Prep for Staying Up All Night for Winter Solstice: What Are Your Techniques?

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As hopefully everybody knows, in just under 2 weeks we'll have what's becoming an annual tradition here at the Cauldron--our "Up All Night: A Technopagan Winter Solstice" online celebration!

My question here, as the date (Mon. night, Dec. 21) approaches, is: How do you do it? When you need to stay up all night, what strategies help you to do it?

Here are some of mine:

1. TAKE A NAP. A quick snooze the day before helps you go into the evening well rested.

2. DON'T LET THE ROOM GET TOO WARM. A warm room is a big sleep-inducer for me.

3. TURN OFF THE TV! If you get drowsy, sitting in front of the tube is like taking a sleeping pill.

4. LIMIT ALCOHOL. If I'm tired, it knocks me out.

5. HAVE A PROJECT. Something specific to accomplish helps focus the mind; I usually pick something pesky that I've been putting off, like wrapping gifts or cleaning out a file cabinet or somesuch.

6. DO SOMETHING ACTIVE. Dance, go to a 24-hour gym...whatever gets the blood pumping. But don't go for broke exercising, or the exhaustion will do you in afterwards. Also, doing something like taking a walk gets me outdoors in the cold air, which helps wake me up.

7. CALL A FRIEND. I use the solstice up-all-night celebration as my excuse to call friends in distant time zones. Good conversation keeps me alert.

What are your ideas?

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