Last semester the Quad compiled a list of solutions to help the frustrated student cope with the morning rush. But if there is one thing more frustrating for college students than an early morning, it’s a late night.
Fortunately, the knowledgeable folks here at the Quad are also privy to valuable information to make those busy evenings easier, as well.
Burning the Midnight Oil
It is 11pm. You are an introduction and half a paragraph into your five-page essay, which is due in approximately 10 hours. Your only motivation is to change into pajamas and go to bed.
If you’re in need of a kick even after Starbucks is closed, there are a few coffee destinations still to get your fix. For those in West Campus, Blue State Coffee at 957 Commonwealth Ave is open until midnight 7 days a week. And Trident Booksellers and Café at 338 Newbury St is open just as late all nights except Sunday, and isn’t too far a trek for anyone close to Kenmore.
If you’re still in need of fuel, Papa Johns and Dominoes both deliver late into the night. They both take not only Convenience Points, but Dining Points, too. But if pizza is not your style, Seamless Web offers a list to all places that deliver to your dorm. The website gives a complete list of suggestions based on an input address and zip code, and is a great option for anyone too lazy to leave their room.
Once you’re full and ready to write that paper again, the internet might seem like another source of distractions; but the web can also lend a helping hand for productivity. Write or Die is a free online service that punishes procrastination. You can set a time limit and a word goal, and begin writing in the online text box. If you get distracted, it attacks with popup windows and loud and annoying tones. In the dreaded Kamikaze mode, it will deviously begin erasing the precious content that’s already been written.
Time for Bed
For most, late nights lead inevitably to groggy mornings. But often, the snooze-button feeling has less to do with amount of sleep and more to do with sleep cycles. Waking up in the middle of a sleep cycle will almost inevitably lead to difficulty actually getting out of bed. But rising between cycles will usually leave one feeling refreshed.
Sleepyti.me is a web application that lets you set an ideal wakeup time, (and calculates when it is best to go to bed) or choose what time to set your alarm to if you go to bed now. It factors in the average 14 minutes it takes a person to get to sleep, and assumes the normal hour and a half cycle lengths.
But if you’re having trouble actually getting to sleep (possibly from all the coffee) and are unwilling to take melatonin or a sleeping pill, the Internet has help for you, too. Rainy Mood offers 30 minutes of soothing rain sound that can be played from the computer and will fade out on its own.
Hopefully we at the Quad have helped to simplify your life. For more tips, check out our previous post on BU Lifehacking, and Poverty Lifehackings, parts 1 and 2. For more information on SeamlessWeb, check out our article on that, as well.
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