scrubbedexpat091

I work overnight shift as my job can only be done overnight, its not possible for it to be done any other time of day.

Generally I have been sleeping okay during the day, but up until the last couple weeks it has been completely dark when I got home.

But now I am just flat out failing to sleep, only getting 2-3 hours a day and very broken and spread out during the day. I just can't seem to sleep during the day now for some reason, very odd as its not been an issue before really except once every blue moon, but lately its been nearly every day.

I got 2 hours yesterday, 12 to 2 and then just could not fall asleep.

Anyone work overnights and have issues sleeping during the day?

I wear ear plugs to help quiet out noise, and I am getting black out curtains on Friday to hopefully keep the room darker, and I also keep a fan running to help block outside noise.

geedee

Vodka.... your solution is vodka.

On a more serious note, how long have you been working nights?

scrubbedexpat091

4 months or so this time around. 4 months last spring April to around August.

Previously about 10 months in 2010, my longest stretch on overnights.

ann m

Black out blinds/curtains.
Ear-plugs
Melatonin tablets.
NyQuil, or vodka as suggested.
Stay up till 2pm/3pm, then go to bed, and get up to go to work (rather than trying to come in and go straight to sleep - your brain is probably too "awake").

Not being able to sleep when working nights is not funny, and makes 4am even less appealing than normal. You have my sympathies!

Oakvillian

This! I haven't worked nights since a summer job at uni, but I looked at it this way: if you were working a regular 9-to-5 job, you might go to bed around 11pm, or some 6 hours after stopping work. By the same token, working a midnight-to-8am shift, going to sleep at about 2pm gives you the same post-shift downtime, and means that you're back in work within a relatively short time of waking up.

It worked well for me at the time, but then I was much younger and fitter than I am now. I'm not sure I could cope with nights these days. You have my sympathies, Jsmth, I hope you manage to find a solution

gryphea

Red lights!

No screens before you want to settle down (blue lights)

bats

I work until midnight when i get home i can't sleep straight away and have to sit for a while and unwind. Even if i have to stay later and get home in the small hours i still need a gap btween work and sleep. I find a snack helps to.

Oink

Is there any place you can get a "massage" on the way home to help you relax?

GC44

Do you sit around when you get home, have something to eat, watch TV etc. Or do you go straight to bed?
Before coming to Canada I spent 16 years on shifts, 2 shifts, 3 shifts, continental shifts, 9 week shift and annualised hours. I found that walking in the door and going straight to bed worked best for me. Blackout curtains might help, a friend of mine used to pin bin bags to his window frame! Whatever works eh!

Mr Bean

I'm a glorified roadie so I feel your pain. Sometimes(not so often these days) I go to work on a Friday morning, work all weekend and sleep on Sunday night. Then for a few days I don't know where the hell I am. When doing regular nights, I get in, have a couple of cold ones and surf the net. That makes me yawn. Then I wear earplugs and sleep like a baby. I did go through a period of troublesome sleeping but put that down to a bit of stress I was getting at the time.

magnumpi

I did 6 months on nights a few years ago, switching bedrooms to the rear of the house, and black out curtains worked for me

bats

Not that I know of, but I will look into it. Top notch suggestion.

Danny B

I do two 12hr days and then two 12hr nights.

I try and have a 3hr nap in the afternoon on my 1st night (tonight as it happens) then I'll sleep solid from 07:00 - 11:00 the next day. I will wake up and do a few chores between 11:00 - 13:00 then go back to bed and wake up at 16:00 for my last night shift.

I probably get 7hrs or so of broken up sleep. I use these http://www.sleepphones.com/ with a white noise app on my phone and I have black out curtains.

orly

sleep phones eh...might have to investigate. not for doing night shifts but I generally listen to some BBC Radio 4 on my earphones when trying to go to sleep. these might be more comfortable.

jandro

Years ago I worked at a Paddington hotel desk every Sunday night from 07:00pm to 07:00am the following Monday morning for a wage of £20.00 a shift. Then I had to go to my regular job for 09:00. I slept well the Monday night. I quit after a few months as the long shift made me tired the rest of the week.