How to pull a (quasi-)all-nighter

April 3, 2007 9:04 PM

I've got an exam tomorrow morning, and have a lot to learn. How can I pull the most effective semi-all-nighter possible?

I have an in-class essay tomorrow morning at 9:30. I need to study more, but also need to sleep so I'm alert tomorrow morning. I'd say I need 3-4 more hours of studying to do well, but the more, the better. My goal is to be alert while I study (I'm coming up with a thesis and my arguments), and to do well on the exam. I don't really care what happens after the hourlong exam is over; I have all day to sleep. I found this excellent website, but want to know specifically: How much and when should I sleep tonight?

I'm typically a late riser, by the way. Also, I can't do coffee or other stimulants.

Thanks!

posted by wireless to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

Response by poster: By the way, it's eastern time here.
posted by wireless at 9:05 PM on April 3, 2007

If it were me, I'd go to sleep now, and get up extra early tomorrow to study.

Now, get the fuck off Metafilter, stop looking up websites and go study!!!!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:06 PM on April 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

Sleep now, skim the handout tomorrow.
posted by Mercaptan at 9:11 PM on April 3, 2007

Thirding sleep now.

Set an alarm for ample time to eat a reasonably healthy breakfast and get some studying done so you've been awake enough hours before the essay to shake off the groggies.

SLEEP.
posted by twiggy at 9:12 PM on April 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

I've handled this sort of situation with basically no sleep but a caffeine nap. But seriously do get sleep. No more internet.
posted by shanevsevil at 9:17 PM on April 3, 2007

Basically depends on if you are a better night-studier or morning-studier. Personally I always feel more alert at night, so my recommendation would be study until you feel more-or-less prepared, then sleep until an hour or so before the test and review for 45 minutes.

Unless you've been awake for a long time prior to right now, you can safely stay awake until 9AM and be fine. But if you feel like you need sleep and you only need 3-4 hours studying, may as well sleep.
posted by jckll at 9:31 PM on April 3, 2007

It's far too late to be researching cramming tactics on the internet. Time spent learning to cram is time spent not cramming. If you haven't already taken the advice upthread, seconding "get the fuck off the internet." Download whatever materials you need to study, then remove the ethernet cable and stash it someplace. And don't refresh this page anymore.

Maybe after the test you can figure out your cramming strategy for next time, but for now just go over the material.
posted by contraption at 9:36 PM on April 3, 2007

1. Pick three things you need to know cold.

2. Study them.

3. When you get tired, set two or three alarms for 10 minutes, leave the light on, lie face down on top of your made bed and close your eyes and get up again.

4. Repeat entire night.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:42 PM on April 3, 2007

Modafinil.
posted by nicwolff at 10:09 PM on April 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

Agreeing with others in not attempting an all-nighter. It's always caused me to do worse on exams. Skim over everything now, then try to get at least 4-5 hours sleep before waking up early to read it all over again. That's what usually worked best for me.
posted by fishmasta at 10:47 PM on April 3, 2007

If you decide to take a quick nap and continue studying after that 5-minute nap: DON'T. You will not wake up, and will somehow, mysteriously, manage to switch off all three of your alarm clocks.
posted by Xere at 12:04 AM on April 4, 2007 [2 favorites]

Break the problem down into individual tasks. Prioritize them according to perceived difficulty and expected duration. Exactly how you go about doing this will be a function of your skills, your level of intuition about each task, and your ability to think outside the box, but regardless of the little details you must not lose sight of the primary goal: you must complete construction of your time machine's primary field coils by no later than 9:15 AM.

(Many time-travel theories explain the non-preponderance of temponauts in the world today as the result of future machines only being able to send matter as far back as when they were first turned on. The sooner you start generating tachyons the better.)
posted by foobario at 1:08 AM on April 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

If I needed to pull an all-nighter, I used to do what Ironmouth did, but that only works if you're the kind of person who won't sleep through an alarm. I also gave myself a two-hour nap at the end, with enough time (at least an hour) to look over the material and have a good, caffeinated breakfast before the exam.

Really, though, 3-4 hours of material isn't really all-nighter worthy, especially if you don't have classes today. I'd only pull all nighters if I was totally screwed for an exam -- as in, 6+ hours of studying ahead of me. If you only have 3 or 4 hours' worth of material to go over, unplug your internet connection and start studying now. That gives you plenty of time to do the 3-4 hours you need (give yourself a timed ten or fifteen minute break every hour so your brain doesn't go all fuzzy), to let it mellow, then come back to it this evening for a bit before you get to bed at a reasonably decent hour. If you're foregoing caffeine, you need your sleep!

Good luck tomorrow!
posted by AV at 7:23 AM on April 4, 2007

Okay, so I know it's too late for you probably, but for the sake of search and hive info, here's a cool article on how to pull an all-nighter, including what foods to eat and other suggestions.

Anatomy of an All-Nighter
posted by ml98tu at 8:05 AM on April 4, 2007