A Night Owl’s Guide to Staying Up All Night

Bug’s Two Cents

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The stars are quite a delight outside tonight

Source: My Brain 10 | Penelope Peru Photography P³

The first time I remember pulling an allnighter, I was about five years old. I vividly remember watching sitcoms on my living room floor as my cousin was fast asleep at my side. I quietly played with Pokemon toys before sitting atop my kitchen counters and proudly eating frosting straight from the container. I went into my dad’s room to catch sunrise from the other side of the house. He was curious as to why I was up so early and just sort of shrugged when I chirped that I hadn’t slept a wink that night in response.

Since then, I have spent my life in a near constant game of tug-of-war with sleep. I can recall countless nights throughout my childhood spent watching syndicated sitcoms or staring at my ceiling.

By my adolescence, I had given up on the foreign concept of a good night’s sleep. I bided my sleepless nights with social media browsing binges and Skype calls. I’d repost, reblog, listen to music, or play video games. It also wasn’t uncommon for me to stay up all night drawing, animating, writing, or programming, depending on what my obsession was at the time.

Fortunately, I had been homeschooled from 6th grade onwards. Although I had felt the effects of sleep deprivation as early as elementary school, I mandated my schedule during my years of secondary education. It didn’t matter when I did my schoolwork so long as I got it done.

I graduated early and began college right after my sophomore year. I’m about a semester shy of wrapping up my Associate’s Degree and sleep has been a reoccurring dilemma over the last two years.

During my first semester, I opted for afternoon classes. It seemed logical. Who would actually choose to have school first thing in the morning?

There’s just one problem – what most people consider “morning” typically isn’t “morning” for me. By the time I’d get to school, I would have already been awake for well over 12 hours without any naps. I was exhausted by the time I got to class. I’d fall asleep as soon as I got home and sometimes even on the way home.

This eventually lead to some of the worst sleep maintenance of my entire life. I would wake up sometime between 8 P.M. and 12 A.M. after falling asleep sometime between 4 P.M. and 5 P.M., on a good day.

In many cases, I’d drink massive amounts of caffeine in the hopes of staying up throughout the evening. Which, would inevitably lead to drinking even more caffeine to stay up throughout the night at that point.

It wasn’t uncommon for me to stay awake for 40 consecutive hours multiple times a week. On days that I did manage to catch sleep, it was generally for about four hours. I was still awake for 20 hours at a time, day in and day out.

I don’t know how I did it. Seriously. I’m not even sure how I filled my time. I mainly remember doing a lot of homework, reading, and art. I also spent a good bit of time updating my photography website and ghostwriting content articles.

Since my first semester, I’ve selected classes that are bit more conducive to my body’s clock. I also go out of my way to prioritize sleep, unlike before.

Currently, I attend class every day from around 9 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. My sleep fluctuates, but I generally doze off some time in the evening and wake around midnight or 2:30 in the morning.

Most of my nights are spent studying, writing, cleaning, and updating both of my websites.