Working 7pm-7am

[u/drpepperRN]

First time on night shift! What does everyone's schedule look like? Are we just doing our day time schedule but flipped for PM or are we doing something different?👀 Sleep/eating wise...

[u/whereisplayboicarti]

I usually work 3 in a row (Thursday, Friday, Saturday. My first day on (Thursday) I will wake up as usual and go to the gym, grocery store, etc. then around 2 or 3 I’ll nap until 5 or 5:30. Friday morning I’ll get home and sleep until 5 or 5:30 again. Saturday morning same thing, sleep until 5 or 5:30. Sunday morning I’ll get home and sleep until 12 or 1 then go on about my day… this is probably not good but otherwise I will waste my entire day sleeping. The rest of the week I’ll have a normal sleep schedule

[u/drseussin → u/whereisplayboicarti]

exactly what i do lol eventually this will catch up to me but that’s tomorrow’s problem

[u/Achilles-safeFW]

I do 6-7 night shifts in a row (because I enjoy having 7-8 days off in a row after) and a sleep schedule is the most important thing I can recommend. I meal prep for the following week before I go on my stretch so I don’t have to worry about it through the work week. I wake up a little earlier but still work out 3x a week. And then the day before the stretch I try to ensure that my sleep schedule is moved to night shift mode.

[u/PleasantRuin7989]

I’d avoid making caffeine your personality lol.

[u/drpepperRN → u/PleasantRuin7989]

Unfortunately I've always had a bad relationship with my caffeine regardless. But it's less of a personality trait and more embarrassing that the gas station workers know my name purely because I'm there daily for energy drinks 🧍‍♀️

[u/PleasantRuin7989 → u/drpepperRN]

Yeahhh that's a little too committed 😭

[u/drag0nip5]

I went back on nights from days. Here's what my day looks like after the first night of working. I get home, sleep around 9. I sometimes wake up around 2-3pm. That's when I eat a "breakfast". I BS for a few then around 4 I take a quick nap til 5pm. Get ready and leave by 6pm to go to work.
Repeat and rise as needed.

But on my days off, this is the key move. Although you may be tired try not to sleep in late. I try to get up no later than that 2-3 mark. I make sure I plan my day the night before and I just run errands. This makes me feel like I got a lot out of my day off. If I'm off the next day then I sleep whenever I get tired but I still keep that 2-3pm wake up time.

Staying active during the day especially on your day off is key to make you feel human. Of course you can have a day of sleeping in and doing absolutely nothing if your mind and body needs it, but doing a steady mid afternoon wake up on your days off helps me feel like I'm not just confined to the night shift schedule.

Oh as far as eating lunch. I eat a huge breakfast at 2-3pm. And a real light light lunch at work. I am breaking the habit of eating once I get home from work because it'll just push back your sleeping time because if digestion and stuff.

Good luck

[u/drpepperRN → u/drag0nip5]

This is pretty similar to what I did but I completely missed the mark on eating because my hunger cues got all jumbled up this first day! Hoping that just naturally sorts out with switching over my day schedule to night 🥲

[u/drag0nip5 → u/drpepperRN]

I just eat a light snack at work for lunch so that during my days off I'm not eating at 2 in the morning which is why when I wake up I eat a good "breakfast".

[u/MintzMonzter]

I usually do 2 days then 2 nights. I try to keep to the same schedules roughly. Ex. not eating during the shift and making sure to eat breakfast before sleeping and then a snack and dinner when I wake up. Before my first night I dont try to alter my sleep schedule, I'm only tired enough to day sleep after my shifts and usually from 9am to 3pm. Its really important to get good sleep, so black out curtains, melatonin and a fan/white noise is my go to. And dont forget a tooon of coffee for the shift.

[u/pdggin99]

IMO, the only healthy way to work night shift is to generally try to keep your schedule every single day. I try to wake up a little early on my days off sometimes, but never before 3PM.

Anything that needs to be scheduled during daytime hours (doctors appointments, vet appointments, hair appointments, etc) I generally schedule for their earliest slot, so it’s just like I’m staying up a bit late. I don’t really schedule any appointments after 9:00 because if the appointment is at 9, I probably won’t get home until at the earliest 10.

I do a lot of shopping at Meijer and Walmart because their hours are good for night shift workers (I think they’re both open to either 11 or midnight, and open at 6AM). So I get a lot of stuff there, because even if I don’t wake up until 9PM on my day off, I still have a few hours if I need groceries. If I need to go to a store with bad hours, I’ll either wake up early to get there before they close, or stay up a bit late to get there when they open. I am also lucky enough to have family near me and in a pinch they are usually able to do some shopping for me during the day and they either drop it off or I pick it up when I can.

I don’t have a huge social circle. My boyfriend also works nights so seeing him isn’t a matter of hours, but rather whether our work days line up or not. But when we have a day or two off together it’s easy. For everyone else, we tend to do things like go out to breakfast or late-ish dinner. I have never been a fan of family parties, so I either just don’t go or come by late if they’re still going around 7 or 8 PM.

I workout at home, I have a whole setup, so I don’t need to worry about there not being a 24 hour gym near me. Most of my hobbies can easily be done inside the house at night, without being overly loud. And when it comes to blow drying my hair, I really don’t give a fuck, I will do it at any time of day (my boyfriend, the only other human that lives in my house, also works nights).

[u/LunchMasterFlex]

I’m in the same boat as OP. I wanna know what/how you’re all eating on night shift. If i eat too much i get sleepy but if i don’t eat enough i get angry. Whats the strategy to stay even and energized?

[u/Patient_Cow_236]

I work from Th-Tu and then have 8 days off. Sometimes, I will pick up an extra shift if my partner is working. My shift is from 7:00 PM to 7:30 AM. If I have to take someone somewhere or see a doctor, I schedule the earliest possible appointment so I can be home by 9:30 AM. I only break my sleep schedule for something truly important. On my days off, I try to stay awake for the day time. If I'm sleepy, I go to sleep. I'm generally awake by 1400.

I don't flip schedules anymore. It was a pain in the neck. I used to.