This was on my mind today, so I figured I would write it up.
How to pull (and recover from) an all-nighter:
1. Hydrate, don’t caffeinate. Water, water, water. It will keep you moving and surprisingly alert and doesn’t have any of the let-down that caffein does.
2. Take out your contacts, if you wear contacts. It can give you a second wind. It will only last an hour or so, but it helps.
3. Eat. And, when you eat, eat something with fat or protein. Don’t overload on sugar or carbs. Snickers may be the perfect choice; enough sugar to be good, but fat and protein too.
4. Get up, move around. You notice I don’t say, “Exercise” since if you had time to exercise, you’d have time to sleep. (Duh. It is this lack of critical thinking that made you stay up all night in the first place.) If you are drinking enough water (see 1.) this won’t be an issue because you’ll be to and from the bathroom every hour or so.
5. Two aspirin is equal to two hours of sleep. Not Tylenol, Advil, or anything with caffein in it (see 1.), just plain old aspirin. Don’t knock it until you have tried it. This only works once per all-nighter. Four aspirin does not equal four hours of sleep. Don’t screw yourself up if you are allergic, sensitive, intolerant, or anything else to aspirin.
6. Micro-nap if you think you can re-engage. If you don’t have someone to wake you up, don’t do this.
As you go into the next day:
7. Shower and change your clothes. Shave. Brush your teeth. You’ll feel better if you go through your normal morning rhythm and have clean clothes.. If you are not at home, at least brush your teeth. Everyone will thank you.
8. Stop complaining. We know you were up all night. Get over it. Your attitude toward this may be the most important thing.
9. Know you are Sleepy, Grumpy, a little Dopey, and maybe some of the other Seven Dwarves. Don’t rip everyone’s heads off, only those who need them ripped.
10. Get back to your regular routine and get a good night’s sleep. Gut it out and don’t fall asleep on the couch at 730PM.
Good luck!