Tips, tricks, pointers, lifehacks for the overnight shift?

[amerikat]

6 M to 6:30 AM shift. Can't seem to adjust. I still want to sleep when it's dark.

[Skittles]

1. earplugs and fan and blackout curtains

[JackInGreen]

2. I've been working 11 pm to 7am for 9+ years

I'm still not sure entirely how I make it through, and I push through to 30 hours sometimes to accomodate my weekend job. I always have background noise, tv or music. I listen to a lot of podcasts and having a smart phone has helped. Coffee....lots of coffee....but more over, water! Hydration can help. Keep your ambient temperature cold. Walk or stay on your feet as much as you can. I've found thinking about "life in reverse" can help, my waking at 5pm is the same as waking at 5am, the days follows through from there.
All of got, hope it helps

[SeattleVet]

3. How long have you been on this shift?

The first time I went to Mids it took 2-3 weeks for my body to really start getting switched around. It helps if you can keep a regular schedule, and even keep the weekends shifted as much as practical. Once I got used to it I loved it. Some of us went to bed as soon as we got home and got up mid-afternoon. Some preferred to stay up for several hours and hit the sack anywhere from noon to around 3 O'Clock PM. I'd get off, sit around and watch the morning news or read and have a couple of brews then get to bed, unless I needed to be somewhere for an appointment or something. I'd get some strange looks from the dayshift guys in the barracks/dorm as they were headed out to work while I was watching TV and drinking beer in the dayroom. If I didn't do that, I'd usually head out on the motorcycle for some morning trail riding, or head to the local sandpit and do some target shooting for a few hours to unwind from the nigh of work.

The absolute worst was when we had a rotating schedule - a few days, a few mids, and a few swings - and your body never really knew what the fuck was happening.

[amerikat]

5. Just a week

Hoping it gets easier. I work fewer days per month and that's a good thing

[Skittles]

13. it takes 1 - 3 months to get used to it (I have trained many folk on night shift)

some people, like me, are natural night owls......night shift is much harder for those who are natural day folk

[amerikat]

20. I'm a natural night owl.

Always up at night......natural for me. Not sure I can last three months. Just trying to get thru each and every day. It's the sleep time I'm having trouble with.

[Major Nikon]

16. After a couple of years it gets a little easier

If you can train yourself to take a nap right before work and get at least 6 hours of continuous sleep after work it's not so bad provided you can stay up very late and sleep late on your days off. Alternatively you can reverse those two, but you need at least one period where you can get several hours of restful sleep. If you are trying to do two completely different sleep cycles on work days and off days you will never adjust. Your body will want to fall into some kind of regular cycle and will be resistant to short term changes. As others have said you'll need a place that is conducive to sleep during the day which means making it as dark and sound free as possible.

[HubertHeaver]

4. I worked the overnight for several years.

At one place, it was very quiet and I had to concentrate on staying awake until 4:30 -- 5:00 am when things started to get active. The most recent place I was well occupied the shift so day-sleeping was my only problem. The temptation is to act as though you have a day off and not sleep or sleep very little.

Declare and defend your hours of sleep. Develop a consistent habit of sleep. Darken your room as much as possible and, if you have to, get blindfolds.

If at all possible, turn your phone off. People will think nothing of calling you during the day because, after all, you are there and--they think--available. Many phone conversations started with "did I wake you up?" I would respond with "I had to get up to answer the phone anyway."

[amerikat]

6. Phone is off during sleep time.

I've yet to get room darkening shades.

[winstars]

7. Get a roll of the Reynolds 150 ft tin foil and some duct tape until you get black out curtains...

Its the wide, heavy duty type, just tape it up temporarily, you can actually roll it up if you want to...

I have used this method many times when needed.

And Elvis did it many times in hotel rooms!!!

[HubertHeaver]

8. Does this replace the tin foil hat?

[winstars]

17. No, thats why you need the 150 ft type!!! LOL

[uppityperson]

9. Melatonin 15 min before lying down can help too.

[AngryAmish]

10. A lot of folks swear by provigil

And shift work is on the label, iirc.

[amerikat]

19. Read about this.

Like the limitless pill from the movie. My doctor wouldn't go for this I'm pretty sure.
Love to try it though.

[AngryAmish]

22. Why not? Yours is an on label use.

[amerikat]

27. I will ask.

The limitless pill from the movie?

[Facility Inspector]

11. Drink vodka tonics

when you get off work.

[RedCappedBandit]

12. Did it for years and it was never normal.

You can alleviate some of the stress with the suggestions in this thread and elsewhere but at some point it just isn't natural and there's no getting around it.

[Skittles]

14. not correct for all

I am a natural night owl -I never want to sleep before 4AM - when I worked day shift I was absolutely miserable - I will always want to wake up after noon

[Mosby]

15. i worked graveyard for a couple years total

The key for me was staying up after work and then going to sleep 8-9 hours before my shift started. It might be hard at first but you will adapt and will not be so tired after your shift, it's really the same thing people with day jobs are doing.

I live in a big city and there are bars that cater to night shift workers, me and a couple coworkers used to go to a local bar and drink beer and play pool at 6am.

[nadine_mn]

18. Black out curtains as suggested and it will take time

I am a night owl so working overnights for me was a lot easier than trying to start work at 8 am, but that is how my internal clock works. Even now, years after having to work those shifts, I still prefer to sleep in the day and stay up all night.

The hardest thing was having other people respect that their awake time was my sleep time so leave me alone.

I started doing yoga (I worked at a shelter and had space to move and everyone was asleep) between the hours of 3-4 because that was the hardest time for me and that helped me stay awake and the deep breathing techniques I learned also helped me go to sleep when I got home.

It takes time for your body to adjust if you aren't used to. Try your best to keep a routine, even on off days.

[pinboy3niner]

21. Do NOT take prescribed sleeping pills

Sap that I am, always looking out for my company's interests, I volunteered to work overnights for a while to get out a critical job. It saved the job for my company. My wife hated it and I had trouble sleeping, so I tried a sleeping pill prescribed by my doctor. Great for sleeping, but the latent grogginess was not so good for working with dangerous machinery.

I only took that pill once. After that, I used an over-the-counter sleep med that worked great and had no side effects.

[amerikat]

23. I take an anti anxiety pill for sleep.

has a 24 burn period..gets me to sleep but leaves me groggy.

[amerikat]

24. Mostly good advice. Thank you all.

I try to get back to this post on my days off.

[TexasBushwhacker]

28. FYI, some sleeping meds mess with your sleep cycle

and dream sleep seems to be critical to brain health. Deep dreamless sleep restores the body. Alcohol disturbs the sleep cycle as well.

I've been using an app called Sleep as Android that tracks my sleep patterns as well as an app called Twilight that reduces the stimulating blue wavelengths of light from my smart phone. I'm sure there are similar apps for iPhones.

Eliminate caffeine 6 hours or more before your new bedtime and no heavy meals at least 3 hours before bedtime.

[amerikat]

25. What was your work?

If I may ask.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

26. Hammacher Schlammacher or whatever their name is sells two special types of lightbulbs.

One to use before you want to go to sleep, and another for keeping you awake better. Different wavelengths in each that screw around with your melatonin production as I recall.

[MuseRider]

29. Old 7PM to 7AM shifter here.

It is hard. This was before cell phones and even answering machines so I had to leave the phone on in case of emergency or early call and every person I knew knew I was home and it seemed not to matter if I slept or not to them.

Make it as quiet as possible, dark if you need that. I found that I eventually just got used to it even with the 3 normal days off a week. Just watch that hour between 5 and 6 when the sun starts to lighten the sky. That was always the hardest.

I would stay away from drugs although I know there are some that are supposed to help. I just think it is better to adjust yourself but then that is only an opinion.

Good luck.