Tips: All-nighters

Everyone has a different opinion on all-nighters, and since I have a blog, and am pulling an all-nighter right now, I hereby claim my right to free speech to posit my opinion.

1. All-nighters are necessary.
   They are not just for when you have to hand in your essay tomorrow morning at 10 am, but every once in a while they are just good for you, in the sense that because you're sleep deprived, you'll go through the material to read much faster because you're skipping everything that makes no sense, and you have no time to fuss with flowery phrases (alliteration unintended). In a sense, it is a way to re-calibrate your reading and writing process.
2. The procrastination.
   Because you'll be inclined to put off reading that next chapter, you'll instead be doing something like cleaning out your wardrobe (which in turn allows your socks to find their long-lost siblings), finally doing your dishes, or finally doing your laundry. Or writing a blog post.
3. The calories.
   I'm not very clear on this one yet, but you clearly burn more calories sitting behind a desk, putting in effort to keep your attention on the page, than you do sleeping. Plus, in order to stay awake, you should really open up the window, letting in the cold night air, and it has been scientifically proven that shivering burns calories. Also, that walk around the block at 4am surely burns calories too. On the other hand, the amounts of coffee/cola/red bull that you drink in order to stay awake may counterbalance all this. As I said, I'm not clear on this one yet.
4. The stress and guilt.
   Being one of those persons who needs to leave tasks to the last minute in order to be able to efficiently work on it, I feel guilty in the weeks leading up to this moment because I should've spent them writing. And then I start stressing out and eventually panick, and it's when I start panicking that I realize the moment is nigh. Doing an all-nighter takes away a lot of guilt for spending afternoons watching Have I Got News For You on iPlayer. 
5. The calm.
   Everyone is sleeping. Everywhere, lights have been turned off (except in that weird house across the street that always looks a little dodgy). There you are, sitting behind your desk in your pajama and jumper, writing seriously academic stuff. If your dorm/flat is in any sense sound-proofed, now is the time to blast music and not feel weird for singing/dancing along with it. 

Tips on how to get through one:

1. Eat a decent dinner in order to prevent midnight cravings.
2. Throw open your window to let in that crisp night air.
3. Blast any other sort of music that prevents you from going to sleep (I personally like opera for this, currently have Don Giovanni on, but 80s rock also works really well for it, except that you'll want to sing along. No such problem with opera, unless you speak Italian/French/German and know the operas by heart).
4. Have caffeine on hand - the semi-healthy type, not in pill or powder form.
5. Do an occasional walk around the block.
6. Give in to procrastination, but only a little - it'll wake you right back up. 
7. Under no circumstance decide to start doing stuff in bed (all sorts).
8. After dawn, make your way to the library as soon as it opens up, so you can continue your night's work without being tempted to sleep for the day.
9. Come home just before you'd normally go to sleep, and crash. BAM, that'll also put your sleeping pattern in order again.