Dr. Jedidiah Ballard knows a guy who walked straight off the side of a mountain and into a tree, which saved his life. He wasn’t suicidal or on drugs; he was a severely sleep-deprived Army Ranger in training. Sometimes, the soldiers get no more than 45 minutes of sleep a night for nights on end.
“You fall asleep while you’re doing normal activities — it was pretty wild,” says Ballard, a former U.S. Army Ranger who’s now an osteopathic emergency physician and assistant professor of emergency medicine for the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.
[See: 10 Reasons You May Be Feeling Fatigued.]
Indeed, research shows that lacking sufficient shuteye is a lot like having a few too many cocktails: In one study of 39 adults who went just 17 to 19 hours without sleep, they performed the same or worse on mental tests as when they were liquored up to a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05 — enough in most states to get you pulled over for drunk driving. Sleep, the American Sleep Association reports, is necessary for our very survival.
And still, sometimes, enough sleep just isn’t in the cards. Whether you’re an Army Ranger, on-call clinician, truck driver or new parent, here’s how to eek by until you can collapse in that cherished bed.
1. Prepare.
If you know a night shift, crying baby or marathon study session is approaching, commit to getting eight or so hours of restorative sleep for at least a few nights beforehand, experts say. “A few really good nights of solid, quality sleep can minimize the impact of a few nights of poor sleep,” says Dr. Michael Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. After your period of wakefulness is over, don’t try to go to sleep for all those hours missed. “Just get back to your regular routine, and it will sort itself out,” Grandner says.
2. Pinch yourself — hard.
There’s nothing like sitting in a long, dull class when you’re already exhausted to test your stay-awake skills, Ballard found in Ranger school. So he frequently jabbed the non-pointy end of a pen or pencil into his thigh to keep from nodding off. “The pain stimulus kicks up the adrenaline a little bit, which wakes you up,” he says. “If you can do it enough to where you’re actually a little bit mad at yourself, the anger will keep you going for a while.” Proceed at your own risk.
3. Get mad.
If masochism isn’t your thing, play a mean mental game on yourself: Think about someone or something that gets you worked up. Still fuming about the promotion you didn’t get? Does your mom keep nagging you about something that’s just never going to change? Did your partner say something totally maddening? Dwell on it. Even yell about it, Ballard suggests. “You get that energy, that stimulus flowing through, and that will kick-charge you for a little while,” he says.
4. Get turned on.
Far more fun that getting angry, getting sexually aroused works too, Ballard says. Ask your partner to send you a flirty picture or even just imagine something that turns you on. “That will give you a little energy surge and wake you up a bit,” he says. Too risky? Any strong emotion will help keep you awake (as you’ve surely experienced when you least want it to), as will any quirky trick that you believe helps, Ballard adds. “Placebo is a powerful thing,” he says. “As long as it’s safe and it feels like it works for you, go for it.”
5. Cool off.
Between a long day on the job and nighttime plans, Ballard jumps in the shower and dials the temperature all the way down. “You want to turn the water cold enough where it alters your breathing,” he says. That temporarily spikes your testosterone and adrenaline to keep you awake. You can even do this every morning to supercharge your day; just 30 seconds of super cold water to top off your regular shower will do the trick, Ballard says. Cool air — say, from a fan or a rolled-down car window — works too. “Just get yourself cold enough to be a little uncomfortable,” Ballard says. “It’s way harder to sleep when you’re uncomfortable.”
6. Strategize.
Consider what your too-tired body has to do before it gets to rest. Then, if possible, plan to do the tasks that require the most attention (say, driving or filing a big work report) in the late morning and early evening, and the less-important tasks for early afternoon and evening, Grandner suggests. “You may be able to optimize your performance a little by using your circadian rhythms,” he says. Capitalize on the morning energy surge further by making sure you get bright light early in the day. “It can help optimize your natural wake drive and keep you going during the day,” Grandner says.
[See: 7 ‘Natural’ Alternatives to Energy Drinks.]
7. Grab a healthy snack.
If you’re not getting enough sleep but are keeping up other areas of your health like your diet, you’ll fare better than if you throw in the whole health towel. “Say you get busy, skip food for a long time … and then you pound down two doughnuts, you’ll get this huge sugar spike and then the crash,” Ballard says. Avoid a double crash by eating small, frequent meals with a mix of protein, carbs and fat throughout your waking stretch, he suggests.
[See: 10 Healthful Snacks That Won’t Break the Calorie Bank.]
8. Tell yourself life could be worse.
Feeling exhausted is a very real physical phenomenon, but there’s a mental aspect too. “If you sit there focusing on how tired you are, you’ll wind up more tired,” Ballard says. Instead, accept the fact that you’re going to be tired for a period of time and move on. You may even remind yourself that compared to say, soldiers in battle or prison guards on a long night shift, your life is pretty good. “It’s kind of like how forcing a smile makes you happier.” Ballard says.
More from U.S. News
Trouble Sleeping? Ask Yourself Why
10 Ways to Get Better Sleep (and Maybe Cure Your Insomnia)
8 Wildly Unconventional Tricks for Staying Awake When Sleep Isn’t an Option originally appeared on usnews.com
