Using Concerta to study

[greenpuddle]

SWIM has recently gained access to 32 mg Concerta pills, which is great because SWIM has a really hard time sitting down and writing her term papers.

SWIM was advised that Concerta may keep one up for several hours, so she took one early in the day. However, she hadn't had a great amount of sleep the night before, and she ended up taking a nap about an hour after her first dose. After a light sleep, she still didn't feel very good at concentrating, so she took another dose (both were taken orally, as-is without busting up the pill), and shortly thereafter, drank a can of Red Rain, which is essentially the same thing as RedBull, to keep herself awake.

SWIM found that her concentration was about as bad as ever, but her heart was not very impressed and started racing/pounding a bit. She felt pretty jittery and restless too, a bit like a mild caffeine overdose.
It was not terribly conductive to getting her term paper written, and not really a pleasant feeling, either.

Any other SWIMmers out there who have used a slow-release form of methylphenidate to improve concentration for a short (few hours) period? Would SWIM have more success if she altered the pill (or dosage) before consuming it? She isn't particularly interested in getting high or feeling good, she just wants to get her damned term papers out of the way.