how often do you pull all-nighters?

[jmu]

I also need at least 5 hours to function. I usually have dreams related to whatever it is I'm working on, though, and often wake up to quickly jot down notes or map out my thoughts before going back to sleep. I also have one night a week where I do absolutely nothing related to school work (research or teaching) so that I can keep what little is left of my sanity.

[Pitangus]

I am a night owl, so I only sleep 4 - 5 hours a night during the week anyways. However, I only stay up all night when I have a deadline to meet because in most cases I like to complete a task in one go rather than linger over it. Lately that has been one night every two weeks or so. 

[Boba felt]

I did this a lot in undergrad, but grad school has been different.  I forced myself to have better time management, even though I had more work and responsibility…I think being older helped.  Plus my major changed, so it was a different culture regarding all nighters.  

 

The worst was once in undergrad a group of us were so behind in our architecture studio that we all stayed up 72 hours straight.  No naps, no sleep. We became "studio drunk" because we were so tired we were laughing like morons and losing motor skills like drunk people.  But we had an insane deadline to make, so all the A students pulled the non-stop all nighters and the other students just gave up and took a lower grade.  When I finally went home, I slept 17 hours straight.  I had to ask my roommate what day it was when I woke up. 

 

My school really encouraged us to do all nighters, like that was the sign of a truly dedicated architect.  Then a girl in the department drove home one night after submitting her project at the end of an all nighter.  She drove into the median and died in a car crash.  Suddenly our entire College became very proactive in enforcing sleep among students.  No more all nighters, and I think it was a good thing.  Your undergrad degree shouldn't kill you or make you lose bodily function because of insane deadlines.  A good sleeping bag was key for studio though.  The fire marshal won't consider it a bed, but you can crash on it to take naps when needed in studio.

[GeoDUDE!]

My last semester of ugrad i did 2-3 a week. Now its about 1 a week. 

[astroyogi]

Similar to those above, never.

 

Not in HS when I took 6 APs at once, not during college when I did honors stream physics at a top-10 school, not when applying to 13 grad schools and taking GREs, and not while working full time. If I lose sleep, I lose health, and then it's really game over. My choice is to work on beastly time management skills, know my own limits and take on only as much as I can at one time. If the situation occurs where I simply NEED to pull an all nighter....I've asked for and gotten extensions. A lot of my friends love to boast about how little sleep they need, but I don't understand the mentality. 

 

My only all-nighter in the last two years was staying up all night watching the Perseids while laying in the summer grass, and that was worth it.   

Edited February 20, 2014 by astroyogi

[astroyogi]

(Also, don't get me wrong -- I will work 7am - 10:30pm with no procrastination, rest or meal breaks, for days on end. But I need to sleep.)

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I prefer to do all nighters. For one, I love the night. I guess I like the quiet and the lack of people. I grew up in Brooklyn and would go on one/two/three hour walks around the city in the wee hours of the night. And for two, I get a strong sense of mental clarity and alertness when I'm forced to go into "panic mode." If I start a project too early I'm basically useless. My ideas suck and I work slow. When I have one night to finish something, brilliance ensues.

[PhDerp]

I used to only sleep 3-4 nights a week. It made me wicked sick, and I didn't do as well in class during that period. I had to explain it in my SOP. :/

 

Found out that a medication was causing it, so I quit it cold turkey. Been sleeping most nights since!

[ihatepencils]

I have never pulled an all-nighter for anything. My immune system sucks and if I don't get sleep I am bound to get sick! Hopefully grad school will not force all-nighters on me haha

[Marina CM]

My work is based on all-nighters. I can't do anything on the morning, like Gnome. I feel absurdly slow and with the sun shining outside, I can't concentrate. Sometimes I go to work after a whole night of studying or drawing. During my time in University there have been weeks when I have been able to sleep like 1 or 2 hours per day. It's only horrible when you think about it afterwards... because during the proccess you are so busy that you don't really feel your body. lol. Anyway, if I am training hard in the gym I can't do this, I need 9 hours of sleep (otherwise I will be suffering from horrible body aches until I sleep properly) and the need of sleeping usually comes early. So if I want to regulate my sleep times I go to the gym.

[kyjin]

Another never all-nighter here. Closest I ever got was staying up till 2am in college once to finish a paper, and several to 1am nights finishing my MA thesis, but I'm one of those people who after 9 or 10 at night, my brain basically shuts down. I much prefer to head to bed, and get up early in the morning (say 6 or so) to finish an assignment. 

[likemythesis]

No all-nighters here either. I'm definitely one of the "I'll take the lower grade" crowd. Also, I can't seem to sleep in ever, so even if I go to bed at 4am, I will wake up at 8am and trying to force myself back to sleep just results in a headache. This has led me to cherish my working hours when I need them and give in to sleepiness when it comes. I've been consistently on this schedule through high school and undergrad, so at least it's reliable! I'm not sure how I would handle an all-nighter at this rate anyway.