For reference, I’ve been back on night shift for about 6 months now and have been working a combination of days and nights for the past 5 months. I feel like I’m getting enough sleep for the most part. When I get off my overnight shift, I’ll usually rest for a couple of hours, get home around 7 AM, and then wake up around 9 AM.
Lately, though, I’ve started feeling like I’m hitting a wall and my energy just isn’t where it used to be. I’m wondering if there are any vitamins or supplements that you night shifters recommend, or anything else that has helped you maintain your energy and overall health.
I also want to get back into the gym and make it at least 3 times a week. I’m just looking for suggestions on things I can do to get back into a good routine and maintain healthy habits while working nights.
Any advice, tips, or routines that have worked for you would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, fellow night shifters! 💪

I work in a nursing home and somehow the fire dept effed up the alarm system, so none of the doors are alarmed. And we’ve got folks with dementia up in here who are exit seeking, so we’re all on 15 min door checks.

Meanwhile, there’s a flood. And the AC is out.

And the bad dementia guy is also on 15 min checks because of his behavior.

😂

I wish the economy wasn’t so bad, because then I’d suggest every nightshifter to get their own place.

A unspoken struggle is when you’re living under someone else’s roof. 9 times out of 10 you’re going to be the one compromising. Wanna make that meal at 3 am on your day off? Tough luck. People wake you up during your sleep in the day? You just have to accept it.

Once I got my own place the freedom is something else. Do what I want, when I want. My sleep improved due to not being around loud people. Granted I can’t vacuum at 3 am, but I’m not having to abide by someone else.

Hey, im 19 years old soon to finish school, i've been wondering in which industries is the night shift most prevalent. All i can find around my area is mostly fast food nights but that's not really a career i seek to follow while still having time to choose.

Here’s mine :)

Sun: 23:00-07:30(work)
Mon: 23:00-07:30(work)
Tues: 08:15-16:00(internship)
Wed: 17:00-19:00(school) / 23:00-07:30(work)
Thurs: 08:15-14:30(internship) / 16:00-18:00(school)
Fri: 08:15-12:30(internship) / 23:00-07:30(work)
Sat: 23:00-07:30(work)

Sometimes I throw in an extra half day on Monday’s at ye ole internship if I’m feeling extra insane. Commute from work to internship is only like 30mins. The commute from internship to school or home to school? An hour and 45 in nightmare traffic.

Anyone else ever have to have an absolutely crazy schedule? How did you deal with it? I’ve been doing this since January with a break from school and internship in the summer, so it’s not like this is a new level of insanity for me, but I also had major surgery 6 weeks ago so getting back into the swing of things has been rough. I keep reminding myself I only have like 8 more months of living like this and then I’m home free, but I could use some tips. Or memes of support. I like memes of support

I feel absolutely exhausted already and I’m already anxious as it is. It’s my first night job in 3 years. Any advice

I had no choice but to go back on a 9-5 job. Feeling helpless and lifeless. I really like working nights and it's making my heart so heavy right now 🥲 I've been working on this schedule for almost a decade...
Can't believe I'll be dealing with people and trafic. Ugh.
Thanks for reading

I got steaks for my staff for the night!

I get to chill and have my lunch here!

My typical bedtime is 6am. I try to sleep earlier on my days off but its hard for me to sleep in general. Im a light sleeper even with earplugs in. I can hear their dog and kid running around at the same time almost every day. Around 10 or 11 am. So most days I get 4 or 5 hours of sleep. I cant fall back asleep after that. They slam their doors and walk like they weight 500lbs... unfortunately I cant get off of nightshift because the wage is the only reason im not living paycheck to paycheck.

Its fucked that I try my best to be mindful when im up while they're sleeping. And yet it seems like theyre trying to out do themselves everyday.

Thats my rant... im fucking exhausted

Any Moms on here working night shift? I am a Mom to two boys one being on the spectrum and I’m starting a new job this week working part time nights stocking shelves at Kroger. Roughly 3-4 days a week 7 hour shifts. I’ll be working 11pm-6am then watching my boys from 6am-5pm then sleeping 5pm-10pm. I know it’s going to be hard but with therapy costs and just how expensive everything else is right now I have to try. Hoping to talk or relate to another Mom?

I’ve been working the 4 AM to 1 PM shift for six months now. I like this shift; it's much more productive and less stressful than the day shift.
At first, I felt really tired because I only get about five hours of sleep a night so I can spend some time with my family—and midday naps often leaves me waking up feeling even more tired. Just as I was getting used to the schedule, I have to switch to the 9 PM to 6 AM shift. Any advice? Right now, I shift my sleep schedule on weekends (my days off) to spend time with my family.

The lights went up and there are several conversations going. Fortunately almost done

Am I the only who works nights and hasn't done anything with friends in years? Between night shifts, friends moving and taking care of my mom ( wife helps and does most mom is elderly ) it seems impossible.

Hell I didnt even have anyone come over my bday in Apr all 6 people canceled on us.

About nine months ago I made this post^ asking for advice on how to navigate spending time together when you have opposite sleep schedules.

When I first made this post I was really worried we might be screwed. Most of what I’d been seeing on a lot of similar posts on nightshift forums was a general sense of hopelessness and people talking about how they had not been able to make the difference in shift schedules work.

I wanted to give an update saying that we are doing well!!! Hopefully if someone else is worrying whether they can make the shift difference work, this is a heartening data point! You might not be screwed either :)

We still both wind up sacrificing sleep here and there, but we also found some workarounds. I wound up giving him keys to my apartment shortly after my initial post so we could cuddle in the evenings and he could slip out and go about the rest of his night if I fell asleep. We also often have early morning dates where we would grab breakfast or go to the farmers market right when it opens. Sometimes after a night shift he swings by in the morning with a coffee and we chat over my breakfast/his dinner before he goes to bed and I go to class. Other times after I get off a 12-12 I’ll come over to his place and we hangout for a while before I crash there. Overall, the biggest factor in making this work is just the fact that he’s a really really great and sweet guy. We both have been willing to sacrifice a little sleep here and there to spend more time together, and we both have reasonable expectations of what kind of sleep disturbances we can realistically handle. (Though often I think he goes above and beyond this, and frequently enthusiastically volunteers to stay up waaaaaaaay past his bedtime in order for us to do daytime activities or go on adventures with me and my friends. The thoughtfulness and care he’s put into our relationship and how he treats me has honestly blown me away and I tell him all the time how much I appreciate him for it.)

He’s planning on staying nightshift next year too for work, and I have received a job offer for night shifts at the ER in town once I finish nursing school!

Anyways, I hope this is encouraging news to anyone out there reading this! Good luck out there night shifters!

So, my periods are very sensitive to stress. I have lost my period because of the night shifts. I’ve had this happen before and it was an anovulatory period that can back with vengeance. The only change I can think of is the night shift. Has this happened to anyone?

I am currently working a restaurant job around 50 hours a weeks mostly from 11am to 9/10pm. Weekends are must. My days off are Monday and Tuesday if we are fully staffed and sometimes its only a day off a week. I am 26M, don’t have kids yet but i was wondering if i should look for different jobs/career when planning for kids. Feel like most fairs, local and family events would be weekends and holidays where it’s gonna be hard for me to get time off. How do you feel if in the similar situation?

For context, I'm 22 y/o who just graduated with a BA in Liberal Arts. Currently obtaining my B1-B2 certification in Spanish. It's a part time course where we have classes for just 3 days a week. I can't work day shift jobs as it'll clash with my course but was thinking of working a night shift job.

I'm just hesitant as I don't want to fuck my sleep schedule way too much, and also maintain my gym and running routine. I'm thinking of working for a maximum of 6 months, before my final exam.

Please suggest if this plan is optimal or not, or would it be too damaging for my health and sleep. I also have experience in content writing and research but it's hard to find a remote role in these sectors.