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Problem:

I'm a quick sleeper, meaning I go to sleep really fast. My problem is that I want to stay up late sometimes to do stuff without my parents knowing and I accidentally fall asleep in my bed.

My Attempts to Solve My Problem:

I have tried to set an alarm every 5 minutes that would only sound through my earbuds, but soon realized that whenever I would doze off my earbuds would fall out and then I couldn't hear the alarm and wake up.

Extra Note:

I want to stay up in bed pretending to sleep so I won't be moving around or anything.

Any Solutions?

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    This question has "mischief" written all over it.
    – Ameer
    Commented Jul 16, 2017 at 14:58

7 Answers 7

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Lie on your back. Stick your arm up and point at the ceiling. Let your elbow lock, so your arm stays straight up, balancing.

If you accidentally fall asleep, your elbow will "unlock", your hand will drop straight down, and you'll gently smack yourself in the face.

I've done this and it keeps me awake! Makes me laugh every time, too.

Here's a quick video I made about it a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ldvvIsZEw

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  • Hahaha. This made my day.
    – JenkinsMa
    Commented Jun 28, 2017 at 20:21
  • 1
    And it actually works! Try it! :) Commented Jun 28, 2017 at 21:25
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Best way to not sleep is to get out of bed. Move around, do something. Staying in bed, not moving, is the formula for going to sleep, not for avoiding it.

I think what you want is incompatible with the way you want to do it.

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The best to stay awake has always been toothache. However, if you're too healthy for that: Lie on the edge of your bed, one foot & one hand on the ground. It's a little cold, it's a little pain – you won't fall asleep.

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Get a muscletrainer that works by sending electrical impulses. Attach it to your thigh (alternate between thighs if you have to wait long). The spasms aren't visible. It is mildly unpleasant, but on the plus side it won't grow your muscles noticeably. It only really works on post-coma patients whose muscles have atrophy.

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I think the best way to not sleep is just to think. We fall asleep because we relax and turn our brains off, so the best way to prevent it, is to constantly think and don't let your brain in relax mode.

Here are a few things about this you need to know:

  • Don't think about monotonous stuff. If you constantly think about counting numbers, sheep and generaly the same stuff, it will tire your brain and it will get bored so it'll just want to shut off and sleep. Which brings us to the next point:
  • Think about interesting stuff. Best way to keep your brain running is to think about something that really interests you so you can get really into it. Another thing about this is to:
  • Think about unknown stuff, stuff that you don't know and the stuff that generaly can't be answered but you are still interested in them and want to know the answer (for example: concept of universe, concept of God, concept and meaning of life, your own future, love, society etc.). Good thing about this is that those are generaly the topics that when you think about them, they just open more and more questions and you just start to think more and more about it, which brings us to the next point:
  • Think about things that open more questions. This is connected to the previous point. Don't think about things that you can get the answer to (like mathemathics/physics problem and similar). Those things can be good but if you think too much about them you'll just get tired (like said in first point).

The general idea is to keep your brain working and you accomplish that by constantly changing topics, that's why point about unknown stuff is good because many of such topics overlap with each other and they keep you thinking about more and more things.

Pros:
You will be able to stay awake even if you are really tired.

Cons:
You can't really do other stuff, because you are preocupied by thinking.


Conclusion

This technique is good for staying awake for sake of staying awake. If you don't want to sleep because you want to do other stuff, this one is not for you, but keep in mind that, if the things you want to do fall in some of mentioned categories (so basically make you think alot about different stuff) then that thing you do will also keep you awake.

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I´ve only tried this once by accident, but it worked better than any other sleep-preventing method I´ve tried thus far. Buy a raw habanero, cut it up and get some of its juice on your fingers, then use said fingers to rub your eyes. This is guaranteed to keep you up for at least 15 minutes, probably more, and can be repeated when you feel yourself getting sleepy again.

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    This seems a bit dangerous and could cause blistering in some individuals. I would caution against use of such a method as it is potentially harmful.
    – Phlume
    Commented Jul 14, 2017 at 14:53
  • Rather than rubbing your eyes with habanero, eat the damn thing. The natural capsaicin in high concentration will induce a mild short-lived state of euphoria, (about 20min), that will not only prevent sleep, but sharpen your senses and make you percieve your own thought process as measurably faster than average (note it may not be the case, just your perception) On the downside, if you're not accustomed to the pungent flavor of habaneros, most of this newfound euphoric extra time will be spent trying to relieve your mucous membranes from the immediate effect of habanero exposure.
    – hlecuanda
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 1:46
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I found this some long time ago, while trying to sleep, sitting on a bench during a particularly long train ride: you can't sleep when there's a piece of chewing gum in your mouth. You jaws just keep chewing it automatically, and for some reason you can't sleep while chewing. Two caveats: 1. the effect may vary from person to person; 2. it may be dangerous, actually, so if you hope to die in a less stupid way than by choking on chewing gum in your sleep, you probably shouldn't try it.

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    Lots of girls have woken up with chewing gum stuck in their long hair, close to the scalp, (which had to be cut out,) because of falling asleep with gum in their mouth. I guess guys and girls with short hair have the same problems but are less often mentioning it as it is less of a problem to cut short hair short all over.
    – Willeke
    Commented Jul 1, 2017 at 9:25

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