Seven Tips for Not Sleeping During Class

Ever had a teacher that talks really softly and can’t get his mic to work? Maybe your professor uses a font designed by ants for his slides? I mean, big words and little letters. Perhaps he has a voice that sounds like it came from Oklahoma? Yeah, it’s flat. Ha! Me too. Somehow I stayed awake.

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Ok… Fine… most of the time I did. Here are some of my top tips for staying awake in the most boring of lectures:

Photo Credit: Rennett Stowe / CC BY 2.0

1. Move your pen

Don’t tap, just move. Working on your pencil twisting technique (as long as you don’t make noise) requires enough concentration to do the trick.

2. Count things

No… don’t start counting sheep. Keeping your eyes peeled for something real may help you say awake. How many times does he say “um” or “the” or “grade?” Or, better yet, practice the power (or the multiplication) tables on the back of your notes.

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3. Drink

Coffee doesn’t have the corner on the wake-up market. Water works just fine. A little liquid down the throat is great at keeping your body awake. (Just not alcohol. Seriously)

4. Nervous Dance

If you don’t have a nervous twitching problem, now may be the time to go get one. But seriously, twitching your neck, silently tapping your foot, or something else that will easily get dismissed as just a nervous habit will keep you awake just fine.

5. A clean face

For me, a bath makes me feel more relaxed and ready to doze off, but a cold water in the face or a drop on each eyelid is great at keeping you awake. As the water evaporates, the water takes your eyelids up too.

6. Stretch

No one will get on you for streaking your neck or other muscles. A little exercise in class can make the sleepy bugs go away, just don’t start doing push ups.

7. Exercise Before

Every day when I go to school, I have to walk to the bus. Most think that exercise tires you out, but neurological research shows that it produces a brain chemical known as dopamine that helps significantly in the learning process and keeps you awake. Some times, when I drive to school I have the hardest time keeping my eyes open because I didn’t get good exercise.

Something else?

There are definitely more than seven ways to stay awake. Got any more to add? Let me know.