image source, Getty Images
Greetings election enthusiasts!
I love the idea of ​​a full night’s election drama – sitting in front of the telly, the live BBC News page updating on my laptop, slowly turning a mountain of snacks into a wasteland of empty wrappers and hoarding unsavory amounts of tea.
But we’re fighting biology here, election night colleagues.
So I chatted with sleep experts to come up with the definitive guide to getting through the night and becoming a sleep-deprived monster the next day.
I’m on a hard schedule – we have to be up all Thursday, whether it’s work or childcare, then we watch it all night and we’re back in the office on Friday.
There is also a milder plan (which we will discuss at the end), but all the tips here will help you see democracy in action.
Four sleep plan
image source, Getty Images
In an ideal world, you need to be well rested by the time you get to Thursday night.
There’s no such thing as “sleep banking” up front, but if you’re already broke, it’s going to be a struggle.
The core of our plan will include a solid sleep strategy.
Naps can’t replace the remarkable restorative power of a night’s sleep, but they’re scientifically proven to increase alertness and concentration levels—essential to keeping up with results.
“If you’re going to be up all night, I’d take a pre-emptive nap before it starts and another in the middle of the night,” says Dr Allie Hare, consultant sleep medicine at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.
Nap three is Friday morning, before work or school to get us out the door, and number four is in the middle of the day.
“There’s a natural lull after lunch, so it’s a good time to do it,” says Dr. Hare.
He thinks a “squeeze through Friday” approach is best for most people to avoid completely disrupting their usual sleep patterns.
Pro tip: Pre-loaded naps
Sleep technique is a delicate art. You aim for 20-30 minutes to get a recovery boost, but go any longer and you’ll screw up.
“If you go into a deeper sleep, you can get really groggy,” says Professor Russell Foster of the University of Oxford.
It’s called sleep inertia—that feeling when you wake up worse than when you dozed off.
Nap-pros have perfected the art of “pre-charging” and this is recommended by the experts.
The idea is that if you drink coffee right before your 20-minute nap (you set a timer on your phone), and then the caffeine peaks when the nap is over, you’ll be energized and ready to go as soon as you wake up. .
“It’s a good idea,” says Professor Foster.
So I think I’ll take a nap at 9pm on Thursday, then 2am, 6am and 2pm on Friday – but make the pattern work for you.
You’ll still feel tired, so bright lights are your friend.
Keep the lights on at full blast during the night and spend time outside during the day to trick your brain into thinking you should be awake.
The caffeine plan
image source, Getty Images
If you want to stay plugged in all night, chances are you need a performance-enhancing drug – hello caffeine!
The drug is a stimulant, making you feel less tired and alert.
But then again, we need a plan and we don’t want too much.
Professor Foster advocates judicious use of tea and coffee, but would “personally avoid” energy drinks because they are full of sugar.
“Then you crash and go in the complete opposite direction,” he says.
However, energy drinks give you a bigger caffeine hit. You could find a zero sugar option, but don’t overdo it.
“Don’t overdose on caffeine and have palpitations and anxiety,” says Dr. Hare.
You’ll also want to allow a few hours for the caffeine to wear off so it doesn’t disrupt your Friday night sleep. Put the kettle away until noon on Friday.
Oh, and don’t forget to hydrate well overnight to keep your brain going. Not only coffee, but also water.
And whether you’re celebrating, regretting or just along for the ride, booze can be fun. However, this is not an elite strategy.
“Don’t involve alcohol in any of this—I realize everyone does, but the sleep advice is no, it’s just a sedative and it’s going to make it harder,” says Dr. Hare.
Manage your sugar levels
You will have to accept that disrupting your sleep will have a domino effect on your hunger hormones.
Your brain will sense the drop in the hormone leptin and the firing of ghrelin, and the combined effect is that you will feel the urge to overeat.
“You’ll have cravings and you’ll be tempted to go get a pizza and grab a Twix,” says Professor Foster. “Be careful, you’ll be more hungry.”
You can’t really avoid it, but you can plan for it and surround yourself with protein-focused meals and slow-release carbs.
Professor Foster recommends protein drinks or unsalted nuts to provide energy without sending your blood sugar on a rollercoaster of ups and downs.
“You could throw in some raisins as a treat,” she laughs.
But don’t rely on that box of chocolates.
Dr. Hare’s advice is, “Don’t eat crap all night.”
If you try, he says, you’ll feel “absolutely terrifying.”
Attention, you are now cognitively and emotionally impaired!
Great! You survived the night.
I hate to tell you – maybe you’re not a very nice person right now.
Even one night without sleep changes the brain’s ability to process information and emotions.
Classic symptoms are increased irritability and anxiety and loss of empathy. Frustration is also a classic, as is increased impulsivity.
Professor Foster says: “You are not the normal, nice, measured individual that you would otherwise be.”
You will also suffer from negative expression.
This is where your world view becomes distorted and negative comments and experiences hit harder.
A tired brain also leads to increased risk-taking. Professor Foster says this can make you “more likely to fall into illegal drug use… it’s what your brain does when it’s tired and emotional”.
So yeah, watch out for that.
Pro tip: Some conversations can wait until next week
I hope it’s clear that you’re not really you right now, so you might want to take things in stride and avoid difficult conversations.
“You can be happy and uninhibited about the outcome, or you can be less happy and more reactive to being provoked,” says Professor Foster.
So think twice about having “that” conversation and save life-changing decisions for later.
“You definitely have to be sensitive to these difficult conversations,” says Professor Foster.
After all night, if you need to get somewhere, then walk, take a taxi or use public transport.
At four or five in the morning, your brain is as messed up as if you had enough booze to be over the drink drive limit.
“Big decisions, meaningful marital conversations, and driving—don’t do any of those things,” says Dr. Hare.
Do you have something easier for me?
The shift workers may be laughing at this piece and thinking, “That’s a bunch of lightweights!”
If you’ve had a long run, you could try to shift your body clock so that you’re up at night and sleeping during the day, but it’s probably too late to do that.
However, some people try a strategy other than the all-nighter.
The idea is to stay up and watch the exit-poll projections, which will give you the first indication of the result when they are released at 10 p.m.
Then sleep in for a few hours while the ballots are counted and wake up early in the morning to catch the peak of the action.
This plays into the sleep inertia problem we mentioned earlier, but Professor Foster says older people are more likely to overcome it.
Sleep patterns change with age, and older people “will have more fragmented sleep,” making it easier for them to wake up and feel good.
On the other hand, young people who wake up to the alarm “feel groggy and stupid”.
“People will know what works for them,” he says.
Another idea is to sleep in on Friday morning if you have no commitments.
Just be careful that you don’t do magic all day and then not be able to sleep on Friday night, throwing the whole weekend away.
Dr Hare says: “If you have a big decision to make, sleep as much as you can, even if it affects your sleep the next night, otherwise take a nap.”
So good luck, intrepid election adventurers – whatever you do, you should be fine by Monday. See you on the other side!