How does everyone else cope with graveyard shift?

Question

I'm working 9 to 530 in a bank call center. I miss my nights and don't know when I should be sleeping, right after work, before work? Forget eating right!

Thank you for your great answers,I did get to have 8 hours fri morning, so was rested and didnt need my 3hr prior work nap. Thanks again for your insights!

Thank you for your great answers,I did get to have 8 hours fri morning, so was rested and didnt need my 3hr prior work nap. Thanks again for your insights!

Answer 1

Your body has an internal clock that will reset to whatever shift you wish, but it takes several days to regulate.

If you sleep one schedule one day, but another the next, and you'll always be tired and messed up. Regulate it. Pick a schedule, but stick with it. Weekends are going to mess you up though.

Or learn how to get 4 hrs at a time, and just take naps.

Answer 2

I used to work the graveyard shift... only I worked until 6-7am. I would go to bed afterwards and sleep until about 4 pm. I would have to wear earplugs (due to living situation) and keep the blinds closed. I didn't like this in the winter because everytime I would get up it would be dark out.. and the same thing for when I went to bed, it was just getting light out. So I always missed the daylight. You can try seeing if this works out for you, but you could also try it the other way around. If you have alot of errands to run in the morning or go to appointments or something like that, then try going to bed at about 12:00 pm and get up at about 8:30. Then after work you will have several hours to be up during the daylight and day time. Your job doesn't seem too strenuous so you probably won't be physically tired afterwork. I suggest you try both ways for about a week each and find which one will work with your life and what you need to get done
Hopefully it works out for you!

Answer 3

I used to work nights (7pm to 7am). My whole life was basically switched inside out, upside down! I'd get home from work by about 8:15 am, shower and eat "dinner", and be in bed by 9:00 am. Wake up at 4:30 pm to get ready for work, and eat "breakfast". Leave the house by 6:00 pm. Work all night, take my "lunch break" around 1:00 am or 2:00 am and take a nap. Leave work by 7:15-7:20 am, and do it all over again. On my nights off, I would be up all night and I'd sleep all day b/c that's what my body had gotten used to. And my social life was pretty much non-existent! I'm glad I don't work those hours anymore!

Answer 4

I work nights as well and I stay up in the morning,,,i go shopping or visiting or whatever and then I go to sleep about noon/1:00 and get up about 8 and watch some of my favourite shows or play on the computer. It may sound strange but after work I want supper not breakfast lol but i only eat lightly at work,,,it has done me very good,,I have lost some of that extra weight we are all trying to lose lol

Answer 5

Match up as well as possible with your weekends. If you stay up all night, you'll want sleep before you go to work. If you get more energy later in the day, sleep after work. What are your chores during the week? Sometimes grocery shopping is easiest at 6-7 in the morning - also getting your car into the shop.
Hope this helps!
P.S.
Paint your bedroom black!

Answer 6

How long have you been doing it? It takes a little while to get used it. Just try to act like its a day shift...eat breakfast when you get up, even though others maybe eating dinner. Try and sleep in a very dark room. Cover the windows with tinfoil or a big piece of cardboard.

Answer 7

I spent 23 years of my 29 year career working 2nd and 3rd shifts. What I found best to do, is to maintain the same sequence for the main events of the day no matter what the hours are. An example would be:

WAKE
PREPARE FOR DAY
DRIVE TO WORK
WORK
DRIVE HOME
ERRANDS
PERSONAL HYGEINE
BED

AND THEN WORK OUT THE FINER POINTS OF YOUR LIFE SCHEDULE AROUND IT. tHE KEY IS TO STICK TO IT AND NOT JUST DO IT FOR 3 DAYS AND GET OUT OF EQUILIBRIUM FOR WEEKS AT A TIME. iF IT IS A CONSISTENLY APPLIED SCHEDULE YOU WILL SETTLE INTO A ROUTINE DESPITE THE FACT THAT WE ARE NOT NOCTURNAL CREATURES.

I,m so sorry for the caps. I rarely look at the screen when I am typing.

Answer 8

I know how you feel. We have a 7 week old and he never sleeps!
Probably getting 3 hours a day?

I would say try to wake up 2 hours before work and grab a cup of coffee. Nothing worse than waking up 10mins before work and looking like it when you stroll in.

Sleep as soon as you get home from work and eat when you wake.

Answer 9

You can still maintain eating right, just switch your meal schedule around.
When I was single, I worked the graveyard shift and enjoyed it very much.
I'd go to sleep a few hours after I got off work; wake up in the late afternoon or early evening.
I still had my weekends to party on, too.

Answer 10

My husband works the overnight shift alot and he just sleeps during the day. He shuts the phone off and wears a sleeping mask. If you went to bed by 7AM and got up around 4PM, you would still have time to do things you needed to do before having to work at 9PM.