Surprisingly, the best time to take a nap is not during your long lecture.  While sitting in a classroom taking notes for three hours straight can be quite tedious, it is often necessary due to scheduling conflicts and other various issues. If you find yourself stuck in a three hour class, here are some handy tips to help you make it through without dozing off.

1. Stay Hydrated!

Always keep a water bottle at the ready. You can drink some if you are starting to get a little sleepy and it should bring you back to life, at least temporarily. Additionally you could give whoever sits next to you free reign to grab the bottle and start spraying you like a bad animal if you start to nod off. Nothing keeps you more alert than the constant impending threat of surprise water attack.

2. Become a doodle master

If you find yourself having a lot of trouble staying awake, especially during a less interesting topic, try doodling in your notes. If you want to stay at least a bit focused, you could draw things that pertain to what you’re discussing in class. This can prove to be difficult in a math class and very entertaining in a human biology class. Otherwise, you can just start drawing whatever you feel like. It will keep your hand moving and keep you nice and alert.

3. Avoid watches and clocks at all costs

Nothing makes a three hour class seem longer than when you try to watch the minutes go by. If you stare at the clock for long enough, it will not go any faster. When you just put your watch or phone down, time will finally fly by. Sometimes, you can not help but stare over at the clock, and that is okay as long as you don’t do it obsessively. Your professor does have some helpful things to say, you know.

4. Alarms can be helpful when you’re awake too

If you are the type of person who always has their phone tucked in a pocket, try putting your alarm to vibrate and setting it to go off halfway through class. This way, you have to be awake enough to turn it off. This can usually startle you back into awareness. The only thing to remember is not to have the volume turned up, especially not an embarrassing song. That can cause quite the discomfort for you, your professor and your fellow students.

5. Question everything

If you feel you are starting to lose focus, an easy way to zone back in on the topic is ask a question. Then, your professor will be likely to pay more attention to you making it harder to get into your own world. In addition, asking a question can assure that if you were just lost for a minute, you can easily catch back up.

Turn up the snooze alarms and take out the squirt bottles! It is time to attend a three hour (or longer) class and you are ready. Say goodbye to dreamland and hello to concentration!