<p>i go to bed at around midnight, and wake up at 5:30 every weekday morning. friday night, i'm in bed at, like, 10, and sleep right through until 8 or 9 saturday morning. </p>
<p>the worst thing for me after pulling an allnighter is when i hit the "been awake for 24 hours" mark, which for me, is usually around 5:30 in the morning. nothing can keep me awake then - i've drank coffee, done jumping jacks in my room, blared loud music on my ipod, and still kept falling asleep at my desk. i can usually push past it by doing all of the above, but lord, it's painful. if at all possible, i like to take a two hour nap then. it's not much fun waking up from that nap, but it helps me for the rest of the day - it stops me getting that horrible "no, really, just kill me right now if it means i can sleep!" feeling, and keeps me awake during class, too. it's also good, because it means instead of crashing as soon as classes are done, i can force myself to stay awake until my usual bedtime, thus keeping to a (relatively) sane sleep schedule.</p>
<p>so, tips for allnighters: coffee is your new best friend. if you don't like coffee, drink diet coke or something. plus, eat during the night - maybe some chocolate or toast or whatever. as soon as you start to feel like you're gonna fall asleep, get up from your desk and start doing jumping jacks. it'll keep you awake, i promise. don't put the heat on in your room - the warmth always makes me want to sleep. if you're cold, put on a sweater or something. </p>
<p>tips for staying awake during the day: if you're in school and feel yourself drifting off in class, ask for a bathroom pass and go splash yourself in cold water. and <em>run</em> to the bathroom. the adrenaline rush from exercise is oh so very helpful at this point. if you can't get out of class, keep switching positions in your chair every few minutes. and instead of just passively listening to the teacher, make yourself take notes. if it's the most boring class in the history of the world ever, just doodle on a piece of notepaper. the point is to keep yourself doing something to keep yourself awake - even if it's just drawing little hearts on your notebook or whatever. alternate between water and caffeine throughout the day. sip water during class if you're allowed, drink coke/coffee/whatever in the break between classes. also, try to eat something regularly - candy, even though it's unhealthy, or peanut butter or something. whatever you do, don't think about sleeping. that's the hardest thing for me - when i'm so tired, my mind just wanders and i start thinking about my room and my warm and comfy bed and my cosy pajamas and just how nice it would feel to put on my pjs and curl up in bed. and that's when i drift off to sleep in the middle of chem class and my best friend has to kick me very hard in the shins to wake me up before the teacher notices. :) sleep is seductive, oh yes. try very, very, very hard not to think about how much you're going to enjoy getting to sleep - it'll only make you want to sleep even more.</p>