The name can be misleading. It sounds like being aware of your environment but no. This post is literally about staying awake. Obviously not during the day but at night.
Let's say you have a lot of work to do and you want to stay awake all night but it is really hard for you even with coffee.(You will be very happy to know that there are ways to stay awake without coffee and even better ways.) You might deduce that I am writing this post while trying to stay awake all night and yes, you are right. Let's see what we can do for long night study sessions.
Coffee is one of the best drinks for a lot of people. It can help you stay awake and be more focused. But if you use it wrong, it can cause even more sleep and you would just consume coffee for the sake of consuming. Let's see some ways to use coffee.(Or any drink that has caffeine.)
First, we have to understand how it works. Normally, when you don't ingest caffeine and stay awake for long hours, adenosine will interact with receptors in your brain and make you sleepy. So, if you want to block adenosine and stay awake for long hours, you would ingest caffeine and that way adenosine won't interact with receptors. But after caffeine starts to decrease, adenosine will come at once and it will make you sleepy very fast. Especially if you ingest caffeine after you wake up. So, what can we do about that?
Don't ingest caffeine in the first 90-120 minutes after waking up. This will help you to avoid afternoon crashes and you will get more benefits from caffeine. Also, if you use it frequently caffeine won't be able to block adenosine so, you would just ingest caffeine and wouldn't get any benefits. For that, you can take a nap in the afternoon and then ingest caffeine.
If you just sit all night and try to stay awake, that would be very hard because your body wouldn't get any signal to stay awake. You have to move regularly, even if it just means you take a 5-minute walk. Walk, run, do some push-ups, boxing etc. Just move. You will be more energetic and focused.
I would like to write it separately because it is an amazing tool. You can do it on the wall or free. It increases the blood flow to your brain and that way all of the blood on your legs from sitting for long hours spreads through your body. Eventually, it increases focus, energy and overall mood. Give it a try when you feel sleepy and you will see the power.
If you eat too much, your body creates signals for sleeping and it becomes very hard for you to stay awake. If you have to eat, choose some snacks rather than a whole meal. Fruits and protein bars are very effective choices. They also consist of healthy sugar so your brain will get some glycogen and work more efficiently.
If you feel tired after working for so long, take some breaks. But be careful when you lie down because you can fall asleep. To avoid that, before lying down, do some exercise and use alarms. Your purpose is not to take a nap but rather to rest your brain, eyes, ears and other body parts you have at your disposal.
There are a lot of amazing tools you can use but to keep it short, I will share them in separate posts. Try these and see how it goes. If you have any questions, send them. For now, that's all. See you.
