Ye Olde Blah

What's the best way to stay awake? Don't give me any flippant shit like "don't fall asleep" - that would make you a wanker in my eyes.

I'll probably need to stay awake and working for a continuous 36 hours to finish my dissertation, so I feel the need to ask - what's the best way, natural or artificial, to stop those eyelids a-droppin'?

I'm currently erring towards the side of Diet Coke with Pringles and anything containing lots of sugar and E-numbers. Probably Skittles.

What do YOU use to stay awake?

36 hours, I suggest:

The first 23 hours: lots and lots of water
take a 2 hour nap, if you have someone who can wake you.
when you wake up, do the caffiene thing for the last 11.

The 2 hour sleep will more than make up for lost time due to productivity, clarity of mind etc.

Alternatively, a five year old constantly pinching your calves and screaming when you start falling asleep.

Adrenaline works wonders...although im not sure if you have a game or two your THAT excited about.

Food is a good one, more fuel for the fire. Try not to think about sleep, or surround yourself with fluffy or comfortable fabrics, get the itchyest stuff you've got. Place your bedding/pillows in an area where retreiving them would require a great feat of stealth...needing total and complete concentration which you will by then surely lack due to sleep deprivation.

At first light it will get easier, your body will say "well shit, its morning already..better start the day" and yes you can be "too tired to sleep"

Never let your mind rest, not for a moment..always be thinking about something...anything.

There's my advice mate :)

Ditching the diet coke for real coke might help, diet coke just doenst contain enough sugar nor caffeine

Torture yourself on a bihourly basis. Some live videos of Cher might prove helpful in this!

I used to rely on 2-6 cans of coca cola every day to stay awake ( not good for your teeth-but does the job ). Now I got a girlfriend that actualy cares for my wellbeing, I have to rely on her ability to keep me horny through msn the whole night. Obviously not everyone has a girlfriend willing to keep up, so maybe the first option is better.

Man, wished I slept last night...

KIDDIES: You may not need to stay up so long when you get to Newts's stage.

Code one of the ALICE computer personalities with all of the work you do over the whole time you're at university - just feed your bot your notes, and any essays you hand in, etc.
Then if you ever get to the point where you're f*cked time wise, get the bot to spit out your work for you.
At least be handy for that incredibly difficult first draft.

I currently have some six litres of Cola, two litres of lemonade and unknown quantities of water, so I'm thinking of having a chamber pot to reduce the amount of time unnecessarily wasted in trips to the bathroom.

If you begin to feel tired, come here.  The colors will bring you right back to life for another 3 hours at least.

I recommend Pro Evolution Soccer 4, keeps me awake for hours when I get home from work at 11pm :P

In the end my plan backfired - I finished by about 2am, then went to bed and woke up at 4am belching my head off, then again at 8:30am sweating buckets. It's not 10:30am and I'm absolutely bloody knackered, and I didn't even stay up all night. I feel like such a failure.

quite alright mate, immediately switch coke to Tea and let that clean out your system!

you'll be sleeping quite soon :)