Opinion
Illogical all-nighters create more stress for students
February 4, 2015
Last week, a friend of mine and I decided that we were going to pull an "all-nighter," even though we both had 8 a.m. classes the next day.
Although I can’t seem to find the logic of why we did it now, at the time it seemed like one of the best ideas anyone has ever had. We stayed up, watched movies, chatted about random things, drew pictures and, most importantly, didn’t sleep.
It seemed like a lot of fun at the time, but when morning came and our daily lives were forced to continue, we paid the ultimate price. To sum up my feelings the next day, I was convinced that I was going to die.
Now, when we're young and in college we seem to always think that all-nighters are the best thing ever and that we can handle them, but that is simply not the case. That’s why I’m here to tell you why all-nighters are the worst.
The first reason why all-nighters are the worst is the illusion that you will get anything done during the time that you are supposed to be sleeping. I pulled an all-nighter strictly for the reason that “it will be so much fun,” but many people decide not to sleep in order to get some much-needed work done.
We tend to look at all-nighters through rose-colored glasses and see ourselves finally catching up on our work and freeing ourselves of the burden that comes with procrastination, but we live in the real world. In this world when we don’t sleep we tend to lose our minds.
When you’re tired you’re not going to be as productive as you want to be, it’s just a fact. As the night wears on, you will become sluggish and not be able to focus on your work because all you will be thinking of is the amazing moment when your head finally hits your pillow and you can drift off into dreamland.
Now consider this: are you really in your right mind after going through an entire day and then refusing to sleep? The answer is no, you are not. So then why do we think that we will be able to work to the best of our ability when we keep hallucinating that a pink manatee is dancing around the room to jazz music?
My next reason for why all-nighters are the creation of the devil is because of how you feel the next day. Oh, through pure will-power and strength you managed to stay awake the entire night? Congratulations, now go and work another full day on exactly no sleep.
Your eyes hurt because closing them for more than a second will cause an eternal slumber and trying to do any logical thinking will only result in the worst headache ever experienced. All-nighters are only OK if it's perfectly acceptable that you sleep all through the next day.
I know that we're college students and are supposed to be invincible, but I think it’s time for all of us to face facts: all-nighters are the worst and nobody should attempt them.
It’s safe to say that sleep is one of the best things ever, so why deprive ourselves of it? It’s okay to admit that we spend every minute of any given day thinking about our beds and how great it will be to climb in them and drift off to sleep, not having to deal with the stresses of college life for a couple hours.
So here is advice from someone who thought that she could pull off an all-nighter and not die the next day: don’t do it. You’re thinking illogically and need to go to sleep. You’re welcome.
Natalie Howell is an alumna of UW-River Falls. She was editor of the <em>Student Voice</em> during the 2016-2017 academic year.