Try to wake up at 2am or just not go to bed?

[Canadian876]

Politics addict (don't judge me) currently planning how I watch election night. Since having a child and turning 40 I'm not as good with lack of sleep and haven't done an all nighter for a decade! But I don't want to miss this one. Election night not everyone's cup of tea I realise, but can I ask about planning to stay up all night more generally.

The exit poll is at 10pm and then the first interesting results start coming around 2 am.

Should I
A) drink coffee / wine and stay up all night
B) go to bed at 10.05pm and set at alarm for 2am?

A bit worried setting an alarm for 2am will make me feel rotten and worse than if I'd just stayed up.

WWYD?

Oooh, following with interest as I have the same dilemma. I'm thinking of going to bed at 9 and setting the alarm for 1.30 (maybe even 2). I'll miss the exit polls but I'm not good at staying awake for the same reason as you and doubt I'll last till midnight!

I guess there is no chance of an afternoon nap.

Also, yes, I know I'll feel rotten when I wake at 2pm but I'll get some nice snacks in and I've got a new jigsaw to start to keep me awake (life in the fast lane here!!). Luckily I'm not at work on Friday

Can you not go to bed earlier than 10? If I needed to be up at 2 I'd go to bed as early as possible. 8-2 would give you 6 hrs which isn't bad.

What do you have to do on Friday? Work? Look after small children? If you have nothing important then I'd be tempted to pull an all nighter then have a nap before lunch. You risk being too excited/switched on to sleep at 10.05pm so you might be grumpy by 2am.

I'm rubbish at staying up late but thanks to being perimenopausal I could fall asleep, no problem, at 10pm then be wide awake at 2am whether I want to or not.

What do you have to do the next day? Work? Children? Or can you sleep at all on Friday?

I have the same dilemma!

I'll be firmly tucked up in bed as soon as the polls close, having learned my lesson from 2017 when I got no sleep at all. The result will be exactly the same at 7am!

I’m staying up, if I set an alarm I’ll feel like shit

I'm doing exit polls and setting clock for 2.45am

Actually it's better to be asleep 10.15-2am as that means you will have got your first sleep cycle which is the deep sleep

Missing out on light and rem sleep will be hard but not as bad as missing out on deep sleep

I get really sleepy drinking wine so I wouldn't do this. I'd have loads of snacks and good TV!

I plan on just staying up all night, I will have snacks and drinks to keep my energy up!

But I don't have to work on Friday and my kids are school age so I can sleep once I've packed them off for the day.

I'm staying up. if I went to bed for a couple of hours I'd feel awful!!

I’m working in one of the counts, I’m debating having an afternoon nap and then ploughing through…

I’m going to bed straight after the exit polls then alarm set for 02:30. Coffee and a banana to wake me up then mid morning nap on Friday. Glad it’s not just me who has this meticulously planned out…

I usually stay up all night when doing this. I'm pretty good at pulling all-nighters though. I just stay up for as late as I can, stock up on drinks and snacks and flick between news channels and keep a few forums open in tabs on my phone for extra entertainment.

I can't decide what to do either. I have the day off on Friday; fellow politics nerd so made sure I sorted that. But if I stay up all night I'll be grumpy and tired the next day.

My adult children are coming home and they are much more able to stay awake than me. I think I'll watch the exit poll and a bit of analysis, head to bed around 10.30 and get up again around 2.30. Then I'll get some snacks and fizz out for everyone hopefully!

Booked day off work on the Friday. I'm gonna wait for the exit poll then get up later on. Then nap later in the day

Do you have to stay up until Friday evening? If so, I would go to bed and set an alarm. You will likely feel bad on waking but you will survive the day. Staying awake for 36 hours or so sounds horrendous.

C) Go to bed as normal. It's not worth losing a night of sleep over and the result will be the same whether you witness it or not.

That's certainly what I'll be doing!

I’ve got Friday off work so I think I’m going to bring the duvet downstairs and doze on and off throughout the night.

Snacks, coffee, chocolate and a glass of something like brandy to nip at when the big bastards fall!

Please can you share how you could possibly contemplate drinking wine and manage to stay up all night?! I'd be asleep after a couple 🤷‍♀️🥂 Enjoy whatever you decide!

Go to bed at 8, get up at 3am. You'll still see the results come in but can spend the first hour catching up and fast forwarding any filler.
Also means you get 7 hours sleep.

EXIT POLL!!!