Tips on staying awake all night?

[Volug]

This explains it somewhat...
After working on and repairing my family's roof along with my father. I decided I'll play Ocarina of Time and beat it, without stoping (Except to do my... "Business"). I'll be eating while I play.

Funny thing is, I've beaten Master Quest a long while ago, maybe 3 years ago I think... Or 4. But I have NEVER beaten the original Ocarina of Time. The furthest I got on the origenal was to the water temple. So I've decided to play the origenal, all the way through like I said. I'll be using the Ocarina of time/Master Quest disk, and playing it on my Nintendo Wii. As I never bought OoT for my N64! XD

I'm about to start the game up. I'll be referringto the walkthroughs on here if I need them.
I can't remember how long this takes, it's been forever since I've played OoT or Master Quest. So I can't remember how long it will take... Does anyone have a good guess?

Also, any help /tips on staying awake would be very nice XD
I don't drink coffee or tea, and I don't plan to start now nor ever start =P

I'm finally done with repairing the roof! w00t fr00t!:smalltongue:

As I said, I would appreciate tips on how to stay awake.

[Bayar]

Sleep alot before, have something to eat, meditate a bit and then just lose yourself into a world of pixels. Just watch out on the time limit...after 100 hours death becomes a possibility :smalleek:

[Pepz]

mmm these things used to help me whenever I tried to stay up all night for whatever reason

- Try to change position once in a while, if you lay or sit in the same way for a long time you start getting drowsy very quickly.

- Be in a well lit room. The more work your eyes have to do, the faster they'll feel like falling shut.

- Drink cold drinks. Something that really helped me through long night. I just got a big glass of water with a lot of ice cubes. Refreshed a lot.

- my last hint depends on what you prefer. Taking short breaks can help someone keep concentrated, while for other people it's better to keep going and going. I always made my bathroom breaks an excuse to take a fresh breath outside and talk to other people.

hope these hints help a little.

[TheCountAlucard]

Don't make yourself too comfortable. Rather than lying in bed, resting your head on a pillow as you play, sit in a chair.

Take a few breaks every now and then, to get up and stretch and whatnot.

[Illiterate Scribe]

Keep moving. If you can set up outside, but under cover, the fresher air, wind, and other stuff will help. Sit on a chair that is comfy enough to sit on, but not enough to send you to sleep. Also, from previous experience, don't try and get a lot of sleep in advance, before you do this; it's best to try to get your body into a rhythm of needing less and less sleep, until you can get along on very little. I know that at one point, I was sustaining myself on three hours of sleep each night - you get used to it after a while, although sustaining it over more than a week or so mucks up your sleep cycles a lot.

That, or amphetamines.

[Volug]

I haven't been sleeping at all in a week... Only maybe 4-5 hours. I'm starting to get used to that, it'll probably help.

Now to describe where I'm at...

-I've got myself in a lit room.
-I'm sitting on a giant pillow (which I can NEVER get asleep on even if I wanted too) Bonus: It's comfy though... Just can't fall asleep on it.
-I do plan to get up now and then
-I have access to many drinks, cold and caffinated
-I don't plan to play over 100 hours...

[Arokh]

Get some kind of candy and some drinks that contain some sugar (e.g.lemonade)
and possibly also some soft drinks that contain caffeine(spelling?) (e.g. Coke or Pepsi), or combine that and get a few energy drinks.
If that does not keep you awake, I can help you.

So long, Arokh.

[Caracol]

Benzedrine. It helps creativity, too!

Of course, I'm kidding.

[Player_Zero]

Don't bother. It causes brain damage.

Just play it during the day like regular diet cola. normal people, lest you end up a brain damaged wreck, unable to go more than two sentences without making obscure references.

P.S. Tea is the drink of the gods.

[Jack Squat]

My main tips for not falling asleep for an extended period of time.

don't lay down...seriously, no matter how uncomfortable it is, you will fall aleep at some point. sitting's better for playing games anyways.

keep food around. If you stay up and don't eat, you'll have trouble eating in the morning.

drink plenty of water/other non-energy drinks...dehydration is never fun. And while energy drinks don't cause dehydraiton, they don't contain enough of a kick to keep you going for too long. They're great in the morning or if you're getting a little wiped during work, but the more you drink to recover from them wearing off, the more tired you'll be each time. I'd suggest sticking with water, milk, and juice. Pop's fine to have too, just don't make it your only option.

get up and stretch some...I'd probably do it during the bathroom breaks myself (I can get by with only having one in the morning, but I don't normally follow the food drink thing, as I'm normally doing other things with my mouth when I'm up that late :smallamused:).

As a follow up, don't try to sleep for 20 hours to make up for it. get only as much sleep as you normally do, and get back on schedule.

[Mr. Moon]

I have a tip. Don't.

Night time is for sleeping. Not for gaming. From what I know of you, you're a teenager like me. So therefore, 10 HOURS OF SLEEP A DAY IS ESSENTIAL!!!! I don't care how good the game is, you need to sleep. Seriously, draw a line somewhere reasonable, like 10-o'-clock. 4-5 hours a day for a week is doing horrible things to your brain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation). Stop staring at pixels and go to bed. :smallmad:[/raisedbyahealthcareproffesional]

@V: Whatever. If you wanna kill your brain to play video games, go right ahead. Don't say I didn't warn you.

[Volug]

To those who disagree with my descision:

Keep it to yourself. This is something I want to do. I've done things like this before and nothing bad ever happened (Similar things). It's summer, I don't have to worry about school (I even got a 4.0 this school year).

Just keep it to yourself if you disagree with what I'm doing:smallsigh: It's my decisions and you are wasting your time (as well as keeping me up later:smalltongue:) trying to convince me otherwise.
Although, it's nice to know you care about me:smalltongue:



To those that gave me tips: thank you.

[NinjaHippy]

So therefore, 10 HOURS OF SLEEP A DAY IS ESSENTIAL!!!!

Really? I haven't gotten ten hours of sleep regularly for years. Huh.

As to staying up all night, may I suggest Mountain Dew? You could even go hardcore UBAR N3RD and make it GameFuel (if they even still make that stuff, I dunno).

[Volug]

I'm out of all cafinated drinks I like... (Regular Diet Pepsi is my fave, though most of the time I get the caffine free kind).
Mount. Dew is decent, but I don't have any.

I can always steal have some of my Dad's coke, and my mom's diet pepsi with lime (It's somewhat gross, but I manage sometimes).

Water mostly, cold, as people suggested.

[Philistine]

I'm gonna have to mostly agree with Moon_Called. All-nighters aren't a good thing, and should usually be avoided when at all possible. Even if you feel okay the next day, your judgement, concentration, and motor skills will be negatively affected.

But different people need different amounts of sleep. For me, 4-5 hours of sleep a night has been my normal allotment since late adolescence - so that's 15+ years now of about half the "normal" ration of sleep. Most nights, that's all I can get (I've tried to get around it by going to bed earlier, the result being that I sleep even less - because I wake up after 2-3 hours and can't get to sleep again).

But if you absolutely had to do it - and I'll grant that sometimes you do, although this really doesn't sound like one of those times - there are some things that I always found helpful.

1) Other People - having someone else to talk to is probably the single most helpful thing in keeping your brain engaged so that you don't drop off, or at least I've always found that to be the case
2) Food and Drink - as others have said, you want to keep something on hand; personally I preferred demolishing a loaf of bread over the course of the evening over going on a candy binge, but YMMV
3) Regular Breaks - getting completely lost in whatever you're doing can certainly help pass the time (and be fun!), but if you can't manage that, take at least 5 minutes every hour to get up, move around, walk and stretch. Even if you do manage to lose yourself in what you're doing, anytime you mentally "come up for air" and notice the time, that's a good time for a break
4) Lighting - as previously mentioned, a well-lit space helps a lot

EDIT: I type slow. I've done "things like this" before too, more times than I can remember when I was in college. That's why I can tell you now, from experience, that it's something to avoid. But you're right - it's your decision, you'll do what you want.

[Mauve Shirt]

Brew tea in a cup of coffee. Add diet coke. Drink quickly.

[NinjaHippy]

Brew tea in a cup of coffee. Add diet coke. Drink quickly.

*choke* And white filler text. Seriously, that sounds awful.

[Volug]

@^^: As I said, I don't drink coffee nor never will.

Excuse my spelling, I'm going to fast.

Alright, to put some people who are "conserned" about me getting "brain problems". From what I heard you will have to be missing out on ALOT of sleep to get something actually really bad and/or pernament damage via sleep loss. I didn't have a choice in only getting a couple hours of sleep this last week, as I HAD too or my house would flood due to the rain.

Days I usually do this kind of stuff (This is my first real one, but I had nights where I got very little or no sleep) are very few and far between.

I have things to keep me awake and happy, such as my cousin to talk to. I'm confident I will be positivly fine and happy when this is over. I will take occasional breaks to stretch and such. And maybe take a nap if I finish this game in less then 12 hours. I do agree I probably won't be "All there" tommorow, but I'm not doing anything that day.

In conclusion: don't worry! There is a reason to worry about problems. But after all the all-nighters my friends pulled and some that I did, they had no problems what-so-ever. They are smarter then me and as I mentioned, I'm a 4.0 student.

Hope that puts an end to all the, "Don't do it! Your brain will rot". Because it, won't I've played video games most of my life and I'm fine and dandy.

[Reinboom]

Brew tea in a cup of coffee. Add diet coke. Drink quickly.

He suggested he would never drink Tea.
(which is rather silly, white teas are amazingly healthy for the body...)

[Tiffanie Lirle]

I've often pulled all nighters, what I like to do is make the room I'm in as cold as possible. If its cold where you are, open a window. If you have any fans, use those as well. Do anything short of getting hypothermia that you can.

Do not lie down, no matter how tempting it is, once you get comfortable and relaxed you're going to want to sleep.

Get some sugary drinks, Cola, Sprite, a glass of water with bucketloads of sugar mixed in, Hell just eat the sugar straight out of the bag if you really want to.

Splash cold water on your face.

To name a few things.

However, prepare to feel like crap when you wake up from whenever you finally get to sleep.

[BisectedBrioche]

Eat small (a large meals will make you sleepy as you body digests it) carbohydrate rich meals throughout the night (avoid sugar, you'll crash when it wears off). Caffeine helps, but get plenty of water (dehydration makes you tired).

And remember the following: Staying awake all night is easy, its staying awake the following day that's the trick. Try to stay awake the next day because if you sleep until the evening you could screw up your sleep cycle.

Some more things to note about getting sleep;


Any period of sleep less than 90 minutes will lack REM sleep (a sleeping person will generally have 90 minute cycles of sleep, ending in about 20 minutes of "deep" REM sleep) and thus not prevent the long term effects of sleep deprivation.
You are easiest to wake up 40-50 minutes into the cycle just before REM starts.
Some psychologists believe that missing any more than 3 days sleep can lead to perminent damage.

[Player_Zero]

To those who disagree with my descision:

Keep it to yourself.
I curse the day you came to Sleepy Hollow.

[Winter_Wolf]

If you're set on staying up, get a few people that will be entertaining to be around for that long. Back when I was in middle school three or four of us would hang out and end up sleeping for about one or two hours in two days, but we kept each other up. It helps if several people in the group have a reputation for doing embarrassing/unpleasant things to anyone they catch sleeping. That right there is what we called 'motivation'. The threat of the hand in warm water trick pretty much guaranteed none of us ever wanted to be the first to fall asleep.

[Oregano]

I agree with most everything everyone has said especially the splashing water on your face.

Some food that are high sugar.
Marshmallows, especially you can eat them and play
Sherbert
No chcocolate, it can melt or get messy
You might want to get some chewing gum or mints to make sure you're always doing something other than playing so you don't become zombified.

[FoE]

I've done it, but I wouldn't recommend it. Going without sleep is just going to leave you feeling really tired the next day, and it will affect your productivity. The only way it's worthwhile is if you absolutely needed to get something big done for the morning and just don't have enough time. And then if you're like me, you gotta make up for the lost sleep later on, so it's not much of a savings.

My experience is that you'll be fine for about half the night. It's between 4-6 a.m. that you hit a wall, and suddenly you start to nod off. At that point you'll either need to fight to stay awake or just take a nap. Although it won't do you much good, getting a couple of hours of sleep is better than nothing.

[zeratul]

Ah, all nighters are wicked fun. Yeah I'd say that well lit room, and not laying down are good ideas. Also doing something else that gaming every once in a while is good. Or do something while gaming. You're into metal right? Listen to some blind guardian or something every once and a while while you play. Variation helps keep the brain moving. Also I personally feel verry awake the day after pulling an all-niter. Odd isn't it?

Have a fun time dude.:smallcool:

[Volug]

Yeah, I have some metal... Most of it's been deleted however to make room for my 300 + song Okami sound track... Which some of that may help as well. As it does have "scary" sounding tracks, and I may try to use that to convince myself to stay awake:smalltongue:
Or I can just youtube manowar music and listen to that.

From experiance myself, I know tommorow will suck. Though I have the whole day, and I can easily just go to sleep in the morning, or take a nap at least.

Thanks Zeratul:smalltongue:

[FdL]

How does not sleeping make playing a game more fun? Why turn a fun activity like playing a game into a test of endurance of some sorts. People do the craziest things. :smallconfused:

There's a save option for a reason. And as they said, nighttime is for sleep. To rest so you can play your videogames during the day. And have a life.

[Volug]

Get a life by sleeping? *laughs*
I mean, if I played this all day, morning, and afternoon... THEN you can say "Get a life".

I'm doing this in celebration of my week long almost non-stop labor repairing the roof with a very short timelimit so the house doesn't flood with ONLY 2 people including me.
You could say it's also to challenge myself, and for the fun.

I am doing this for the fun, but if it was something like trying to jump across the grand canyon which is far more dangerous then missing some sleep (I am taking a nap when I'm done), then you can warn me... But I won't do it.
It's harmless, if I planned to stay awake 72 hours for another example, that's a different story.

Please, I already stated everything I can about it. As I said, if you disagree with me, just refer to my previous posts. I WANT to do this, please don't try to ruin my fun. I am prepared to have a crappy day tommorow, which would be boring anyways as I'm not doing a thing tommorow.

[Player_Zero]

I thought that it was the general consensus that it isn't alright to let people do things which are bad for them. Which is why you're supposed to stop people commiting suicide and whatnot.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

besides all the aforementioned negative effects, being up for 17-19 hours straight have the impairment of someone at or slightly above the legal blood alcohol limit (.08). Essentially, you act like you're drunk, which if you're a teenager, is really not good for you. Not to mention all the bad things that happen when REM sleeps doesn't occur. Also, the fact that sleep deprivation is a torture technique should say everything.

[Leper_Kahn]

I've heard that posting 5ish times in a row help people stay up. :smallwink:

Honestly, as long as you're not bored you can stay up all night easy... It's the next day and night that hurts.

[Rigel Cyrosea]

Vitamin C is a natural stimulant. Eat lots of citrus fruit, and if you have vitamin C pills, take a couple when you're feeling tired. Much safer and easier than caffeine.
Just to clarify, Vitamin C is not one of the many vitamins that can be harmful if you take too much. Unless you continually overdose on it for weeks, it won't have any side effects, which can't be said for caffeine.

[Volug]

Vitamin C, Eh?

I got some of those pills somewhere... I'll take them sometime.

Thanks:smalltongue:

[Jack Squat]

Vitamin C is a natural stimulant. Eat lots of citrus fruit, and if you have vitamin C pills, take a couple when you're feeling tired. Much safer and easier than caffeine.

Caffeine's natural too. Besides, drinking coffee is much safer than popping Vit. C pills. It takes a heck of a lot to kill you with either, but taking a lot of Vit. C can lead to indigestion, nausea, headaches, diarrhea, and fatigue. Drinking Juice and eating oranges is fine, but I'd personally stay away from the pills. I've already stated why energy drinks (which basically means caffeine...so a lot of pop as well) is a bad idea, I'm going to go ahead and say that taking anything to keep you unnaturally up probably isn't good for you. Stick with snacks and juice/milk/water.

[Solo]

As I said, I would appreciate tips on how to stay awake.

Do a Barrel Roll!


I thought that it was the general consensus that it isn't alright to let people do things which are bad for them. Which is why you're supposed to stop people commiting suicide and whatnot.
Yes, but this is amusing:p

For my part, I think he should just brute force it and stay awake through virtue of sheer will power.

[Volug]

There is something wrong with the G-diffuser!:smallfrown:
Star Fox 64 quotes, FTW!

On Topic: I'm set. I got unlimited supply of very good water (Utah for the win). And my sister wants to stay up and watch too... I told her no, but she made me let her stay >.>

[BizzaroStormy]

Alright GAMING BINGE!!! Seeing this thread inspired me to do the same thing. I'm going to play through every 360 game without sleep. GH3, Mass Effect, GTA IV, Dead Rising, Cromehounds, and Condemned 2.

I've done this kind of thing before so ill give you all i know.

1. Keep a lot of very cold drinks handy.
2. Have a caffinated drink at least every 3 hours.
3. Since you have someone with you doing the same thing, have them slap you every now and then to keep you up.
4. Stay busy! Being idle and without focus makes it easier for you to go to sleep.
5. Set your AC so that its either cold or hot, comfortable temperatures amke it easy to fall asleep.
6. WALK to your nearest gas station every now and then to get a gas station-strength coffee and converse with the cashier.

[Reinboom]

I got unlimited supply of very good water (Utah for the win).

This statement doesn't add up for me.

One of the many things I've realized, moving from very in the middle of san francisco (10 minute walk to market street/center of downtown, 5 minute walk to japan town, etc.) to here (midvale, a more calm portion of salt lake city) is..
the water here is HORRIBLE. Of course, it's still water, so it's not bad. Just in comparison.
Of course, SF's water was bad too (in comparison to where I grew up in Michigan...).
So, once again, I must reiterate, that statement makes no sense to me.

[Volug]

Out of every single place I've tried tap water...
Nothing compares to the normal tap water we get in Utah (at least my county maybe >.>)

The tap water here is better then the bottled water you buy at the store...

[Raiser Blade]

Out of every single place I've tried tap water...
Nothing compares to the normal tap water we get in Utah (at least my county maybe >.>)

The tap water here is better then the bottled water you buy at the store...

Have you actually had your tap water tested to prove that? Bottled water (if it isn't spring water) is way better then tap water always.

[ZeroNumerous]

Have you actually had your tap water tested to prove that? Bottled water (if it isn't spring water) is way better then tap water always.

Filtered bottled water does not contain fluoride(or it's not filtered!), and thus aids in the degradation of your tooth enamel. Tap water is always safer and better for you.

[Reinboom]

Filtered bottled water does not contain fluoride(or it's not filtered!), and thus aids in the degradation of your tooth enamel. Tap water is always safer and better for you.

Tap water can also pick up minerals (which is not always a good thing...), and copper, however.

Also, tap water doesn't always mean city tap water... well water still ultimately comes out of the tap...


Also, I would argue that the "it's better" is closer to "it's what I'm used to."

[Raiser Blade]

Filtered bottled water does not contain fluoride(or it's not filtered!), and thus aids in the degradation of your tooth enamel. Tap water is always safer and better for you.

Are you serious? Do you actually believe that? :smalleek:

http://www.douglassreport.com/reports/fluoride.html?gclid=CN2fwdns4ZMCFQwxiQodawmgVw

http://www.fluoridealert.org/

http://www.curetoothdecay.com/Dentistry/Fluoride.htm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188769,00.html

http://www.ioniczone.com/fluoride-good-or-bad-s/159.htm

[Volug]

Also, I would argue that the "it's better" is closer to "it's what I'm used to."

... Toche'

But...

Oh look! I'm still not tired yet!:smallbiggrin:

[Volug]

I beat it!:smallbiggrin:

Stayed awake without a problem. Now I'm taking a shower and then I'm going to take a nap...

[Leper_Kahn]

Alright GAMING BINGE!!! Seeing this thread inspired me to do the same thing. I'm going to play through every 360 game without sleep. GH3, Mass Effect, GTA IV, Dead Rising, Cromehounds, and Condemned 2.

Dude! Mass Effect, and GTA IV are like 40 hour games... Good luck.

[FdL]

Good. Next time try playing it without using the pause option, or without eating/drinking anything, or without changing your position or blinking. Maybe something like that could make it more fun for you. Cheers.

This thread did bring an interesting discussion about water though.

[thubby]

games and/or will power usually does it for me. not that it helps your situation, but tvtropers has eaten many of my nights *shake fist*

[Nibleswick]

This statement doesn't add up for me.

One of the many things I've realized, moving from very in the middle of san francisco (10 minute walk to market street/center of downtown, 5 minute walk to japan town, etc.) to here (midvale, a more calm portion of salt lake city) is..
the water here is HORRIBLE. Of course, it's still water, so it's not bad. Just in comparison.
Of course, SF's water was bad too (in comparison to where I grew up in Michigan...).
So, once again, I must reiterate, that statement makes no sense to me.

There are reasons that we tell jokes about the water at that end of the valley.:smallbiggrin:

[The Extinguisher]

Speaking of sleep deprivation, who has time for ten hours of sleep?

In order to get those ten hours, I have to go to bed at 8:00, Which is, frankly, imposssible. Even eight hours a night can be difficult.

[BizzaroStormy]

Dude! Mass Effect, and GTA IV are like 40 hour games... Good luck.

I used cheats on GTA and only played thru the main story of Mass effect. Right now im on dead rising which is annoying since i actually have to wait on the in-game timer. Good thing I have the mega-buster unlocked.

[poleboy]

Hmm... I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that it's possible to complete it in a couple of hours. So you might not have to.

Anyway, I think the most important part is not to strain your eyes, that's always what makes me the most tired. So make sure you have enough light in the room and take regular breaks (or at least look away from the screen once in a while).

[Nonanonymous]

Watch the Candyman.

[Grug]

Try playing two games.

This may sound crazy, but the best way to make yourself fall asleep is staring at the same spot for a long time. Get somewhere else to look at, or get up, pace your room for thirty seconds, then sit down. When your eyes get glazed, that's when you sleep.

[H. Zee]

Eat apples.

Seriously. I've seen scientific studies that state that eating apples is much, much more effective at keeping someone awake than caffeine. Sounds silly, but 'tis true.

And don't stay awake for over a week, 'cos that's when you start to get the hallucinations and the paranoia and the overall crazies. :smalltongue: Trust me, it ain't pleasant.

[BizzaroStormy]

Not sure how yours is going Masato by so far im up to almost 84 hours. GTA4, Dead Rising, Fable: TLC, Mass Effect, and Condemned 2 have all been completed so far. Right now I'm playing through every song in GH3 on hard mode (medium TTFAF), obviously taking a break to update people on my progress.

My room is currently littered with snack bags, empty mountain dew bottles, a couple pizza boxes filled with wing bones, and my sleeping buddy who was supposed to be helping me stay awake.

[Iudex Fatarum]

I always drank lots of water, orangeade and red cream soda. Of course some of this is because of the limited choices at the cafeteria where I worked. I worked the night shift as a clerk in the ER at a hospital. I found that reading books helped me, but then they banned it after someone left some highly inappropriate books open on a desk in the pede's ward. After that, it was basically standing and walking in small circles and doing whatever I could. I had the most trouble in the cardiac observation unit (at one point we had 0 patients for 7 of my 12 hour shift), and found that getting someone to talk especially to teach me helped lots. But Water, water and more water, thats about the only thing I could say.
And to those who do stay awake all night, please don't try to drive in the morning. 12 hour shift followed by 5 hours of class is just bad, especially when you only get 2 hours of sleep the day before.

[Lord Omberous]

Meh, I sleep on a 28-hour day, so I don't always even sleep during a night. So I can't hep you here, except to say, internet and vitamin C.

[Fostire]

Caffeine's natural too.
Did you know that caffeine's a natural insecticide?