No matter how organized you are, it will happen. Whether it’s fatigue, something will pop up behind in reading, believe me, something will cause you to have an all-night study session. To make a study session successful during the late hours, several things to consider in preparation for the night.
#1 The Place to study
How do you study best? By yourself? In a group? With music? In complete silence? Whatever your preference is, go with it—setup everything you need. A roommate of mine would eat dinner, and sometime around seven or eight, she would leave the dorm room with a large stack of notebooks and textbooks. She spent the night in the Common Room studying. By the morning, my roommate would return to the room as I was getting ready for class. My roommate got good grades, and her system worked for her for every exam. Let me make this known, and she was not a nursing major. If a nursing student did this every exam, they would not do well in the program.
#2 Snacks
In studying all night, plan and prepare some snacks. You will get hungry and unless you plan to make treats as your break. If that’s your planned break, have an idea of what you will make. Otherwise, you may not want to waste so much time-starved and thinking about food. I try to Advocate for healthier food, but if you order a pizza to nibble on throughout the night, that works as well.
#3 Notes, Textbooks, and Study materials
This kind of goes with the snacks. If you have all the study materials in front of you, there is no waste of time. Take note to have your textbooks, reference books, notebooks, class slides or other materials, and your other study items—these items at your disposal to check and cross-reference to understand your topic more. I love flashcards, and they were with me everywhere.
#4 Caffeine and Water
Caffeine and water the main components of the student. The faculty at my alma mater pushed for students to drink more water and hydrate. At this point, I know I began to buy water bottles and tried to try to consume more of the clear liquid. Many people in my class also put fruit in their water to naturally flavor it, and I am not a fan. It’s not my prerogative. But as the tiredness sets in, everyone reaches for their caffeinated beverage of choice, coffee, teas, or an energy drink. The lecture hall that no food or beverages allowed usually had water and one to two forms of caffeine in front of every student. Whatever your choice of caffeine, have it readily on hand alongside the water. Stay up and stay hydrated.
#5 The Game Plan
When I say a game plan, I mean knowing the material on the exam, having an idea of your more important topics to do a deeper dive into your weaknesses. The strength versus weakness on the subject to decide what can be scan and review and where your focus needs to be. A few ways to direct your studies. (1) Recall the lectures, what classes did you pay attention to, or have a personal situation going where your mind was somewhere else. (2) Before study finds questions to test your understanding of the topics. (3) A quick review of flashcards to judge your knowledge.
Now that you have a study game plan, hydration, energy, study materials, snacks, and the place to study, you are all ready for your all-nighter. They will come up, they will happen, but was there anything else you did to prepare for an all-night study session?