Suddenly can't pull all-nighters

[anxiousapplicant]

Haven't studies shown that sleep is necessary for processing information you've learned? So I would think sleep would be a priority for professional learners like us!

[profound_g]

I'm in the "never pulled allnighters" camp. I need my sleep. Once, I had a paper to finish and stayed up till 3am. That was the closest and I never want to do it again. The productivity is about 10% of normal.

Having said that, like some of the allnighters people, I work best late in the evening. Basically that leaves me with a few hours of peak productivity.

Also this http://www.phdcomics...hp?comicid=1219

Edited March 30, 2010 by profound_g

[hubris]

It just started happening to me. I've always been a night person - that's when I do my best work and it's the only time I can really concentrate on my writing. I am the sharpest between 10pm and 4am but I can go on until ~8-9am if I really have to and still do good work.

Interesting, I always thought I was alone in that time frame (10pm-4am).

[fuzzylogician]

Interesting, I always thought I was alone in that time frame (10pm-4am).

Yeah, it's an unusual sleep/work cycle. A lot of people will stay up late if they have to, but I don't think too many people actually *prefer* to work that late. I've always been like that, even as a child. A day in which I have even a 10am class, not to mention an 8am class, is one in which I won't get enough sleep (at least not quality sleep--it's not enough to go to bed earlier in those days, and never mind that I can't fall asleep before 1-2 am anyway--I really need to sleep in certain hours of the morning, at least until 9am if not later). Those days, and often now the day after them, I can't get quality work done. I can't wait until I get to *choose* my classes again so I don't have to take morning classes!

[Jae B.]

Haven't studies shown that sleep is necessary for processing information you've learned? So I would think sleep would be a priority for professional learners like us!

True!

As saharel said, sleep helps you store memories. I've heard a little sleep, or naps, can be enough to get students by because it's healthier than no sleep and improves their short term memory -- perfect for tests. But to retain what we've learned and achieve mastery, we still need a full night's sleep.

There is some debate in the academic community regarding whether naps are healthy for students or not, and whether they should be encouraged with campus napping spaces or if naps should just be discouraged. I saw a scientific presentation at Berkeley once that argued course schedules (especially around midterms and finals) should be restructured in ways less likely to provoke students to do all-nighters or succumb to napping.

[pea-jay]

When I used to sleep that little in high school, I'd get to a point where I would come home from school, set my stuff down, and wake up the next morning not knowing what had happened or where I was... and not having done any of my homework. Guess I'm just physically incapable of that!

That happened to me once in high school, but the all-nighter was entirely social in nature. Apparently the following afternoon I came home and dozed off before dinner. I woke up the next morning with absolutely NO memory of getting up from my "nap", eating dinner with my family and getting ready for bed again. Very freaky.

True!

There is some debate in the academic community regarding whether naps are healthy for students or not, and whether they should be encouraged with campus napping spaces or if naps should just be discouraged. I saw a scientific presentation at Berkeley once that argued course schedules (especially around midterms and finals) should be restructured in ways less likely to provoke students to do all-nighters or succumb to napping.

During my undergrad years, I would routinely come home and take a nap after lunch. Served me very well.

[liszt85]

Interesting, I always thought I was alone in that time frame (10pm-4am).

Mine is more like midnight - 3:30am. I can go for a long time on 4-5hrs of sleep per night. So I can do the midnight-3:30am with 8:30am classes for months if I so wish. I have tested it here for a few weeks, found that it still works. I'm only 24, so age is yet to catch up with me

[Jae B.]

For those of us who stay up late, here's a New York Times blog link:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/all-nighters/

[kinjal]

This is so interesting! I've always been very big on getting a lot of sleep and could never ever pull an all-nighter, but for those times when you just have to go through with it I used to get up really early (like 3) and study.

Well I'm 21 now and suddenly I can't wake up anymore! However to submit my project thesis on time I've been sleeping at 4 or 5am every night for several nights in a row this week, and magically, I can do it without a problem!

All you people not able to stay up at night, try waking up early now, haha.

[rising_star]

Why pull an all-nighter when you can stay up until 4am, sleep 3 hours, then have another long and hopefully productive day? When I was in undergrad, I could basically do that for all the weekdays, then sleep 8 hours a night on the weekend with no real problems. And, the day without sleep, I was always really chipper and productive and people never believed that I didn't sleep and wasn't caffeinated to the gills. So far, I've been able to do a two-day stretch like that in grad school, but it always peters out before morning #4.

At any rate, I'm posting this at 4:18am (in bed, just finished writing a conference paper), and I'm hoping tomorrow will be a good day since I have a lot of work to get done.

[burrito queen]

There's something about turning 25 that switches your body into old-person mode, and it only gets progressively worse. It happened to me, it's happened to lots of my friends. It felt like it happened overnight, too. Glad I took care of undergrad before it happened. Just means I'll have to actually learn some decent study habits for grad school.

[RH7]

Has this happened to anyone else? If so, when did it start?

Wow I have this same problem! I'm finishing my last year in college as well. This started happening as soon as I heard back from all my schools... ah, senior year of high school round 2

[Lizzla]

That is the exact age I could no longer pull all nighters, 21! I swear it is something with your "time clock" or whatever you like to call it when you physically turn old. It's so sad...

Me too! I was a terrible procrastinator my first two years of undergrad, because I could easily pull an all-nighter, knock out a good paper, and run on adrenaline the next day. I started trying to avoid all-nighters when I was about twenty, and once I stopped doing them as often, I lost the ability. I can still stay up pretty late if I'm racing a deadline, but I NEED 2-3 hours of sleep and even then it takes me a few days to catch up. It doesn't affect the quality of my work too much--at least not more than it did before--but I pay a much heavier price physically. I have one more semester to go, and I have a honors project to write and a research job (not to mention grad school applications), so I'm really going to have to be disciplined, now that I'm hitting the ripe old age of 22

[Lindsay Sum]

I guess it's all about knowing your limits. You can pull it off for a while, but eventually your body will cave in. All you need is some time off, detach yourself from all the academic work and recharge your batteries.

[michigan girl]

In graduate school, it is very important to break down assignments over several days. The readings are longer, the assignments are more complex, and professors demand higher standards. I am an afternoon/evening person myself, but I realized I was most productive if I divided assignments over several days. That way I can still get my 7-8 hours of sleep and feel fine (optimal) the next day. I can only stay up to 12:30am.

Edited September 26, 2010 by michigan girl

[TheDude]

I suppose I am strange because no matter when I fall asleep I am up between 6-7 the next day ready to bounce. Usually all I need is 5 hours of sleep to feel ready to go the next day. I'm productive more so in the morning and afternoon. I try to break assignments up over the course of days, but I'm a huge pacer! So when we were working on a manuscript a few months ago I couldn't stare at the blank computer screen. I just pace, think, pace, do some more thinking, mumble to myself like a crazy person. Most of the time all my ideas hit me at once and when I finally sit at the PC I get into flow mode and just work and work and work until it is finished.

It's going to catch up with me eventually, and I've always thought I'm doing myself a disservice, but I've never been called out on quality or content. Now editing....I HATE editing. That is something I need to do like in a public place with people (i.e., coffee shop or something).

But sleep never hindered the process for me. All nighters are only something I can do when I'm in flow mode. Otherwise it is a functionally useless endeavor for me.

I also drink a lot of coffee.

Edited October 7, 2010 by musicforfun

[psycholinguist]

I'm becoming more of a morning-person all the time. When I was a first-year undergrad, there'd be something wrong if I were going to bed earlier than 1:30 AM, and if I had a paper to write I'd do it between 10 PM and 3 AM. And I had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, especially the early morning. These days - five years later - I get back at the end of the day feeling tired, and my energy-level drops all evening (except for the small energy-spike as a result of dinner). By 9 PM I'm often thinking about going to bed, and my productivity has plummeted. If it's 11:30 and I have three hours of work to do on a project, I'm often much better off going to bed early and getting up at 6 AM to do it then, because if I try to finish it between 12 AM and 3 AM, it's probably not going to turn out very well, and then I'll sleep kind of poorly worrying about whether what I just did made any sense. I'm actually finding that I'm feeling pretty energetic first thing in the morning, even without caffeine; it helps that my apartment faces south and is full of light between 7 AM and 3 PM, at least when it isn't cloudy.

I've only ever pulled two all-nighters. One was as as undergrad, when I had five assignments all due on the same Friday; and one was about a month ago, when I found I had one heck of a lot of data to wade through before a presentation on it at 9 AM. Neither was a lot of fun. But these days even the thought of being awake at 2:30 in the morning makes me want to cringe.

[ellefash]

In general, it seems normal to get tired at night, doing homework, if you are up and going at 5:45 in the morning. You lead a healthy lifestyle and that includes getting between 7-9 hours of sleep a night. If you are constantly on the go, with little rest, your body is going to react to that. Staying up all night is not healthy nor normal, so I don't think that should worry you. However, if you are instantly dosing off without even knowing it is coming, then that could be a medical condition. If you are seriously worried about this then I think it would be in your best interest to see a doctor - if anything to ease your mind.

[Vacuum]

I've never pulled an all nighter. Ever. I've come close, but always managed to get about 3 hours sleep in there. I find that if I don't sleep enough I start feeling sick (flu-ish). I just don't think our bodies are made to stay up that long, let alone when you exerting mass amounts of brainpower hahah

I guess it is like recovering from late nights out if you go drinking or dancing. The older you get, the more you think 'how the hell did I do that before?'

[Scottielass]

My body and brain seem to have an amazing capacity to keep going when it is needed. I used to work a terrible split shift when I worked in radio (overnights and afternoons); rarely getting more than 3 hours sleep at any given time. I can go 36-48 hours without sleep relatively easily. Sometimes I just prefer to work in the middle of the night at a diner. It quiet enough to be productive, but there is enough activity and free-flowing coffee to keep me going.

It is not something I would recommend to anyone, though. Once I actually have a break of any extended amount of time (more than a week), I get sick. Not just a little cold, but completely stuck-in-bed sick for at least a few days.