Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 4: Engage your body and mind
• Method 2 of 4: Change Your Environment
• Method 3 of 4: Tune in Psychologically
• Method 4 of 4: Take approved stimulants
• Tips

Have you slept with a friend and decided not to sleep all night? Are you working a double shift or want to prepare for an exam? Then you're in luck - the longest recorded period without sleep was 11 days, but it's worth noting that in the course of this experiment, a person's cognitive abilities decreased markedly. There were also other documented cases when a person did not sleep for 8-10 days. It is also worth mentioning soldiers undergoing combat training for special operations who do not sleep for 5 days, resting at a minimum (basic training of "SEALs", or BUD / S). But you must understand that prolonged sleep deprivation can lead to health problems.

Steps

Method 1 of 4: Engage your body and mind

1. 1 Move. Candidates who are enrolled in the basic SEAL training program (known as BUD / S) and who have successfully completed the Hell Week, during which they hardly sleep for five days, report that it is very difficult to fall asleep with constant movement. During Hell Week, candidates are forced to run, exercise, and exercise with decks and rubber boats. The soldiers are almost constantly on the move. Try the following methods:
   • Run a short distance or run across the room.
   • Create an exercise cycle. Perform 10 push-ups, 10 torso lifts, 10 jumps with legs together, legs apart, and 10 air squats. Repeat until you feel more alert.
   • Play tag with a friend who is also trying to stay awake.
   • Throw the ball or play soccer with a friend.
2. 2 Talk to a friend. Conversation will help you stay awake. Various stories will hold your attention, and laughter will dispel sleep.
   • Tell the funniest story ever.
   • Tell us about the most embarrassing moment in your life.
   • Tell a compelling story.
   • Talk about what you will do when your extended wakefulness period comes to an end.
3. 3 Play a game. Play brain-teasing games such as a quiz or 20 questions. You can also play games where you have to get up and move.
   • Play Chess, Monopoly, Lucky Accident, Risk, or any other board game.
   • Play billiards or darts.

Method 2 of 4: Change Your Environment

1. 1 Create a cool or cold environment. Heat or heat makes us tired, lazy and sleepy. On the contrary, a cool or cold environment makes us more alert. Seal candidates say that when a person gets cold, it is very difficult for him to fall asleep. They are immersed in water for 15 minutes, the temperature of which barely exceeds 15 degrees Celsius.
   • Exit to the yard and jump into the snow.
   • Drink a glass or two of ice cold water.
   • Sit in an ice bath.
   • Adjust the air conditioner to make the room colder.
   • Take a cold shower.
   • Do all of the above with caution. If you stay in the cold for too long, your body temperature drops too low, and this can lead to hypothermia (hypothermia). Hypothermia can be deadly.
2. 2 Create awkward conditions. According to one successful Hell Week candidate, people find it harder to fall asleep when they are uncomfortable. To do this, you can use the method from the SEAL training program - get wet and roll in the sand - or just stand all the time, and not sit and not lie.
3. 3 Listen to fun and energetic music. Turn up the volume on your music player. Loud noise will make it much more difficult for you to relax and fall asleep. If you want to get even more out of loud music, get up and dance to it.
   • Listen to rock, death metal, or high-energy pop music. Don't play slow and soothing songs.
4. 4 Change your environment. If you feel that you are starting to get tired, go out into the yard or move to another room. Quite often, in a new environment, you will be able to focus on something else. This will help you feel less tired.
   • If you are in the house, go outside and vice versa.
   • Move to another room. Do not enter rooms with beds, comfortable sofas or armchairs.

Method 3 of 4: Tune in Psychologically

1. 1 Break your wake-up time into individual hours (or minutes). Set small, achievable goals for yourself. Break up your time into small periods. Congratulate yourself as you complete these small goals.
2. 2 Recite or chant a mantra. Often times, chanting a mantra can help you focus your mind on something other than a difficult situation. A good mantra should be short, reassuring, and rhythmic.
   • Come up with a mantra.
   • Take someone else's mantra and repeat it. Try saying, "I can do it, I can do it."
   • Say: "Everything will be fine, I have enough strength to do it!"
   • Say: "I am strong, I can and I will reward myself"
3. 3 Believe in yourself. A lot of people before you were able to stay up all night. If you really want to achieve this goal, then you will succeed.
   • Say your goal out loud or write it down.
   • Imagine how you achieve this goal.
   • When in doubt, remember your purpose. Say it out loud or look at what you have written. Say out loud that you can achieve your goal and you will.

Method 4 of 4: Take approved stimulants

1. 1 Drink caffeine. Caffeine is a legal drug found in coffee, chocolate, energy drinks, and sold in pill form. It is a stimulant and makes it much more difficult to fall asleep. Keep in mind that caffeine can also lead to an increase in blood pressure, a faster heart rate, dizziness, dehydration, and headaches.
   • Experts agree that for humans, the daily safe dose of caffeine is 400 mg.
   • Children and adolescents are advised not to consume more than 100 mg of caffeine per day.
   • Over-the-counter caffeine pills can only be taken by adults at a dose of no more than 100-200 mg every three to four hours.
   • Don't consume too much caffeine - it can be dangerous in large doses.
2. 2 Do not drink alcoholic beverages. Excessive amounts of alcohol suppress the human nervous system (opposite to the aphrodisiac effect that caffeine has). Moreover, even a small amount of alcohol can relax you, which is exactly what to avoid when you are trying to stay awake.
3. 3 Don't take drugs. Although some drugs are stimulants (methamphetamine, cocaine), don't use them to stay awake. Their use is prohibited by law, they are dangerous to health and can be fatal.
   • Undesirable side effects of cocaine use include anxiety, irritability, panic attacks, suspicion, paranoia, psychotic attacks, delusions, and hallucinations.
   • Side effects of taking methamphetamine include hypertension, increased heart rate, extreme agitation, and psychosis.
4. 4 Do not take any off-label prescription medications. Do not take another person's prescription drugs. Take your medications only as directed by your doctor, and not otherwise. Failure to follow the instructions for use of the medication can lead to serious medical complications and even death.
   • Never take another person's pills or overuse your own medications.

Tips

• If you constantly want to sleep during the day, check with your doctor to see if you have narcolepsy, insomnia, or lack of sleep. Narcolepsy is a condition where people fall asleep at unexpected times during the day. Insomnia means that a person cannot fall asleep, constantly wakes up, or does not feel rested after sleep. Both of these problems can be solved with medication and lifestyle changes.
• Never, under any circumstances, drive or work on heavy or dangerous machinery without getting enough sleep.
• Be careful. If you are trying to stay awake, but there is a possibility that you will fall asleep, you should be in a safe place and / or with people you can trust.