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Ways to stay awake
tania:
i've also heard about how having coffee or tea right before a short nap is the best way to feel great after no sleep because the coffee takes a little while to kick in and you wake up right when it finally does so you get up feeling like a million bucks. or if not a million then, like, a hundred at least.
Hat:
ok I completely fucked my sleeping pattern up doing this garage sale on Saturday
I got home from work at about 4 am on Saturday morning, set up for the garage sale, and wound up just staying up for most of the day so now I'm in this weird sleeping pattern where I don't really want to go to bed until about midday and I wake up at six pm, thinking about just staying up another 24 hours and collapsing at about dawn tomorrow morning to get shit back on track (it is 2 am here now)
alternatively thinking about setting up some kind of 28 hour day so doing days at uni during the week and work at night on weekends will be a bit easier.
jtheory:
My tiny baby daughter was born just a little while ago. So I have not been on these forums for a while, and I have been experimenting occasionally with very little sleep (usually she's pretty good, but sometimes...). But now I am back for a few minutes!
Though really, it's something I've done way too often anyway.... My body requires a fairly normal amount of sleep, but it hardly ever really *demands* it. I can pull one all-nighter without ever really feeling sleepy as long as I'm occupied... the only thing I notice is that my eyes feel dry. So I go without sleep every once in a while just because I'm wrapped up in something. Two nights without sleep and it gets painful, though....
My main trick is continuous eating -- avoiding large meals, avoiding junk food or anything that'll give me a sugar rush/crash. You're asking more from your body, so it's even more important to treat it well and nourish it properly.
Avoiding alcohol and caffeine. Seriously, I can't have caffeine if I'm going without sleep because it doesn't make me any more awake; it just really fucks with my mental cohesion... my thoughts just go flying every which way, and if I'm up because I'm working on something requiring focus (or driving...) the scattered concentration is bad. What's the point of being up if I can't think straight?
Things to do for dealing with the next day:
* make to-do lists. I'm noticeably a bit stupid with less sleep, and easily get sidetracked from whatever I ought to be getting done.
* take an extra shower when possible, and (gentlemen) shave if you have any stubble at all. It helps to feel clean and "normal"... dunno why, but avoiding feeling greasy and dirty really helps...
* light exercise (like walking the dog), doing some stretching. Spend more time standing if possible, as long as you're comfortable. Don't spend time in an uncomfortable position -- it might help keep you away for a little while, but it's also wearing you out more.
* as mentioned above, eat regularly, and also stay well-hydrated (not with highly-sugared drinks, though...).
* avoid tasks requiring extended concentration -- long-distance driving is the big one; the forced concentration starts to actually hurt after a while when I'm short on sleep. If I have to do this, I sing, loudly and constantly, and keep my body moving (drumming on the wheel, tapping feet, etc.), eat constantly, and stop for breaks whenever I can (maybe to nap, but more often just to walk around thinking nothing but getting the blood moving). I've had to go as far as slapping myself continuously in the face to stay on the road... that feeling truly sucks and driving while *that* tired should probably be illegal.
Dimmukane:
get some sleep, all of you
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