at the clock lest you get distracted.
Breaks are especially important if you work on a computer; It helps you with headaches and eye strain.

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Change activities. If you want to stay up all night, you have to change up your activities from time to time so that everything stays fresh and you don’t fall asleep. You can make a few changes like: ^{[9] X Trusted Source PubMed Central Go to source}

Every 30 minutes, switch to another activity. If you’re watching a movie during a slumber party, take a break from time to time to go to the bathroom or have a snack. If you’re studying for an exam, put your notebook aside and switch to flashcards.
Change the environment. If you can change your environment, you will be more alert. When studying for the exam, move to another area of the library or dorm room. If you’re gathering with friends for a slumber party, you can try inviting everyone to other rooms.
Move to other parts of the room. If you’re at a New Year’s party at a friend’s house and feel like you’re about to fall asleep, just get off the sofa and go to the kitchen and continue chatting with everyone. If you still have to sit, move to another seat.

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Do some gentle exercise. It is known that intense exercise as soon as you start to feel sleepy will make you even more tired, but a few gentle exercises for 10 minutes can wake up the body and tell the brain that it is not yet. should be bedtime. Here are a few suggestions for you: ^{[10] X Research Sources}

If you’re going to a party, you should go upstairs to find the restroom instead of going to the toilet in a more convenient location.
Spend 10 minutes outdoors going for a walk, even pacing back and forth in your room to awaken your senses.
If you are alone in the room, you can do 30 jumps or run in place for 2 minutes.

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Watch horror movie. Take a break to watch a horror movie if you think it will work. Horror movies can keep people awake, but you shouldn’t watch them if they turn into pastimes; Take advantage of the 5-20 minute break to watch. ^{[11] X Research Source}

Choose a movie with a theme that really scares you. It’s no use watching a giant spider movie and you’re a spider lover.
If you can’t choose a horror movie, you can try watching a factual documentaries on scary topics.

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Drink caffeine when it’s urgent. While caffeine can make you “drunk” and make you even more tired afterward, if your eyes start to feel heavy in the early morning, it may be time to resort to caffeine. ^{[12] X Research Source}

Start with a cup of black tea. The side effects of black tea are not as strong as those of coffee.
If you are used to drinking coffee, drink 2-3 cups.
In a really urgent situation, you can drink energy drinks like Mother, Monster or Red Bull.

Maintain optimism

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Stay up all night only if it’s imperative. You shouldn’t stay up all night just to study; Sleep is the time when memories are efficiently processed. If you don’t sleep, your brain will be less efficient at storing information. In most cases, getting a little sleep during the night is better than no sleep at all. ^{[17] X Research Source}

To stay healthy, never stay up for 2 nights in a row. Try to stay up as little throughout the night as possible.

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Positive thinking. Negative thoughts will only reduce your productivity, so motivate yourself that your time and effort will pay off. On the contrary, positive thoughts will help you stay motivated and not give up anytime soon. For example:

“I’m almost done!”
“It’s really not that difficult.”
“I’ll be watching the sunrise.”
“I’ll get a good grade.”
If you find a material boring, try to convince yourself to love it by repeating something like, “This DNA section is very interesting.” Don’t underestimate the power of self-deception.

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Reward yourself after each achievement. For example, you could promise to reward yourself with a 15-minute break after completing an exercise. During your break, you can enjoy your favorite snack and watch TV, surf the web or play games.

The reward is like a carrot tied a stick in front of the donkey’s eyes; it will keep you motivated to keep trying despite the fatigue.
Remember to set the reward before you start working. This way, your mood will be more upbeat.

Schedule time to rest the next day so you can recharge. One night of staying up all night can be very hard on your body and mind. You need to go to sleep after staying up all night and completing the task. The next day, you should also schedule some time to relax and recharge, such as watching a movie or a TV show, going for a walk, or doing something you enjoy.

Improve your workspace and reduce distractions

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Turn off all devices. Stay away from cell phones, televisions and other electronic devices. Also don’t surf the web. ^{[18] X Research Source} If the internet is still too tempting, turn off Wifi and don’t turn it back on until you’re done. ^{[19] X Research Source}

Download an app that blocks entertainment websites, such as SelfContrp.
You can put your phone on airplane mode instead of powering it off so that incoming messages will be blocked until you switch back to normal mode.

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Dim windows while working. Unlike warm air, which often makes it difficult to stay awake, cold air will make it easier to stay up at night. Imagine the cold nights you couldn’t sleep compared to the nights you fell asleep in a warm room. If you find cold air effective, you can even go to the bathroom and splash cold water on your face to wake up.

Not everyone is more alert in the cold. There are those who feel the opposite; The warm air kept them awake, and the cold brought them to sleep. Choose the environment that works best for you.

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Avoid working in a place that is too comfortable. Don’t set up your workplace on a bed, sofa or on the floor. If you work anywhere other than a desk and chair that’s both hard and cold, you’ll have a hard time resisting sleep, and the more comfortable the seat, the greater the temptation.

If possible, you should work in a place away from your sleeping area or bed so that you cannot easily fall asleep.
Try to be around other people. When you know you can be seen by others, you’ll be motivated to try not to doze off in your chair.

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Maintain an upright sitting position. Be careful with slouching posture. When we are tired, we will naturally slouch, but you should not. Sit up straight. This pose will help increase alertness, and you will feel more energetic.

Try sitting in different places around the room.
Don’t close your eyes and lie on the bed. You will fall asleep and fall into a strange dream state where in the dream you convince yourself that you have completed the task.

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Understand your own limits. If you can’t remember what you just read or fall asleep, you need to listen to your body and go to sleep. ^{[20] X Research Source}

Sometimes 3-4 hours of sleep is better than falling into a lethargy the next day.

Steps

Plan ahead

Stay up at night and stay awake

Maintain optimism

Improve your workspace and reduce distractions

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