POLL: Staying Awake

How to stay awake

  • Soda

    Votes: 16 18.2%
  • Tea

    Votes: 3 3.4%
  • Coffee

    Votes: 26 29.5%
  • Pills/Powder

    Votes: 2 2.3%
  • Gum

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • Energy Drinks

    Votes: 13 14.8%
  • Nothing

    Votes: 18 20.5%
  • Other

    Votes: 9 10.2%

  • Total voters
    88
I steer clear of energy drinks, and I find as a result that when I actually need to wake up (which is usually just to get me through the last few hours of a call, rather than from the start) I can have something weaker like coke (cola) or even just lemon aid. The sugar is usually enough. Although, having said that I am from a city where it is odd if you don't drink coffee so I will tend to have one before work.


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If I have an early morning a cup of coffee or latte from dunkin can get me going, but then I try to stay clear. For nights like tonight where I need to keep going till 4, I try to stay clear of caffine until the last little leg of the shift. Helps give me the little bump at the end and crash quicker when I get back home.

On tour though my caffine addiction got BAD, it got to the point where I needed two cups before I'd even consider talking to the house LD/ school's TD/ guy who helps out twice a year... ughhh
 
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.

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And this is why its called an addiction kids. I think the worst part about it is if I dont smoke in the morning, I wont wake up, and if I dont smoke at night I wont sleep. If any of the younger set are considering starting because they see the pros do it all the time, take it from me, and probably Duck, and anyone else who has to leave work every 2 hours to go burn a square, its a terrible choice. Caffeine is similar for me, if I dont drink enough in the morning Im asleep, and it continues throughout the day. But if I dont cut off around 4 hours before I intend to go to sleep, I wont sleep at all. And there are indeed headaches associated with caffeine withdrawal, but nowhere near the nasty side effects that trying to quit smoking has. The shakes, headaches and chronic fatigue only last a week, not a month.
 
And this is why its called an addiction kids. I think the worst part about it is if I dont smoke in the morning, I wont wake up, and if I dont smoke at night I wont sleep. If any of the younger set are considering starting because they see the pros do it all the time, take it from me, and probably Duck, and anyone else who has to leave work every 2 hours to go burn a square, its a terrible choice. Caffeine is similar for me, if I dont drink enough in the morning Im asleep, and it continues throughout the day. But if I dont cut off around 4 hours before I intend to go to sleep, I wont sleep at all. And there are indeed headaches associated with caffeine withdrawal, but nowhere near the nasty side effects that trying to quit smoking has. The shakes, headaches and chronic fatigue only last a week, not a month.


I absolutely Agree with Shiben 100%, another note, the health concerns such as heart failure, gum disease(yes smoking causes oral issues too), and cancer just to name a few, your teeth will turn yellow no matter how much you brush your teeth, your clothes will reek of smoke and so will your fingers. Just try to get intimate with your girlfriend/boyfriend smelling like an ashtray, its a mood killer faster than grandma in her undergarments.

SERIOUSLY, ITS JUST LIKE FLYING SOMEONE DIY, its a horrible Idea and the consequences lasts for centuries not years. Not to mention if your on the road or live here in SD, Cigarettes are expensive and getting more expensive, think I pay $7 ish a pack here and thats cheep for a pack that will probably last you a day if you are a moderate smoker. Not to mention its cold as hell in the winter....


Back on topic, Getting the right rest before working is good, do not in any circumstances over sleep before the long hauls, it just makes you more tired.
 
I used to do long country tours with lots of overnight driving.Eating regularly and drinking water or diet coke kept the body going but to stay awake I would use a technique where I woud worry about all the things that could go wrong and what a disaster it would be if I didn't arrive in time, etc, etc, the effect of worrying is to pump adrenelin into your system which keeps you alert.In 30 years and millions of kms through the Australian outback, I never had an accident, apart from the occassional dead kangaroo, or missed a show, although at the end of a tour I would sleep 24 hours straight.
 
How appropriate, as yesterday I had a 7am-1am shift -.-


Diet Coke is my best friend, although caffeine usually doesn't do much for me. What usually helps is talking to other crew members. Conversation usually helps stimulate me enough to keep me awake. If we're in a situation where we can't talk (like a show), I usually just focus on the show and that alone helps me keep awake. I try and steer clear of energy drinks and the like, I hate the crash. And, I've never found coffee to be too appealing.
 
And this is why its called an addiction kids. I think the worst part about it is if I dont smoke in the morning, I wont wake up, and if I dont smoke at night I wont sleep. If any of the younger set are considering starting because they see the pros do it all the time, take it from me, and probably Duck, and anyone else who has to leave work every 2 hours to go burn a square, its a terrible choice. Caffeine is similar for me, if I dont drink enough in the morning Im asleep, and it continues throughout the day. But if I dont cut off around 4 hours before I intend to go to sleep, I wont sleep at all. And there are indeed headaches associated with caffeine withdrawal, but nowhere near the nasty side effects that trying to quit smoking has. The shakes, headaches and chronic fatigue only last a week, not a month.
I agree that smoking is a badd choice, I have smoked since 1972. I have had four heart attacks, one quad bypass, three stents, still climbing steel.
 
Agreed that the best thing to do is stay hydrated and eat real food. However, you don't always get the chance to eat well...

I bring granola bars wherever I go and a water bottle. I like to add the single pack powder drink mixes to my water bottle when I get tired of drinking things with no flavor. Once I struggle to move with efficiency I go for coffee, most shops I've worked in tend to have a coffee maker in the mix somewhere.
 
I find when I get really tired that I just have to keep moving. I can go several days with 3-4 hours of sleep a night and be okay, not pleasant, but functional. I have done some 72 hour days and driven home. Not fun. I've worked all day then driven 15 hours before. Took a 5 hour energy, a Red Bull and a Monster and was still falling asleep. I don't partake or condone it, but illegal substances are very common in this industry for this very reason.
 
You can end up with jail time for drowsy driving according to this site. Not only that, but for the same reasons that drunk drivers get into problems, driving while drowsy inhibits motor functions and reaction time due to your body not being able to fully function. Since we know that our judgement can be impaired while tired, you need to make sound decisions while fully awake. Working or operating heavy machinery (driving) wile drowsy is extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. Artificial stimulants may prevent you from actually falling asleep, but they cannot give you full functionality of conciousness. We don't want to see any of you as another statistic from some horrible accident that may have been avoided by a good night's sleep.

I would also like everyone to please refrain from making comments about substances that you would not recommend. Controlled substances, including prescription medications, have no business backstage if they can impair your judgement in any way. You can cause serious injury or death to you or others. It can also be your ticket out of this business. As testing for substances has improved, you can easily lose your job and end up being blacklisted for being caught. I have witnessed it first hand, and not from habitual users as well. Plus, if you end up working in the corporate world (many of the large tours, permanent shows, etc.), drug testing is mandatory prior to employment.
 
A friend of mine that is a nun that worked long hours and was used to long prayers and sermons told me the way that she stays awake was to sit in the front 1/4 of the chair set or stand with 80% of your weight on one leg. I have tried both and they seem to work well.
 
In 1997, after a 19-hour day on the set, assistant cameraman Brent Hershman fell asleep behind the wheel, crashed his car, and died. Deeply disturbed by Hershman's preventable death, filmmaker and multiple-Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler shows how sleep deprivation and long work hours are a lethal combination. Who Needs Sleep? is a commentary on our quality of life.

Subsequently, 12on12off :
  1. No more than 12 hours of work.
  2. No less than 12 hours of turnaround.
  3. No more than six hours between meals.
Somewhat controversial as many don't want to sacrifice the overtime compensation.
 
Subsequently, 12on12off :

Somewhat controversial as many don't want to sacrifice the overtime compensation.

Wasnt that the original intent of unions? IIRC, the mantra was 8 hours of labor, 8 hours of recreation, 8 hours of rest. the 12/12 thing seems like it makes sense though... I honestly dont think that anything other than Caffeine is a decent idea for people to use to stay awake, and even that is too easy to overdo and get hurt. Only time I have ever gotten seriously hurt was when I made stupid decisions thanks to too little sleep...
 
Speaking of long calls, got a 16 hr one with breaks taken out of total time already. Its gonna be a fun one....
 
I know my job requires an 8 hour turn around but even sometimes that doesn't happen. For the most part I stick to coffee (caramel macchiato right here!) or soda (anything really) and the occasional energy drink such as red bull or the rockstar juices if it gets really bad. But I normally just do the eat healthy and drink lots of water route. I love me some coffee though! I don't know if any one has tried it but I was watching some show about the Green Baret and apparently they chew on coffee grounds and some even put tabasco sauce in their eyes to stay awake. No thanks!
 
I know my job requires an 8 hour turn around but even sometimes that doesn't happen. For the most part I stick to coffee (caramel macchiato right here!) or soda (anything really) and the occasional energy drink such as red bull or the rockstar juices if it gets really bad. But I normally just do the eat healthy and drink lots of water route. I love me some coffee though! I don't know if any one has tried it but I was watching some show about the Green Baret and apparently they chew on coffee grounds and some even put tabasco sauce in their eyes to stay awake. No thanks!

I know a bunch of military people who just eat the contents of the MREs without adding water, just tear and dump into mouth. I would imagine that tabasco in the eye would suck more donkey than would be worth it, also screw up your sighting ability.
 
I know a bunch of military people who just eat the contents of the MREs without adding water, just tear and dump into mouth. I would imagine that tabasco in the eye would suck more donkey than would be worth it, also screw up your sighting ability.

So your saying that theater is somewhere that being able to see what is going on is a good thing? And not adding water to MREs is very common.
 
So your saying that theater is somewhere that being able to see what is going on is a good thing? And not adding water to MREs is very common.

I was mainly saying that if you were, say, spending much of your day looking through a scope for terrorists, having tabasco sauce in your eye might make that less awesome.
 
I just use lots of soda and coffee! We often have 20 - 30 hours days when we are doing shows and sometimes i will have an energy drink but most of the time i just stay busy and try to move around when i can cuz if i sit down i start to crash.
 
I'm a regular with coffee and having one to two large mugs a day keeps me out of the head ache area, but it takes more than that to really energize me.
 

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