Just How to Go About It

It sometimes seems as if everyone is online at midnight these days. I could text someone in hopes of them responding later in the day and they reply almost immediately, leaving me wondering if people even sleep at night anymore. I used to be that person who would sleep by 8am, to wake up at whatever time I chose the next day. I slept early on the days I had appointments, and I also slept early on the days I had nothing to do the next day. My decision to wake early, however, depended solely on my plans for the day.

So, my habit of staying up late, began in my 100lvl. Living with roommates who would rather be up at night, than at day, simply rubbed off on me. There were nights where we were still thinking of what to eat for dinner, at 11pm. There were nights we stayed up late, simply blasting music on speakers and dancing. There were nights we were up late because we were having conversations and talking about fun topics. There were also nights where everyone lay in their beds, eyes glued to their phones, simply reveling in the comfort of not being awake alone.

It was very easy to initiate me into staying up late, and that’s why in consequent years, living with other people who never exceeded 10pm as their bedtime, made me feel like the odd one out. And having tasted life at midnight, I just couldn’t let go of that habit.

So, if I wanted my roommate who is an early sleeper to stay up till midnight, there are different things I’d need to put in place. The first thing would be to tease her. Continuously tease her that she couldn’t stay up so late, even if her life depended on it. The first step would be taunting them in a way that makes them want to prove you wrong. Cajole them softly into doing the dare.

The next thing would be to make that time worth it. I could give her a book to read, a movie to watch, or better still, I could hint at a game we could both play. Now, the key to this would be to start it way before midnight. If we’re watching a movie, I’d get a movie I believe we’d both be very invested in, or if it’s a book, I’d tailor it to her taste. We’ll start the movie way before sleep comes, and so, by the time it’s midnight she’d be too into it, to want to trade it for sleep.

I could also lure her in, using conversations or by simply having fun, like my roommates did to me back then. We’d have fun till around 11, and by then, we’d settle into bed, probably doomscroll for the rest of the hours. I can’t guarantee if something like this would work since I’m the only one involved. However, if it was a team work, this would be a perfect plan.

There’s this belief that social media is more fun at midnight. From the reels, to the memes, down to regular conversations, there’s no restraint to these things at midnight, and you sometimes find yourself struggling to hold back from laughing so loudly. So, doomscrolling through the night could be a perfect option to get someone to stay up. After all, phones are most people’s biggest companions. It was 11:48pm, as at the time of writing this post.

Thanks for reading.

Images above are mine.