This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s senior fall editorial intern Arianna Nahim. Find her on Instagram at @ariannanahim. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Preparing for finals has been quite the week. As I myself prepare for finals, I find this week to be especially grueling. It kind of feels like everything is about to crash through a door and I’ve been put in charge of using all my weight to stop it from crashing through. Although I am a junior finals week has always had a special way of sneaking up on me.
As a certified grade A procrastinator finals week is a test just in the week itself. Will I actually follow a proper schedule? Will I actually start studying/working at a reasonable time, giving myself plenty of space between the test/assignment? Every year the answers to these questions have varied. However, an answer I’ve always given is: All –nighters.
My Own Experiences
Every semester, out of the four I’ve completed, I’ve had to put at least one all nighter to cross that glorious finish line. In my opinion, it’s a bit evil that us college students get sent home for a mere week before being forcibly brought back for the worst two weeks. Christmas break and mom’s homemade food is just out of reach. Last semester, Spring 2024, I procrastinated so badly that the sleep schedule I created for myself in order to catch up should be put on record. Every night for about a week and half, I stayed up until 4:30-5 am and slept only until about 9:30 am. A mix of pure anxiety and Celsius energy drinks were to thank for keeping me up.
This semester though, I vowed to be different. Let me tell you though, it has changed my life and how I see finals. Instead of feeling like my brain is melting, as my eyes begin to blur reading my computer screen, I’ve taken all nighters out the mix entirely. Don’t get me wrong, I still work for long hours, just not to the extent that I was doing before.
What You Can Do Instead
A lot of people assume that an all-nighter is the only way to get work or studying done in one sitting for multiple hours. However, here is what I’ve been doing. Say I got out class at 4:45pm. After class I take until about 5:30 pm to give myself a brain break. But from the hours of 6-12pm I am on top of these things. That gives you six hours to get things done, and let me tell you that is plently. If you can just do six hours of work at a time, you will get things done, just by following that all week. What’s more the latest you should get to bed by is 2 am if you get distracted by your phone, meaning if you wake up at 10am that’s eight hours of sleep. Eight hours of sleep should always be your goal amount of sleep.
The Health Risks
When you don’t allow your body to get any proper rest, you’re actually doing yourself a major disservice. Your brain feels like mush for a reason. The effects of an all nighter are immediate. After not sleeping for 24 hours your cognitive functions suffer.
“Skipping a night of sleep has even been found to impair a person’s speed and reaction times as much as alcohol intoxication does. In healthy adolescents and adults, sleep deprivation can lead to increased feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, and confusion.”
Not only are you putting your judgement skills at risk and giving yourself mood swings, you are also putting your immune system in danger. When you aren’t getting proper rest, your immune system weakens. How can you get any effective studying done while also battling a cold?
Another reason why all-nighters aren’t as positively impactful as many think is the actual way our brains retain information. When you are sleeping your brain is actually actively moving information to different parts of your brain to make sure you properly retain it. When you cut out the easiest step for you to do, sleeping, you’re making it, so your studying was almost for nothing. You can read a more in-depth piece on this at the link here.
Finals is a stressful time, and it is very understandable why people opt to stay up all night for those tests and projects. Students want to do well and want to get to the point of success in these classes. However, trading sleep in exchange for a grade isn’t worth it when there are other paths to choose from. If you don’t want your finals week to be even worse than it has to be, don’t neglect taking care of your body.
Do you think all-nighters work? Let us know in the comments below!
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