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Night shift rocks!

Get used to words like "tomorrow" and "yesterday" not making a lot of sense anymore

Three months seems like a lot. I keep enough food to eat around a week, maybe two without going to the shops. A reserve of actual money seems more useful than being prepared to eat canned beans for months.

Seriously. LPT: when you need to shit try and use the toilet, it will cut down your clean up time significantly.

I’ve worked nights for a year now 10:30-07:00, sometimes 06:30-07:00 sometimes 10:30-11:00. Most days I sleep at around 10am-noon and get up around 6pm-8pm. What I have noticed help the most is the quality of sleep. Make your room as dark as possible, limit the disturbances to as few as possible even take melatonin if you know you will get 8 hours of sleep and have a couple hours to wake up. I personally have caffeine on the way to work but it may be a good idea for you to wait until your first break. Limit sugar consumption as it will make you crash. The hardest hour is 03:00-04:00 try to have lunch close before this to get more energy and you’ll push through the hour and the 05:00-06:30 will come before you know it

I work night very rarely, but I take a 2/3 hour nap before having to go to work.

I 'try' to keep my kitchen stocked in such a way that I don't 'have' to go shopping for 3 months.

Besides the ability to divert food budget for a couple months at a time to help out with some other emergency, or the ability to not be fully fucked whenever there is the slightest cashflow problem is nice.

Don't kink shame.

Exposure to sunlight even for a brief period in the morning can shift your circadian rhythms. When you get off work, wear sunglasses and a brimmed hat (baseball cap will do), avoid the outside as much as possible, and have blackout curtains in your home. If you wake up at a time of day when there isn't enough sunlight, use a light therapy lamp to convince your brain that it's morning.

Even with those precautions, night shifts can take a toll on your body. Watch your health, make sure you don't end up eating too many fatty foods and gaining weight, and don't hesitate to change jobs if you need to.

Honestly, my only advice is that you should change to morning shifts asap.

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I used to work 6pm-6am. Light blocking curtains are a must. Even better if they’re heavier and can block some sound. My biggest problem working nights is that if my room had even an inkling of natural light coming through when I was attempting to sleep it wired my brain to be up.

Now I work until 11pm and at least I’m okay if I’m in bed when it’s still dark out.

Thanks! Sleeping twice in the day sounds like a good idea.

Thanks so much, that sounds like a good way to do it!

Thanks! The eye and ear covers are a good tip! I'll be doing factory work so hopefully the breaks will be long enough to catch a nap in my car.

Awesome addition!

Find a morning shift since your blood pressure will go high because your sleep pattern is irregular. I currently work nights.

If you have 2 you have one if you have one you have none.

Unless you’re already a night owl, you’ll be tired either way at first. Working third shift, I tended to go to sleep soon after getting home in the morning, and then had the afternoon and evening open to do things after I woke up.

If you are going to go to sleep right away, make sure to wear sunglasses on the drive home to trick yourself into thinking that it’s still dark so that you can sleep. (At least that worked for me.)

It sounds like you might want to adjust to be more of a full day sleeper. Perhaps try to get to bed by 10am or so, depending upon how long it takes you to get to sleep, how long you typically sleep, and how much time you need before work to eat and get ready. Congratulations on the new job!

On the first day of my night shift I tried to wake up late, around 10am or 11am. This worked best when I went to bed really late the day before.

During the day I only did simple chores or relaxed so I won't be exhausted before starting work. Around 5pm or 6pm I tried to take a nap for 1 or 2 hours, after that I got myself ready for work and packed a few things for the night like food, snacks, a book, wool for crocheting, charging cable for phone or tablet (for watching a movie) etc. whatever you like to do when there is nothing to do at work but you want to keep yourself awake!

In the morning I drove home and went straight to bed because if I waited too long I couldn't sleep anymore until 11 or so

Anyway you have to find out whats best for you. You will see after a few shifts. Everyone is different. :) Sorry for any mistakes, English is not my native language.

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Hey, i was working in rotating shifts for several years meaning nights shifts after morning shifts vica versa..

What worked for Me are the following :

• if you have - for example - your fist nigth shift on monday, then sleep 3-4 hours from monday noon after lunch till like 15:00-16:00
• after the first night shift when you go home go to bed and sleep till like 2-3pm.

This way your new pattern can set in sooner in like 2-3 days. Also ... when you working night shift treat is like you working Afternoon shift.

So if you get up at 2-3 PM, then at 4pkm have your "breakfast" Something light. 8-9 PM which would be your lunch daytime have a hearty meal, then go to work. Át work around 4-5am have the "dinner" because in 2-3 hours you are going to be sleeping at home.

This worked for me while i was working servicedesk role night shifts for 5+ years.

Listen to your body, take efternoon naps when needed. Get yourself comfortabel headwear that cover your eyes and something tovoush in your ears to cancel noise. I dunno what kind of work you do, but try to catch a quick nap at work too.

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