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According to the US Census about 15 million people are either working a graveyard shift, or otherwise variable schedule. As someone who recently worked the graveyard shift and lived to tell the tale, here are a few tips and observations that I hope help you the next time you are forced to join the world of the night shift worker.
Probably the biggest problem people have with working the night shift is the sleep factor. Our bodies are naturally designed to awaken when the sun comes up and then our energy level drops at night. Obviously, there’s a problem with that scenario.
The first thing I realized was that getting 8 hours of sleep in one fell swoop wasn’t going to happen. I tried several different approaches:
Caffeine
The approach of choice for many night shift workers. At my workplace, everyone was drinking caffeine, yet they still seemed lethargic at times. I read articles and studies that indicated caffeine can seriously hamper sleep, so I tried NOT drinking any caffeine for the entire shift. Believe it or not, after getting past the first couple days I had no problems getting through a shift without caffeine
Sleeping Pills
My problem wasn’t staying awake during my shift. My problem was staying asleep AFTER my shift. I tried Benadryl, which did an awesome job of knocking me out, but unfortunately made me feel WORSE once I woke up, so I abandoned it. I also tried Melatonin (.5mg to 3mg) and had moderate success with it, but still couldn’t get more than 4 hours of sleep at a time.
Sleep Cycles
Once I realized that sleeping 6-8 hours in one block would be impossible, I tried a different approach to sleeping. I would sleep 4 hours (or as long as I could manage), wake up, do errands for a few hours during the middle of the day, and then go back to sleep for a 2 hour nap. If I wasn’t particularly busy I would try to get another 2 hour nap in as well.
Sleep in a Tomb
He Works the Night Shift
Dracula used a casket to sleep in so the sun’s rays wouldn’t hit him. You should do the same. Eliminate all noise and light from your sleeping space. This is a must! If you can’t block all light then I strongly recommend buying a sleep mask. I found a decent one on Amazon that was convex-shaped so that my eyelids didn’t brush against it. Invest in some ear plugs to block out the noise as well.
Although I never could get a perfect routine going during my time working the night shift, using the sleep cycle approach was the most natural and effective method of dealing with my work schedule.
Of course, there’s still the issue of no social life, which I never quite figured out how to deal with. Thankfully, in my case I didn’t work weekends so I could catch up with people then, but I have to admit it can feel isolating when you can’t talk to friends during the week. At least nowadays we have email and IM which can make things easier if you work a tech job.
SUMMARY
- Try sleeping in blocks of 2-4 hours.
- Try Melatonin (I didn’t try more than 3mg since some studies suggest more than that might actually hinder sleep)
- Sleep in a crypt or tomb (meaning: cut off all potential sources of sensory input by buying ear plugs/sleep mask)
- Call Your Mommy and tell her you miss her
