Staying up for the match? How to handle a 1am kick

Staying up for the match? How to handle a 1am kick-off

8 hours ago

BBC

The England football team have a huge challenge taking on Mexico, on their home turf, in the last 16 of the World Cup

But fans back home have an equally daunting task – surviving that 01:00 kick-off on a Monday morning

The match will go on until at least 03:00 and that’s without extra time, penalties or watching any of the post-match analysis. The pubs are open until 05:00

That is a sleep-wrecker – especially if you’ve got school, university or work on Monday

“It’s perfectly designed to screw things up,” says sleep scientist Prof Russell Foster, from the University of Oxford. He says you won’t fall asleep the second the final whistle blows either because “you’re going to get so energised, it’ll be difficult to wind down”

Well don’t worry, I’ve got you covered… forget solving England’s leaky defence, this is the tactical plan you need for the football

We’ll look at sleep hacks and the sweet spot for coffee and we’ll offer a little bit of relationship advice and some tips for children. (Be warned they will not make you popular)

The three sleep strategies

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The first thing we need to decide is when to sleep. There are three key plans:

• The full American
• The sandwich
• The squeeze

The most hardcore England fan who has no other commitments in life – or at least a very understanding family – could go for the fullAmerican

“Put yourself on North American timing,” says Dr Victoria Revell, from the University of Surrey

It’ll take you a few days to fully adapt, but after that you’ll be almost nocturnal and will manage to take in the England game and all the other late-night fixtures.The only price will be human contact, but that’d only be a distraction anyway

If that sounds too much, then try the sandwich or the squeeze depending onwhat feels right for you

The sandwich strategy involves two sleeps – one before and one after the game

So you’re going to bed early, setting an alarm for just before kick-off and then enjoying the game. The downside is you’re likely to a bit groggy and you may be watching the start of the game with your brain only half awake. But the adrenaline rush should take over so you enjoy it, although you “might struggle to then fall back asleep”, says Revell

The squeeze method involves staying up all night to watch it and squeezing in a couple of hours sleep before you have to get up. It’s the simplest plan, but “you’re going to cut your sleep very short and there are consequences the next day,” says Revell

If you’re naturally a morning person who likes to be tucked up in bed early – then you might find the sandwich easier. Whereas a night owl who can easily work into the night might favour the squeeze

Be warned

Odds are you will end up cutting your sleep short somehow. Just keep in mind that the tired brain is not you on a good day

And if you’ve had a couple of beers while watching the game then things are going to be even worse. Alcohol is a sedative, but it dents your sleep quality

“Lack of sleep, fuelled by alcohol consumption is an even worse recipe for functioning the next day,” says Foster

Not sleeping enough leads to mood swings, being irritable, high levels of anxiety and you won’t care much about others as your empathy does a runner. And if you’ve got work or studies to do then concentration, decision-making, creativity and productivity all take “a nosedive” says Foster

You’re also more likely to take risks and be impulsive

“It’s bad for safety. Even after a one-hour clock change, there’s a higher incidence of road traffic accidents,” says Revell

So you might want to weigh up if you need to drive on the Monday

And you know that make-or-break conversation you’ve been meaning to have about the state of your marriage – just don’t do it the morning after

“It’s alright to push the boundaries, as long as you know that you’re going to be screwed up the next day and that you don’t make any important life decisions,” says Foster

Dose up on caffeine

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It’s a no-brainer that some of us are going to be surviving on caffeine – whether that’s coffee, tea or energy drinks

The drug changes the way the brain works so it stops paying attention to the signals saying we’re tired – it’s the chemical equivalent of a toddler sticking their fingers in their ear and ignoring you

But caffeine is a double-edged sword because the stimulant lingers in the body for a long time – a strong coffee at kick-off could be a disaster for sleep

Normally, we’re advised to knock coffee on the head around lunchtime – that’s about eight hours before bedtime

So if we shift the rules a bit and assume England get the win in normal time – so around 0300 – and we’re going straight to bed, then we’re downing our last caffeine dose around 1900

Of course if you’re doing an all-nighter – then you do whatever you want

A good cup of coffee is going to be part of our survival plan for Monday. We know we’re going to be exhausted so “make it a strong one” says Revell to get you up and going in the morning

Get your boss to let you nap or have the day off

Experts advise getting up at the normal time (sleep purists hate the weekend lie-in) to avoid throwing the rhythms of your body out of whack

You probably won’t have a choice about getting up if you’re off to work, but some early morning bright light will help tell your tired brain that it’s time to be awake

Strategic napping is also a World Cup watcher’s power move

On Sunday, you can take one in the build up to the game to help you stay up late and enjoy it rather than yawning constantly (although no amount of napping with overcome a turgid performance)

Another nap on Monday daytime will help refresh our tired brains. The perfect nap time is just after lunch as the body has a natural dip then – siesta time

“Employers might even want to encourage people to do that,” says Foster

But keep them to around 20 to 30 minutes. If you go into a deeper sleep then it is harder to wake up and you’ll be super groggy

Although this is all just about survival – your best plan may be to just take Monday off!

What about the kids

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When it comes to children it depends how old they are. Younger children are generally ready to sleep earlier

“I would never wake my child up once she’s asleep, I want her to stay asleep,” says Revell

Teenagers, however, tend to have body clocks that skew very late. They will cope relatively easily staying up late to watch the match. The problem comes in the morning and hauling themselves out of bed

And children/teenagers will face the same cognitive and emotional challenges that adults do if their sleep is cut drastically short

“I think potentially them watching it before they go to school, maybe waking up early and watching it might be better,” says Revell

Although I will warn you – this is what my parents used to do to me and it was not a popular decision. It’s not the same even if you can avoid the scoreline

“But that is a completely brilliant strategy and is exactly what you should do in terms of defending your sleep and ability to perform and function,” says Foster

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