Things I learn at school

If you ever find yourself in need of high consentration on little sleep, I have figured out a few key ingredients that would help and compared both their pros and cons.

The following is a list of tested stimulants for staying awake:

Coffee: though this may be the immediate drink of choice when in need of mental energy, if overused or used improperly the result may actually be counter productive. The high off of coffee (especially straight espresso) is a sudden jolt of energy in which the drinker is lifted to a point of euphoric sensation, senses are heightened, hands start shaking, laughing easily. At this point you are in a self induced state of ADD, extremely wired yet easily distracted by shinny things. Coffee also holds a risk of dependence.

Apple: I once was told that an apple will awaken a person just as well as a cup of coffee. Now I am a little skeptical of that claim, but, to their merit, chomping down on a juicy sweet while pouring over your textbook hold a sort of awakening satisfaction. After you have finished nibbling the sweet fruit to its core, you can always amuse yourself by throwing the left over core at an unsuspecting student studying in the desk across the room, the one you always thought was a little two uptight.

Soundtrack Music: trying to write an essay in which you sound smarter than you are takes your full concentration and energy without having to battle boredom of sitting at a computer screen. The best way to solve that is with music, though not just any music, music without distracting words which get stuck in your head and the next thing you know your writing lyrics in your paper. Usually that would mean classical music (a sure ticket to drifting asleep), or movie soundtracks, complete with epic and compelling theme to energize your mind and no words that may accidentally slip into your paper. Now you can have the euphoric high of watching a movie and be productive.

Exercise: when you start to maul over the same sentence for thirty minutes, its time to take a joy ride. Get up calmly, walk out the library, and start running across campus. You will soon realize that this was a bad idea since it is cold and dark and 2:30 in the morning but by that time, you will be a good distance away from any of your things. Then you will quickly run back to the warmth of the building and your laptop which you left sitting on the table. That should keep you up for a good hour and a half

Tea: a good alternative to coffee is dark, nearly bitter hot black tea. Don’t bother with the herbal infusions and antioxidants, which will do nothing, more than give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Unlike coffee, you won’t spike into near delirium but the silent stimulant will keep you awake and alert long after you finished drinking. Caffeine is a diuretic, consider yourself warned

Water: when all else fails, or when you have ingested too much coffee and cant focus on anything, start chugging the water. It doesn’t take very far into the night to dry out but you must dehydrate your brain from time to time. This is also a good way to fight off the 3 am munchies when you’ve eaten everything in your dorm already.