How to Stay Awake in Class: 11 Strategies for Alertness

Nodding off in class is common for students of any age.

Late nights studying, long hours on a job, sitting in a warm classroom after a big lunch, a long evening class, or simply finding the teacher or subject matter a trifle boring all can contribute to classroom sleepiness.

For tips on how to stay awake in class or in any setting that requires your attention, consider the following strategies.

While this may not be easy or appropriate in the middle of a lecture, walking around, jogging in place, doing jumping jacks, or any activity that gets your blood pumping can juice up your energy and attention levels.

If you’re in a long lecture that has a break in the middle, use that time to get up from your seat and move your body. And if there’s no formal break, ask to use the restroom and get a little exercise on the way there and back.

You can also try some chair stretches like shoulder rolls, seated twist, and others.

If you’ve ever seen a new parent pushing a stroller on the sidewalk with an infant aboard, they may be doing more than simply getting out of the house for a few minutes. Being out in fresh air is invigorating.

And if you’re stuck in a classroom or other indoor setting, taking a few deep breaths can help deliver a little more oxygen to your system. That might be just what you need to stay awake and attentive.

Downing a cup or two of coffee, tea, or other caffeinated beverage can be a simple but effective jolt to your senses.

But how much caffeine do you need to be alert? Well, it varies from person to person, in part, based on your sensitivity to this precious ingredient.

Mayo Clinic reports that about 400 milligrams of caffeine per day — about what you’d find in four cups of coffee — is usually plenty to keep a person awake and attentive.

Coffee can sometimes lead to higher spikes in energy and lower dips when the caffeine wears off, so caffeinated tea may have a somewhat milder, more consistent effect than coffee.

Coffee or teas without a lot of added sugar are also healthier choices than sweetened, high-caffeine energy drinks. A 16-ounce energy drink packs a lot of calories and more than twice as much caffeine as a standard cup of coffee.

Staying hydrated is a key strategy employed by long-haul truckers and others who have to put in long hours at tedious jobs.

Fluids help keep your blood flowing, which means your brain is getting plenty of oxygen and nutrients to keep working sharply in and outside of class.

Even becoming slightly dehydrated can cause fatigue, irritability, and other health problems. Having a water bottle with you in class — if it’s allowed — can make a big difference in keeping you hydrated and focused.

Being actively engaged, whether it’s taking notes or participating in a classroom discussion, can help keep you from snoozing during a lecture.

You may just need to occupy your mind more during class, so take good notes. They can be questions or comments on the lecture if there aren’t facts to jot down.

If the class allows for questions and discussions, be the student who raises a hand and keeps the conversation going.

One of the keys to getting a good night’s sleep, which in turn means less daytime sleepiness, is to follow a set schedule of bedtime and wake-up time.

By going to sleep at approximately the same time every day and waking up at the same time, you’re setting your body’s natural clock to know when it’s time to sleep and when it’s time to be awake and learning.

Try to aim for 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night, though if you’re in your teens or 20s, you may need as many as 9 or 10 hours to become fully rested.

Exposure to light, especially in the morning, is one of the simplest and cheapest ways to wake up your mind and body for the day ahead.

Taking a brisk walk in the morning can energize you for hours. If that’s not possible, open up your blinds as soon as you wake up to let the morning sunlight into your home.

Exposure to morning light helps you wake up faster, and perhaps more importantly, it sets your internal clock to be awake during the day and sleepy at night.

Sitting in the back of a large — or even a small — lecture class can put you one step closer to an unplanned nap. It’s a little tougher to fall asleep if you’re in the front row, just a few feet from the teacher.

Mint has many health benefits. One of the most useful in class — apart from making your breath smell better — is how peppermint can help stimulate the hippocampus, which is a key part of the brain involved with alertness, memory, and other thinking skills.

If you’re upset about your grades, the news, or something that happened this morning, your brain expends a lot of energy. It’s going to wear you out and make your tired.

If you’re experiencing emotional exhaustion, problems can range from daytime sleepiness to poor sleep at night, as well as irritability, poor concentration, headaches, increased pessimism, and much more.

Using meditation and relaxation techniques to help cope with stress and anger may help restore your energy and give you a happier outlook. Even just few days of mindfulness meditation training can help boost your attention and thinking skills.

You may feel more like sitting up, paying attention, and working if you’re wearing business-like clothes as opposed to comfier outfits. It may keep you focused on the work in front of you.

If you struggle to stay awake in class once in a while, just remind yourself to get enough sleep on “school nights” and try the strategies above.

But if you’re consistently sleepy in class or other times during the day, tell a doctor. You may have a condition such as obstructive sleep apnea that’s keeping you from getting enough restorative sleep at night.

Otherwise, a warm cup of tea or coffee, or perhaps a little exercise or meditation may offer more benefits than just helping you keep up with your schoolwork.

How to Stay Awake at Work: 17 Tips

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Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could take a quick break from work to nap every time you felt you needed it? Unfortunately, this is not the reality for most people.

Tiredness at work is common whether you work part time or full time, day shift or night shift. It can harm your work performance and make work less enjoyable. And in some careers, it can be downright dangerous.

If you’re struggling to stay awake at work and the coffee’s just not cutting it, try some of these tips:

1. Go for a walk before work

Getting some fresh air and moving your body before work can help keep you awake. A walk is especially effective at increasing your alertness if you take one when the sun’s up.

2. Take a nap before work

While it’s often impossible to take a nap on the job, taking a nap before work can help increase your alertness. This is an especially important tip for shift workers, who may be required to work odd or alternating hours. Napping for as little as 15 to 20 minutes before work can help improve your alertness throughout your shift.

3. Take activity breaks

Sitting or standing still for too long, such as at a desk or cash register, can make you feel tired. Staying active can help you feel more alert and think more clearly. Get up and take activity breaks every few hours if possible. For example, try walking around your office or workplace while you take that phone call.You can also try these exercises you can do at your desk.

4. Keep your workspace bright

If you work during the day, keep your workplace window shades open to let in sunlight. If you’re working when it’s dark or dim, turn the lights on to help keep you awake and alert.

5. Drink water

Sipping caffeine can give you a temporary energy boost, but drinking water throughout your shift is much healthier and is also effective in keeping you alert. That’s because dehydration can make it more difficult for you to concentrate on your work.

6. Drink caffeine early in your shift

Consuming some caffeine early in your shift can boost your alertness early in your day. Be sure to consume it only at the start of your shift, though. Caffeinating too late can interfere with your ability to sleep after work.

7. Keep snacks handy

Eating healthy snacks during the day can help keep your blood sugar — and attention — steady all day long. Look for foods with a mix of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Good snack options include:

• peanut butter and whole wheat crackers
• granola and yogurt
• nuts and fruit
• baby carrots and cheese

Avoid consuming foods and beverages with added sugar, such as candies, energy bars, and soda.

8. Get the easy stuff out of the way

It can be hard to focus on complex tasks when you’re tired. If possible, complete the easiest tasks when you’re tired, such as replying to emails, filing documents, or reorganizing your computer’s desktop. Usually your energy will return as you complete these simpler tasks.

9. Use energizing scents to wake you up

Keep scented candles or an essential oil diffuser at your desk. Look for scents that are strong and energizing, such as jasmine, citrus, or peppermint. You can also rub essential oil on your hands and temples to help keep you energized.

Shop for an essential oil diffuser and essential oils now.

10. Turn on some tunes

Listening to loud, energizing music such as rock or pop can sometimes help increase your energy level. If you work in a shared space, make sure to wear headphones so you don’t disturb your coworkers.

The above tips are great short-term fixes to staying awake at work. But to help stay alert at work in the long term, you need to make some adjustments to your daily life.

Here are seven lifestyle changes that can help increase the quality of your sleep, making it easier for you to stay awake at work.

1. Avoid light before bed

Your body’s production of melatonin, which helps you sleep, is influenced by light and dark. It can be challenging, especially for shift workers, to avoid light before bed. Sunlight can make your body feel more energized when you’re trying to wind down.

Reduce your exposure to light before bed by limiting your screen time from your TV or cell phone. In addition, try wearing an eye mask or hanging darkening shades on your windows if sunlight keeps you up when you’re trying to sleep.

2. Avoid consuming stimulants before bed

Don’t consume caffeine or other stimulants during the second half of your shift. Doing so can make it much more difficult for you to fall and stay asleep at bedtime.

3. Make your bedroom quiet

Turn off all electronic devices, such as your TV, and use earplugs to keep your bedroom quiet. Use a white noise machine to drown out loud or distracting noises if necessary.

4. Make napping part of your routine

Setting up a nap schedule can help regulate your sleep.

5. Limit your shift changes

Changing shifts often makes it harder for your body to adjust. Limit these changes when possible.

6. Pay attention to your body when it comes to exercise

Exercise is helpful in promoting sleep. However, for some people, exercising right before bed can make it harder to fall asleep. For others, exercise may not affect their sleep patterns at all. Get to know your body and what feels best.

7.

Avoid smoking and drinking before bed

These habits can make it more difficult for you to fall and stay asleep.

Feeling tired at work can make your workday less productive and less enjoyable. Luckily, there are things you can do today to help make you feel less sleepy and more alert at work. Making certain lifestyle changes to promote sleep after work will help you stay alert at work in the long term, as well.

How to stay up all night if you really need to

Adviсe

October 1, 2020

Discomfort, coffee with chocolate and trolling will help you stay awake until the morning.

You can listen to this article. If it’s more convenient for you, turn on the podcast.

1. Avoid sleep rituals

Getting ready for bed usually involves some sequence of activities: putting on pajamas, drinking milk, reading a book. For ordinary days, this is an advantage: the body immediately understands that now you are going to bed. If you need to stay awake, these habits are best avoided.

2. Don’t overeat

Being slightly hungry will keep you awake, as you are supposed to be active in order to get your own food.

3. Choose the right clothes

Do not change into pajamas, even if they are very comfortable. Wear something you can’t sleep in, like brand new, unworn jeans. Another helper will be shoes with laces. It will not give you the opportunity to “just lie down for five minutes.” Unless, of course, you are used to falling asleep in your shoes every Friday.

4. Avoid sofas and beds

If you want to sleep badly, you will fall asleep even on a hard chair with nails sticking out in some places. A soft bed will not leave you a single chance to hold out until the morning. Therefore, choose not the most comfortable seats.

5. Make the Light Brighter

Studies have shown that bright light suppresses drowsiness. Turn on the overhead light, sconce, table lamp. It is impossible to overdo it in this matter. True, this trick should not be turned at parties: other visitors to the nightclub may be unhappy with the lights suddenly turned on.

6. Find out who is wrong on the Internet

Find a person with a questionable position on Facebook* and try to convince him. You can sincerely argue or frankly troll, but the effect will be the same: from indignation, you will not only fall asleep – you will not be able to sit still.

7. Get enough sleep the day before

Not the most unexpected, but working way. A sleepless night the day before leaves you virtually no chance to be productively awake. Unless, of course, you flew from the future to save John Connor. Therefore, before a strategically important night, sleep as hard as you can.

8. Drink coffee or caffeinated beverages

Caffeine does suppress sleepiness. True, there are nuances of drinking coffee, depending on how you want to spend the morning. If you drink it too actively, there is a risk that you will be too alert even when it’s time to go to bed. If you drink just a little bit of coffee, you will easily fall asleep when the caffeine leaves your bloodstream.

9. Eat spicy food

Instead of trying to pinch yourself to stay awake, outsource this activity. Eat a portion of spicy, burning food. It will irritate the mucous membrane in your mouth enough to make you forget about sleep.

10. Load up on fast carbohydrates

On a sleepless night, just the property of fast carbohydrates that adherents of a healthy diet scold them for is useful: they quickly break down into simple sugars and give a strong, albeit short-lived burst of energy. So ignore the advice of grandmothers “do not eat sweets at night, otherwise you will not fall asleep” and stock up on sweets.

Keep an eye on your level of fatigue, as the energy will leave your body just as quickly: as soon as you feel tired, it’s time to take another bite from the chocolate bar.

11. Wash with cold water

Rinse face and wrists. Cold water is a kind of stress for the body, and therefore it will inevitably cheer up to eliminate discomfort.

12. Chew gum

Research has shown that chewing will keep you awake. The brain receives a signal that food is on its way to the stomach, and does not allow the body to relax in anticipation of a portion of energy. In general, you can chew anything, but chewing gum will be a longer-lasting option than food.

13. Drink water

Dehydration can lead to fatigue, so listen carefully to your body’s signals of thirst. The advice has an added bonus: Have you ever tried to sleep with a full bladder?

14. Squat

Physical activity invigorates, and if you get up every hour and do 15 squats or push-ups, this will significantly extend the period of wakefulness. But jumping is better to avoid, although communication with the police squad, which the neighbors will call because of the noise, can invigorate better than any squats.

15.

Keep your head busy

Surely there are puzzles that make you forget about everything in the world. For some, these are puzzles, for others – a new level of computer games. If you choose a movie or game, it is better that they are new to you and that you have to carefully follow the twists and turns of the plot.

16. Switch attention

A sleepless night is a great time to practice multitasking. Switch between different tasks to avoid switching to automatic work mode.

What methods do you use? Share in the comments.

Read also 🧐

• How to replace coffee to maintain energy and improve concentration0085
• How to deal with tiredness and sleepiness in the afternoon

*Activity of Meta Platforms Inc. and its social networks Facebook and Instagram are prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation.

10 ways to stay up all night

Is it possible to stay up all night without harm to your health and what, apart from a few cups of coffee, will help you stay awake? Share the answers to these questions and help prepare for a sleepless night

Contents

• Consequences of a sleepless night
• Why people decide not to sleep
• How to stay up all night

What happens if you don’t sleep

Sleep is necessary for health: even one sleepless night can negatively affect the body. If you do not sleep for more than 17 hours in a row [1], the reaction rate will decrease by 50% and the brain will not work at full capacity. In addition, due to increased sleepiness, the risk of an accident will increase.

In 1963, researcher William Dement and test subject Randy Gardner set up an experiment to find out how long a person could stay awake. Their record is 11 days and 25 minutes (by 2022 it is still unbeaten) [2]. During the experiment, Randy’s mood fluctuated, he had hallucinations, he could not speak clearly, he forgot facts and got confused in his memories. This effect was from 11 days without sleep, but even one sleepless night can lead to health consequences.

Without sleep, the brain cannot “refresh”: fluid from the spine does not flow into it, which “washes away” toxins, some of which cause Alzheimer’s disease [3]. And this is not the only harmful effect of sleep deprivation: a study in Sweden showed that just one sleepless night increased the risk of damage to brain cells by 20% [4].

Why people decide not to sleep

The reasons can be different: accumulated deadlines at work, shift schedule, upcoming exams or a night event. Recently, psychologists have noticed a new reason for refusing healthy sleep – procrastination. In English, it is called Revenge Bedtime Procrastination – “procrastination, taking revenge on sleep patterns” [5]. This is the name given to situations when a person refuses sleep in favor of leisure: doing a hobby, flipping through a feed on social networks or watching TV shows. However, for this, no additional prescriptions that do not allow you to fall asleep are required.

But sometimes work or school makes us neglect sleep. We tell you how to do business at night, minimizing the risk to health.

How to stay up all night

1. Turn on the light

Our brain reacts to the change of day and night, and when it’s dark, we automatically fall asleep. This is how the internal biological clock works [6]. To drive away drowsiness and increase vigilance, provide yourself with a bright source of light (and it is desirable that it be not yellow, but white). In dim lighting, you will only want to sleep more, and your concentration will drop.

2. Get moving

Physical activity usually helps you fall asleep at night, but if you do sports 1-2 hours before bedtime, you will only cheer up [7]. Do a little exercise: jump, stretch or stretch. Do this every time you want to go to bed.

3. Take breaks

Staring at a computer screen for a long time can strain your eyes and cause dryness that will make you want to sleep even more. Try sometimes to take your eyes off the monitor: for example, go for tea or coffee or do a warm-up for the eyes.

4. Drink water

Dehydration reduces blood flow to the brain, resulting in a feeling of fatigue and increased sleepiness [8]. To avoid this, place a bottle of water near your workspace and drink when your mouth feels dry.

5. Drink coffee

One of the most obvious ways, but it works. Studies have shown that if the human body has more than 600 milligrams of caffeine per day (that’s about four mugs), it will be able to cope with tasks faster and more efficiently. But be careful: large doses (from 900 mg) have the opposite effect. You will become more anxious and unable to concentrate [9].

Energy drinks also contain caffeine, but their use can be dangerous. One drink is equal to about five mugs of coffee. In addition, energy drinks contain guarana, which also contains caffeine. It is quite difficult to calculate the exact dose, and you can overdo it: your head will start to hurt and feel dizzy, nervousness and anxiety will appear.

6. Take a shower

A cold or cool shower will help you feel refreshed and tired. If you don’t have time for it, you can rinse your face and neck with cold water and brush your teeth to freshen up.

7. Get 15–20 minutes of sleep

Short sleep will help you relieve accumulated fatigue and increase your own productivity [10]. Set yourself several alarms so you don’t oversleep. If you sleep for more than 20 minutes, you will most likely snap yourself out of deep sleep and feel more overwhelmed than you were before.