It’s that time of the year where it’s just a few more days to exams. It then hits you- while you never bothered attending classes and faked your way through the internals, you don’t have that option anymore and these giant bundles of stress are sadly inevitable.
You resort to the only thing that your mind can come up with, other than setting your college on fire and that resulting in the tests getting cancelled (No, this will not work. Trust me)- an all-nighter.
Disclaimer: DU Beat doesn’t encourage all-nighters. This is strictly for when desperate times call for desperate measures.
Things to do (tried and tested by yours truly):
Naps: Take a nap if you know you might have to pull an all-nighter, not longer than 2 hours and definitely not after 9 p.m, or else you risk putting your body to sleep for the entire night. A nap will also guilt you into not wanting to sleep later.
Stock up on supplies: Once you sit down for a night of productive studying, you don’t want to be running around hunting for notes or stationery. Keep it all handy and close to ensure that you spend the night before the big exam studying and not texting your friends, scrambling for photos of notes.
STAY HYDRATED: This cannot be stressed on enough. People go on about how caffeine is the most important ingredient to get you through the night. It isn’t if you don’t couple it with adequate amount of water. Caffeine dehydrates your body and after a point, leaves you feeling wired which makes it difficult to concentrate. Make it a point to drink atleast twice the amount of water than any caffeine-related beverages.
Don’t forget your body: You are going to be slogging your body and mind so make sure you nutrition it properly enough to last the night and the exam in the morning. Eat snacks like sandwiches or maybe even cereal which will not only take care of the hunger pangs but making them will also serve as a sufficient break between studying.
Prioritise your studying: It’s a no-brainer that you are going to be your most productive in the starting few hours of your nightly adventure. Make sure you plan your studying in a way that the topics that require more concentration are covered in the beginning. Leave the revision or the easier topics for the later half of the night when your productivity will be low. This will make sure that you don’t end up banging your head on the table with difficult calculus equations or new theorems at 4.30 a.m when your patience, and supply of caffeine, is low.
Things you shouldn’t do:
Social Networking websites: A definite no. Don’t even check your Instagram notifications. Definitely do not log on to your Tumblr blog or Facebook account. The next thing you’ll know is that it’s two hours later and you are giggling at a Buzzfeed article about sassy tweets.
Talk to your friends: It will start out as a casual “How much are you left with, bro?”, but it WILL turn into you contemplating life, declaring anarchy and trying your hand at poetry about how exams are confining your free spirit and creativity. Just trust me on this one, put your phone away unless absolutely necessary for referring to notes.
Eat big meals: It’s 3 a.m and you’ve made the mistake of not feeding your body and now your stomach is crying out in hunger. Your biggest mistake would be to give in and raid the fridge for dinner leftovers which may include heavy, greasy food. Not only will it leave you feeling too full, it will make you too drowsy to study for long.
Reward yourself with naps: I get it, it’s been hours since you’ve been studying and you just completed a very difficult and important topic. You want to reward yourself with a nap, just thirty minutes long. Don’t do it, especially if you still have things to study. Your body won’t understand your rationale of a thirty minute nap and will give in to the exhaustion. You will wake up the next morning with things left to cover and an exam staring you in the face. Instead, energise yourself by plugging in your earphones and dancing to your favourite song (If you think you cannot dance, play ‘Uptown Funk’ and move around awkwardly. It’s the same thing, really).
Pull frequent all-nighters: Unlike what social media will have you believe, there is nothing glamorous about not getting enough sleep and messing up your daily routine. Your productivity will hit an all time low and you’ll get into the habit of procrastinating because you’ll think all nighters will save you. Take it from someone who is dealing with the repercussions of pulling all nighters in a row- after a point you’ll want to thwack yourself in the head for deciding to mess with your routine in the first place.
Here’s to hoping everyone makes it through these last few days before summer officially begins. Happy Studying (and don’t doze off)!
Shubham Kaushik
Image credits: hercampus.com
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