I HAVE A PROBLEM

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Selenite

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Original poster
The lights go off.
Teacher starts with the lecture.
Huge screen in front of me with stuff I should be paying attention to.


Selenite just can't stay awake!
The other day I opened my eyes and found four of my classmates laughing their arses out- and I can't blame them, I almost fell off the chair! Teacher said he felt tempted to ask me what was he talking about.
Fortunately he did not.

So, yeah, I am falling asleep at most of my subjects.
This is becoming more and more frecuent.

What do you do to keep yourself from falling asleep?
...In class?
I mean, besides coffee?
 
I had that problem in some of my classes when I went to school, especially when we watched movies in a dark room, I often fell asleep though I mostly woke up quickly without the teacher noticing:) I used to doodle in my notebook or look out the window if I sat nearby one. In some cases in Spanish I wrote short stories in spanish to keep me focused or in other classes I wrote short stories in either english or swedish, just some stories like for a child or the like, even if I was writing I could concentrate on the lesson as well.

This was mostly what I did in 8-9 grade, in highschool I didn't have much trouble with being tired with our lazy schedule and the fact I lived on the school campus, but in our last year our teachers realized they had forgotten to add in our history class that we needed if we wanted to go to college, so they put our history class after the schoolday so we had to stay almost two hours longer than normal and by this time I had gone back to live at home so I had a two hour traveling time as well, that class was hard to get through but we were allowed to eat during class so it wasn't terrible. But I'd usually daydream, look out the window, doodle or write down what the teacher said to keep alert, or if that failed make an excuse to go to the bathroom so I could get up and move a bit.

Of course a good night sleep will help immensly to get you through the day but if the subject is boring and/or the teacher duller than a fossil *cough, our math teacher, cough* then resort to something small to keep you awake that is not easily noticed by the teacher, doodling or maybe making a list of movies/music you like, or a list that has to do with what the class is about so you combine learning with keeping awake:) I hope at least some of this is of help,c:
 
Yes a good night sleep will do wonders. ^^

You're probably gonna hate me since I know I hate doing this and I know everyone else hates doing this But....

Take notes. As the teacher is lecturing pull out your notebook or laptop (teacher permitting of course) and start jotting down notes. It will keep you awake and it will help you do well on those difficult tests.

I also doodle and write short stories as well which keeps me occupied. Just make sure the teacher doesn't see the doodles. XD
 
i cant help i usually just ask the teacher what the lesson is about and then look it up online because most of the time they make it sound harder than it actually is and so when im in class i usually sleep just so i can look it up later and find it so much easier to understand
 
I take really detailed notes.
As in, bullet point hierarchy.
If there are no notes to be taken, I tend to doodle while listening.
Having something to do with my hands almost always keeps me awake and more alert.
 
: D

Yay and thanks for the advice!
Yes I do doodle, quite a lot. But sometimes I can't see anything- some lectures are with the lights off.

However...

As I take notes I miss essential bits of info. I realized the best way for me to take notes is just jotting down keywords. The less the better.
(I've fallen asleep WHILST TAKING NOTES... ;>.> )

So far the best awakeness technique I've found is eating almonds... or any nut... Munching keeps me awake. Chewing gum is not the same.

But I don't keep almonds in my bag at all times.
D:
Someone suggested smelling perfume as I see I'm about to doze off.
It didn't work.

I remember some years ago I had this teacher who stuck his biro in the poor sleeper's nostrils. That was enough to keep us all pretty awake, except this one guy that we all laughed at when biro time was up.
I loved that teacher.
But now things are different.

Any other suggestions? Feel free to share stories as well!
 
I was going to suggest gum but you just 86'd that.

I normally do bullet point notes writing down the important subjects that I need to know for notes but even then I can tell when I started to get sleepy because my notes dribble off into unreadable words or words that make no sense.

If you bring a bottle of water with you and sip that throughout the lecture or when you get tired I noticed that helped sometimes and its cheap. One thing you can also do is stand up and go to the back of the class or off to the side or something. I am sure if you explained to your teacher wouldn't mind. Especially because that means you would rather stand and pay attention than sit and sleep. They'll probably even respect you more.

Buy a small bottle of hand sanitizer. When feeling sleep squirt some on your hands rub it together and then take a deep whiff of that. It should keep you awake for a while.

A big thing I found that instantly wakes me up is if I talk. Just talking at all and I will go straight from dead tired to wide awake. Whether it is to the Prof. to a fellow student or just out loud to no one. Though the last one might make you seem a bit crazy. But just talking about two, three sentences and I am good to go for a while.
 
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A good night's sleep and a good breakfast are the two most important things if you ask me.
 
Sleeping is the only real solution.
 
Back in the old days, when I was in high school, I just rolled with it. Tired? Need a little nap? Teacher rambling on about stuff we discussed yesterday/last week? Naptime.

The teacher never really bothered me about it, other than the fact I was setting a bad example to the rest of the class. They all knew I understood the material, and could regurgitate it word for word on whatever test they were giving at the end of the chapter.

In other words, I am of no help when it comes to solving your problem. Sorry :(
 
Supercat: Water does help a little, many thanks!

Talking or standing is sometimes impossible- sometimes I have nobody to talk to, and some lectures are held in crowded huge rooms, and I just can't stand up and walk. I'd be hated, since I'd- I'd be doing like Bugs Bunny does here.


Of course sleeping is the real solution.
Now you tell me how do I Iwaku AND sleep at the same time- sorry, can't be done.
 
What really helps in staying awake regardless of how much sleep you got the night before is how invested/interested you in the topic, too.

But yup, sleep deprivation's a bitch. I was doing charting on a patient in the ER one time at about 3 in the morning. I managed to type out a logically thought out sentence or two while having falling unconscious for about 2-3 seconds. It was awesome.
 
Dark rooms almost always make people sleepy. Trust me, there's many people who suffer from this problem. You might want to consider getting to bed earlier, or eating a full breakfast. Food in the morning tells your body that it's awake time and you stay awake more or less. Those two things usually work.
 
So far, the first thing I need to fix is my sleeping schedules.
I'm sick of this all, actually.

I need serious help. My life has been seriously disorganized lately.

I need a job.
Work keeps my insanity from becoming dangerous to others. It also helps me maintain a schedule.

Oh, breakfast.
Don't worry about breakfast. I usually have a banana, a strong protein source- like two eggs or fish or steak or chicken- with some other carb source -like rice or bread or some leftover- , a coffee replacement which is this weird thing that has no caffeine, milk, and something sweet like chocolate. Depending on what do I fancy early in the morning daily, I sometimes have more or less veggies. Tomato, carrots, etc.

No wonder I get hungry only after 2 PM.

But even still, I doze off. Yes, dark rooms are worse.

BUT IM CHANGIN THAT RITE NOW.
SO IF YOU GUYS SEE ME ON THE CBOX BETWEEN 9 AM AND 2PM (Iwaku default time, GMT -6) PLEASE TELL ME TO GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE.
Help is much appreciated, thankyouverymuch.

Love you all.
^^
 
I would sleep more XD

But, I think energy drinks, such as 5hour energy are efficient too.

Hmmmm....maybe take a nap in the morning during breakfast?
 
If you have no other way of staying awake during class, here are my suggestions.
1.) nothing replaces sleep, but stare at something with low color in it. Resting your eyes by staring blankly at a wall will rest your mind for a while, but you'll need to sleep eventually.
2.) take Vitamin B pills/suppliments. Vitamin B boosts your metabolism. THERE WILL BE A CRASH LATER, but you will have energy
3.) Start asking the teacher questions to the answers that you already know. Talking will force you to use your brain and keep you awake.
4.) find high energy songs that you like and move your body to them subtly... For example.... I love techno, so I will move my fingers and toes to a beat when I can't get up and move
5.) STRETCH BEFORE CLASS. Treat the class as a big sports competition. Warm up your body with stretches, maybe go on a quick run up the stairs a few times, but exercise DIRECTLY BEFORE CLASS and you will wake up
6.) avoid milk and high fat products directly before you go to class, these are classified as comfort foods and will make you fall asleep. Don't eat bread either. Eat proteins, veggies, and fruits
7.) bring in a laptop and pretend to take notes, but browse the internet if you need to. Take in a recorder and take notes when you're more awake.
8.) shock treatment... Cold air will make you stay awake. Avoiding warmer clothes will force your body to create energy by shivering (slight movement)
9.) Think about sex or something you enjoy. Just as long as it's not ridiculous or similar to what you dream about, you're good.
10.) Go to the bathroom! Splash some water on your face and put something cold on your back or the back of your neck. Relieve yourself. Holding it in keeps your body at a normal temperature. Disrupt homeostasis and go pee!
11.) inflict some discomfort on yourself. Bite your tongue, squeeze your hand really hard and dig those nails in, do some chair situps (suspend your upper half with muscle alone), Turn your feet inwards- WHATEVER

These are the things I do when I get 16-18 hours of sleep a week. They work for me, just try a few ONLY IF YOU NEED IT.
 
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