I'm falling asleep in lecture! How do I keep awake?

<p>I'd be alright, for the first half of the lecture, then I find myself dozing off for a while before being awake again causing me to miss some material.</p>

<p>I get at least 7hrs of sleep every night. I don't drink coffee but I do drink tea. I'm afraid if I start drinking coffee, I'm going to be dependent on the caffeine.</p>

<p>I'm seriously considering putting in earbuds and playing binaural beats as background music to the lecture but I'm afraid that my professor will think that I'm not paying attention.</p>

<p>This always happens during the winter time when classes are too warm!! </p>

<p>Get even more sleep. Tea has caffeine as well by the way. Try drinking some cold water during your lecture.
If you’re actively taking notes, that should help too.</p>

<p>More sleep. If you can’t fall asleep earlier, then tire yourself out by working out, then sleep. If you get over 8 hours of sleep per night and are still falling asleep in class, then you have a problem.</p>

<p>Also, figure out what your college charges per credit and calculate how much money you’re wasting each time you sleep through a class. Using only my school’s tuition and the number of classes in the semester, each hour of class is worth about $30. That’s a lot to be throwing away!</p>

<p>My son has a huge sack of sunflower seeds that he keeps in his backpack. He says whenever he feels himself getting doozy he pops a handful and sucks them until they’re soft and won’t make an obnoxious crack when he opens them. I’m not sure why it works, but it seems to help him. </p>

<p>Also, many people feel sleepy in the early afternoon (siesta time). If that applies to you, avoid selecting early afternoon classes when you make your schedule.</p>

<p>To those telling the OP to get more sleep, you can sleep for the average needed amount of hours and still be tired. For example, I sleep 8-10 hours and I’m still sleepy throughout the day, and that’s not when I’m experiencing insomnia. Having insomnia can make it hard for one to sleep easily and feel refreshed upon waking up. </p>

<p>@OP: Can I ask what your professor is like? With me, if a professor isn’t engaging enough or s/he’s too monotonous in his/her teaching, I have a tendency to nod off.</p>

<p>Lol at the people saying to get more sleep. I understand everyone is different but I can literally pay attention in class with 5 hours of sleep compared to the OP 7 hours. </p>

<p>I think it’s a matter of YOU paying attention. Like one time I fell asleep but only because I wasn’t honestly paying attention. I remember a teacher in high school who have a boring voice and kinda make people fall asleep. That could be a factor like @sweetlacecharm kinda said. </p>

<p>Is this a class where you can take notes? If you just focus on notetaking that would prevent you from dozing off. You claim this happen during the winter… This is gonna seem like a random throw in the dark but maybe you’re not “active” enough? For me, because it’s cold I feel a bit sluggish compared to the spring time. It could be a weather affect. But then you mention warm classroom. So you’re probably feeling very comfy and just want to relax a bit to much. Some of my friends play low music in the ear to say up and you’ll honestly be paying “half-attention” to the profs. But I did it once for this prof and it kinda kept me up. I kinda didn’t get the prof but I did manage to get the note and some of what the prof said.</p>

<p>I’m actually very active and play two sports regularly.
I do actively take notes in all my classes but if you look at them you can see where I’ve nodded off… handwriting gets progressively worse… XD</p>

<p>My professors this semester are not horribly monotone but it does seems like they keep droning on and on. I realized something in one class lecture where there weren’t enough seats, I had to sit uncomfortably on the floor. I was awake for the entire lecture. The next time I got to class early enough to get a seat and then proceeded to nod off. </p>

<p>I tried food this past week. Worked up until i finished my apple and then 10 mins later I’m dozing off. I think i need to pick a snack that I can continuously eat. When I study, I usually have the windows open(even if it’s snowing outside) so it is really cold and that keeps me awake.</p>

<p>Thank you guys for your responses! if you guys have any more suggestions, let me know!</p>

<p>What time of the day is this class? I find classes that are early morning (8AM) or classes right after lunch are the ones that I tend to fall asleep in, no matter what I do. If there are specific times of the day were you seem to have this problem the most, then you might want to just try to avoid scheduling classes during those times in the future.</p>

<p>Perhaps, you could try sitting at the front of the classroom, right in front of the professor, or you could try sitting further up in your seat, so you’re not lounging back and a you’re a little less comfortable. Or perhaps shedding some layers (taking off coats, jackets, whatever) might make you a little less warm and bundled up, and maybe that would help. Sometimes I find that just changing the way I’m sitting throughout the class can help as well. If I find myself sinking too much into my seat, I sit up straighter. Sometimes, I sit crosslegged in the seat, sometimes I cross my legs, etc. Moving around a little might help you from getting settled enough to doze off.</p>

<p>If the food works for you, then I would just do that. Maybe a bag of pretzels or nuts would last you longer, if you only snack throughout. Or if being cold helps keep you away, you could try drinking a cold drink in class.</p>

<p>Cold water really helps. I’m only in high school but I have a tendency to fall asleep in my 2nd/3rd Block classes all the time. But I just bring cold water.</p>

<p>If its an option see if you can stand up somewhere while you take your notes. of course if its a hall that might not be doable.</p>

<p>Try some chewing gum, preferably the really strong minty fresh stuff. Keeps me awake through all kinds of classes I’d otherwise sleep through.</p>

<p>Have you considered mentally associating the Professor and the lecture material with absurdly humorous ideas/situations? The more absurd/funny, the better. </p>

<p>In HS, I was able to stay awake with a monotone type teacher by having a funny comic book and actively participating in the class discussion…including some class clown type answers(YMMV). </p>

<p>Also, when I was in college, I always started off my mornings by blasting '90s pop-punk on my earphones. Kept me going for the entire day. :)</p>