night shift - been there

nightshift - nan

nightshift - nan

If all else fails, take a 15-minute power nap - Love Being a Night Owl

I agree that people are either born a night owl or an early bird – and never the twain shall meet.  I have ALWAYS been a night owl.  When I worked in-house days, I was always late in the morning because no matter what time I went to bed, I could not fall asleep before 3 am. 

I do not work third shift because of any extra pay for shift differential – it is because that is actually my natural circadian sleep rhythm. 

Not to discourage you, but that is really something you should keep in mind and don’t flog yourself because you cannot get used to working nights.  Some people never do.   Another bit of bad news for night owls, “In late 2007, the World Health Organization classified shift work as a “probable” cause of cancer -- a position that the American Cancer Society indicates it is likely to follow.”   The consequence of that could be higher health insurance rates if you ever have to buy insurance on your own and do not qualify for an employer’s group policy.   

So, if you are working the third shift because of the extra pay, so you can share childcare with your spouse, or any other reason other than that you are truly a night person, I would highly recommend that you try to change shifts as soon as you can.  The damage you do to your health now may never be repaired. 

As far as sleep, what’s that?  As a night owl, I let my body decide when it wants to sleep.  I have alternated between going right to bed when my shift is over at 8 am to staying awake and going to bed at 6 pm, 6 hours before my shift is to begin (I never sleep more than 5 to 6 hours straight no matter when I go to sleep, so I do not bother trying to get 8 hours anymore). 

I try to break it down by the week.  I work Tuesday through Saturday.  So on Saturday at 8 am, I go lie down.  If I fall asleep within 15 to 30 minutes, then that is my schedule for the rest of the week. 

However, if I lie down at 8 am on Saturday and am still awake at 9 am, I force myself to get out of bed and go about my normal routine until 6 pm or later.  I do that schedule until I work my five days and Saturday rolls around again. 

Don’t try to switch back to being up days and sleeping at night on your days off.  It never works.  You just end up being more tired and sometimes more irritable for the first couple of nights that you are back at work.  Once you get some kind of schedule going, stick to it. 

It is a real pain for your family to adjust to you going to bed at odd times, but they (and you) will eventually accept it and adjust activities accordingly, even on your “days off.”

Once you get into a sleep rhythm, you will find that staying alert for 8 hours overnight will be easier.  When I have gotten minimal sleep because of a family crisis or appointments that throw off my sleep schedule completely, I do try to get up and move around.  Every hour or two I get up for a glass of ice cold water and sip on that instead of soda or coffee.  I keep a bowl of crunchy vegetables (carrots, celery, radishes) on my desk and chomp on those.  Sometimes just the act of chewing wakes me up, but I do not like to chew gum. 

If all else fails, I have tried this and it actually works for me.  I go into a dark room, set a timer for exactly 15 minutes, sit in a large comfy chair (no lying down – I do not want to get too comfortable), elevated my arms on the armrests of the chair, close my eyes, lower my head, and try to erase any thoughts from my brain.  Sometimes I do not even fall asleep; I just sit calmly and listen to music with no thoughts whatsoever.  When the alarm goes off, I open my eyes and feel like I just got up from a decent sleep. 

Here is the documentation for this: 

Scientists say that a successful midday nap depends on two things: timing and (no kidding) caffeine consumption. Experiments performed at Loughborough University in the UK showed that the sleep-deprived need only a cup of coffee and 15 minutes of shut-eye to feel amazingly refreshed.

1.   Right before you crash, down a cup of java (or other caffeinated drink). The caffeine has to travel through your gastrointestinal tract, giving you time to nap before it kicks in.

2.   Close your eyes and relax. Even if you only doze, you'll get what's known as effective microsleep, or momentary lapses of wakefulness.

3.   Limit your nap to 15 minutes. A half hour can lead to sleep inertia, or the spinning down of the brain's prefrontal cortex, which handles functions like judgment. This gray matter can take 30 minutes to reboot.

Hope that gave you something to think about.

Good luck on your night shift. 

3rd shift - us_mt

Night Owl here... - RubySoho

NightOwl 2B - Tami

Thank you for the suggestions... - passing through

What worked for me was a hot shower, eye mask, ear plugs, and melatonin - Sassy Pants