Remember the good old days when staying up past your 10 p.m. bedtime was the ultimate form of rebellion? This was followed by the infamous all-nighter phase and staying up the entire night was the ultimate beacon of coolness (don’t even try to deny it). But as we got older, sleep became more precious to us and the very concept of staying up all night gives us goosebumps. However, I wanted to relive my youth and decided to stay up the entire night.
Safe to say it was a horrible idea and I deeply regret it now. I do hope my experience serves as an inspiration to everyone to never do this (unless they positively have to).
It Was Easy Till 2 A.M.
Till 2 a.m., I was cruising through. I was busy binge-watching The Undoing and it was incredible. I was in a good mood, which gave me confidence that I would successfully be able to pull off an all-nighter. But, Ted Mosby once said, “Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.”, and little did I know how aptly it would apply to the rest of my night.
Screens Were Hurting My Eyes
After I finished The Undoing (a brilliant show), I didn’t know what to do. I began scrolling through social media and saw the same memes over and over again. My eyes began to hurt, badly. I thought of watching something online, but my eyes were in pain. Since shutting them was not an option, I ended up staring at my ceiling and outside my window for a while, which made me feel so sleepy.
I Had A Splitting Headache
After my eyes gave up on me, so did my head. I had the worst headache and all I wanted to do was sleep. To distract myself, I observed the road outside my window and it was dead-silent. Not a soul or car in sight. It was eerily calming though. My headache got better but the night was not even halfway through.
Coffee Did Not Help
I tried the age-old trick to stay awake—coffee. I had a cold brew lying in my fridge which I drank in one giant gulp. Unfortunately, this made me even more drowsy. What an absolute con! It didn’t help me stay awake, it just made me pee…a lot. But I guess the constant loo breaks kept me up. It was now 4 a.m and I could feel myself closing in near the finish line.
I Went Down A Sadness Spiral
Since I wasn’t using any screens, my only entertainment was my thoughts. And at 5 a.m., my thoughts were extremely depressing. All of a sudden I was regretting my life decisions, cursing myself for not getting good marks in 4th-grade geography, doubting my career choices and assessing how financially taxing I was to my parents. Then came the whole “I will die single” phase, which is never good (especially at 4 a.m. when you’re brain is mush). This was the worst part of my night as I became a sad ball of misery.
I Texted Random (Really Random), People
I was ready for screen-time again and decided to text a bunch of random people to see if any of them were awake and ready to engage in some 5 a.m. conversations. (Yes, I was conscious enough to avoid texting those who may interpret my early morning messages as a booty-call). I texted my great aunt, a college friend I had not replied to for a year, my girl gang and some out of touch school friends. To my surprise, some of them replied! So that was an interesting part of my night.
I Ate A Lot Of Food
Around 6 a.m. I got hungry and decided to eat a lot of food. I inhaled a banana, some grapes, cheese, an entire bar of Cadbury Silk, Oreos and a lot of khakhras (a combination of foods my digestive system would soon punish me for). During my binge session, I watched the sunrise and it was beautiful. I honestly did not remember the last time I witnessed the sun rising. I was happy I got to witness it and also because this meant I could finally sleep. I was full and ready to call it a night.
I don’t think I’ve ever fallen asleep faster. Unfortunately, as hard as I tried, I just could not sleep in for too long and woke up around 9 a.m. (Thank you, adulthood).
Pulling an all-nighter was nightmarish, to say the least. I do not understand why we willingly did it. I woke up groggy and grumpy, and my whole day was a mess. I would not recommend this to anyone. However, it was a unique experience and I’m glad I did it just to know that I will never do it again.
Have you ever stayed up all night as an adult? Share your experience in the comments below.
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