POLL: Staying Awake

[esmphoto]

It comes with the territory, ridiculously long hours every once in a while. I don't have it that bad, the worst for me would probably be 7am-midnight every once in a while, but i know the pros do worse on a regular basis. SO! How do you stay awake?

soda? coke, diet coke, mr. pibb, etc.

Tea? hot or iced, black or not, sugar or sweetener

coffee? black or not, sweetened or not, are you picky or anything in a mug

pills/powder? concentrated caffeine/guarana etc., "dietary supplements"

gum? plain old gum or military grade "caffeine gum" (a colleague of mine has the military kind)

energy drinks? monster, crank, red bull, etc.

nothing? just soldier through it/you're used to it

other? what do you do?

of course we all know that no matter what you do you have to keep hydrated and a full stomach, and dont overdo! take breaks and try to nap if you can.

 

[josh88]

Growing up I was allergic to caffeine, nothing severe just enough to make me feel junky. So this meant no coffee or soda. Eventually I grew out of it and still just haven't acuired a taste for coffee. So my go to drink has been Amp. It's an energy drink, but still tastes good, has enough carbonation and it keeps me running for a few hours of tough work.

 

[techieman33]

Caffeine doesn't do much of anything for me one way or the other. I try to keep eating through the day, plenty of water, and fresh socks will make you feel a whole lot better. If I'm stuck running a spot for a show I'll usually put on a fresh pair right before I go up, and then change them again before load out.

 

[MrsFooter]

I try to keep eating through the day, plenty of water, and fresh socks will make you feel a whole lot better.

That right there goes a long way towards keeping yourself up and going. Often I've found that after a couple days of non-stop coffee and McDonald's I start to feel like crap. It's tempting to give in to all the emotional cravings my body desires, but if I can try and eat right and drink water I can usually last longer than if I'm ingesting nothing but crap.

That being said.

Sometimes ain't nothing going to do it but the good stuff. I generally stick to coffee, because that's what's most readily available; there's a coffee shop on the concourse level, and sometimes if you sweet talk the women at the concession stand they'll give you a cup. However, I do enjoy me an energy drink when I can get them. I try to tread lightly with both substances, though. I don't know if it's the chemistry of my body or the day of the week, but I react differently to caffeine from day to day. Some days it perks me up and washes the bitchiness away, and some days it's like giving crack to a squirrel. Since I can't tell how I'm going to react on any given day and I don't particularly enjoy that tweaked out feeling, I tend to try and save it for emergencies.

 

[ruinexplorer]

I don't have a "go to" method because you get tired for different reasons. Eating right and staying hydrated are my two first methods of staying awake (my bag always includes the tools for the job, something to do, and something to eat since you never know how your call will go). I also have trained my body to be able to go to sleep in a short amount of time, almost anywhere. Power naps can seriously help your body when dealing with physical exhaustion.

What I am generally more concerned with is mental exhaustion. This is the point that coffee and many other stimulants fail to address. I will use things like a B complex vitamin (found in some of the energy drinks) and have taken Sasparilla/Ginseng (herb, not extract) on occasion. Sometimes taking the time to do breathing excercises to make sure that you have enough oxygen in your system (for the brain expecially).

The best thing to do is make sure that you take care of your body before you need to do the crazy shifts. If you eat right on a daily basis, get the appropriate amount of sleep, keep yourself generally healthy, then you will have less to deal with when you have your nose to the grindstone. Think of it as preventive maintenance on yourself.

 

[Lambda]

Stress and pressure usually do the job of keeping me awake. But when that fails, coffee. It never really gets me wired, just makes me more alert and awake.

 

[MarshallPope]

It depends on what I'm doing. For all-nighter studying sessions, I'll usually drink copious amounts of whatever variety of hot tea I have on hand. It keeps me awake without crashing later. For long shifts, I tend to rely on coke or energy drinks for that extra boost, especially when I won't be there insanely late, just enough to need a bit of extra energy. Otherwise, I will just go through lots and lots of water. Keeps me active (In more than one way, if you get my drift) and doesn't have a risk of crashing.

 

[esmphoto]

Caffeine doesn't do much of anything for me one way or the other. I try to keep eating through the day, plenty of water, and fresh socks will make you feel a whole lot better. If I'm stuck running a spot for a show I'll usually put on a fresh pair right before I go up, and then change them again before load out.

smart point on the socks, that was my biggest problem over the summer when we worked the 4-10, by the end of the workday my feet would be soaked and itchy (especially if I had the pleasure of working out in the sun)

josh88 brings up a good point on the amount of carbonation, i've found that just the tingle of ginger-ale or sparkling mineral water can help to keep me alert. I've also tried all the crazy junk the sound guy has brought- NoDoz (pills,) Caffeine powder, and the military caffeine gum. Did NOT like the NoDoz or the powder, although the gum actually worked pretty well.

I try to eat well and drink lots of water, but it usually comes down to grilled sandwiches and Ginger-ale or Mr. Pibb.

(I didn't toss all this in when I started the thread because I didn't want to clutter/affect the poll)

 

[zmb]

Wherever I'm working, I always have a Nalgene with somewhat cold water and some sort of food available, I'm a fan of Costco Trail Mix in my backpack for getting me through the school day (6 hours between breakfast and lunch) and having some for build days or rehearsal. Biggest thing is keeping busy keeps sleep from setting in and being in high school, I can manage 16-17 hour days during tech rehearsals for a week and then crash on the weekend. I also appreciate the occasional caffeine boost from Coke or Starbucks but I don't rely on it.

 

[MarshallPope]

I neglected to mention this, but I almost always keep a jar of peanuts or a bag of pretzels or something next to the console for any run over a couple of days or so. I've found that just having something to munch on does wonders to keep me awake and alert (and not bitchy.)

 

[josh88]

I don't chew gum much anymore, but you mentioned it and I think whether its the caffeine stuff or not, just having something for your mouth to chew on keeps you active without tiring you, which I find helps with the whole focus/energy thing.

 

[mstaylor]

I drink copious amounts of coffee, black, and Mountain Dew every day. It doesn't matter if I have a four hour in or a twenty hour call, I drink coffee always and Mountain Dew when I eat. I can't stand the smell of energy drinks, tea makes me thirsty and all the specialty crap that places like Starbucks sells is awful. I do drink water to stay hydrated.
I agree that changing socks is a huge benefit. I've developed the ability to sleep anywhere anytime.

 

[shiben]

I drink copious amounts of coffee, black, and Mountain Dew every day. It doesn't matter if I have a four hour in or a twenty hour call, I drink coffee always and Mountain Dew when I eat. I can't stand the smell of energy drinks, tea makes me thirsty and all the specialty crap that places like Starbucks sells is awful. I do drink water to stay hydrated.
I agree that changing socks is a huge benefit. I've developed the ability to sleep anywhere anytime.

Im the same way. Coffee before I go out the door, diet Pepsi/Mountain Dew after that no matter how long the call. Can do 20 hours like that.

 

[josh88]

It's appropriate timing for this since I had a 12 hour day today with 2 amps spread across it and a ton of water. Another 12 hour day tomorrow and maybe a 10 hour day sunday. Going out with a bang before getting the holiday time off.

 

[Sayen]

I used to live off a pot of coffee in the morning, soda at lunch, and an energy drink for the late shift. When my first kid was about to be born, I realized I couldn't keep going that way, and quit cold turkey. I felt great when I switched to a better diet and exercise, and actually felt like I had more energy. I still cheat in the occasional cup of coffee though. But not a daily, or three times daily.

I'll second the clean socks. I often bring an extra pair on long gigs. A change of pants is great for road trips too.

 

[BurkeTheJerk]

Mountain Dew is a wonderful invention. Just sayin'.

 

[ruinexplorer]

For you caffeine addicts, do you get withdrawal headaches when you don't get your fix? When I first met my wife, she would go through at least a 2L bottle of Pepsi per day. If she didn’t drink a certain amount, she’d get a migraine. After talking with some other stagehands that I knew who consumed a large amount of coffee per day, they would say that they also had to drink a certain amount per day to avoid the headaches. I, as far as I remember, have never experienced this, but I don’t drink it regularly. Or maybe I do, but don’t drink the amount necessary to have the side effects.

 

[DuckJordan]

First off its worse than caffeine and I don't recomend it to any one nor do I condone its use. But smoking gets me through my day. That said there was a 2 week run of 16 ish hour days. Straight and I only crashed hard the day after.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[FMEng]

For you caffeine addicts, do you get withdrawal headaches when you don't get your fix? When I first met my wife, she would go through at least a 2L bottle of Pepsi per day. If she didn’t drink a certain amount, she’d get a migraine. After talking with some other stagehands that I knew who consumed a large amount of coffee per day, they would say that they also had to drink a certain amount per day to avoid the headaches. I, as far as I remember, have never experienced this, but I don’t drink it regularly. Or maybe I do, but don’t drink the amount necessary to have the side effects.

Caffeine withdrawal is real. Normally, I only drink two cups of coffee a day but if I skip one I will get a headache. The trick is to cut back very gradually, not cold turkey.

Once in awhile, I have to work all night at the transmitter, and the drive home is 90 minutes. I have learned to frequently eat small amounts of nutricious food through the night. I avoid sugar and I only take the coffee hit before I hit the road for home.

When I used to binge on sugary foods and coffee all night, I was at serious risk of falling asleep on the drive home. The change really helped.

 

[mstaylor]

For you caffeine addicts, do you get withdrawal headaches when you don't get your fix? When I first met my wife, she would go through at least a 2L bottle of Pepsi per day. If she didn’t drink a certain amount, she’d get a migraine. After talking with some other stagehands that I knew who consumed a large amount of coffee per day, they would say that they also had to drink a certain amount per day to avoid the headaches. I, as far as I remember, have never experienced this, but I don’t drink it regularly. Or maybe I do, but don’t drink the amount necessary to have the side effects.

Coffee headaches are very real. I drink coffee from morning to bedtime, no matter if I am working or not.