Night workers!
Discussion
I do 2 weeks about with days and nights, Mon-Thurs 12 hour shifts.
What works for me-
Stay up on Sunday night all the way through to 4/5/6/7am (depending on what I'm doing or if I'm battling to keep my eyes open).
Sleep through until about 4.30pm, shower, have tea at the normal time and leave just after 6.
When I get home after work, around 7.45am, stay up to have some 'me time' until around 9/9.30 then sleep through until half 4 again.
A lot of the older guys can't seem to do that, they always say they're wide awake by early afternoon or sometimes wide awake first thing in the morning- then they're f
ked at night.
If it means having a 1 or 2 hour power nap Sunday evening then so be it. Feels like an extra day staying up so long though so it's quite good if you have a load of TV/Films to watch or games to play.
What works for me-
Stay up on Sunday night all the way through to 4/5/6/7am (depending on what I'm doing or if I'm battling to keep my eyes open).
Sleep through until about 4.30pm, shower, have tea at the normal time and leave just after 6.
When I get home after work, around 7.45am, stay up to have some 'me time' until around 9/9.30 then sleep through until half 4 again.
A lot of the older guys can't seem to do that, they always say they're wide awake by early afternoon or sometimes wide awake first thing in the morning- then they're f
ked at night.If it means having a 1 or 2 hour power nap Sunday evening then so be it. Feels like an extra day staying up so long though so it's quite good if you have a load of TV/Films to watch or games to play.
I get a few hours kip the afternoon before I go in which gets me through the night and go to bed as soon as I get home in the morning (08:00). I'll get up about 15:30 ish if I don't have to do the school run (otherwise get up at 14:00.) and have a few hours doing what needs to be done before having a normal evening meal and leave for work at 18:00.
Mealwise, I'll eat before I go to work, have lunch at about 02:00 and maybe a mars bar before I go home then straight to bed if I'm not too hungry. If I'm starving then I'll have a full English before I leave work and that'll give me about an hour to let it go down before I go to bed.
Mealwise, I'll eat before I go to work, have lunch at about 02:00 and maybe a mars bar before I go home then straight to bed if I'm not too hungry. If I'm starving then I'll have a full English before I leave work and that'll give me about an hour to let it go down before I go to bed.
I do 4.30pm til 2am-ish on alternate weeks, and an hours drive each way. I'll get in from work at 3ish, straight to bed, then usually up again for 45mins to see the missus off to work at 6.30am. Then sleep again and wake up when ever I awake, usually 11ish. Walk dog, eat a main meal but not too much do not bloated or anything, make my dinner sandwiches for later on then mince for a abit til 3pm watching tv (usually recorded or downloaded series) or im on PH then head on out off to work again. Never really get any time to do anything round the house or car stuff, or DIY.
I do both days and nights. Days are 7am until 7pm that is then followed by 2 nights of 7pm until 7am. The day of my first night I normally get up at about 7ish to help with getting my daughter ready for school, then after she has gone my day is my own to do what I please. The day after my first night I tend to get to bed at about 9 and am normally up between 2 to 3. After my second night I very rarely go to bed which is not a problem if I can keep active, just sitting on the sofa will see me nodding off.
I do earlies, lates and nights.
Sometimes I can grab sleep depending on how busy we are. Otherwise I try to keep a normal pattern I.e hot meal for tea around 5, hour before work 8-9pm, work 10-7 (6-6 on a Saturday night), home, breakfast then sleep 8.30 til 3.
If its a long busy night (a real grueller) then sleep 8-5/6 and not have the pre work nap.
The hardest bit is getting back in a day routine. I tend to get straight into bed after the last night shift, sleep til 12 and crawl out of bed (usually actually crawling onto the carpet!). Get pissed at the pub quiz otherwise come 4am I'm still awake thinking here we go again!
Sometimes I can grab sleep depending on how busy we are. Otherwise I try to keep a normal pattern I.e hot meal for tea around 5, hour before work 8-9pm, work 10-7 (6-6 on a Saturday night), home, breakfast then sleep 8.30 til 3.
If its a long busy night (a real grueller) then sleep 8-5/6 and not have the pre work nap.
The hardest bit is getting back in a day routine. I tend to get straight into bed after the last night shift, sleep til 12 and crawl out of bed (usually actually crawling onto the carpet!). Get pissed at the pub quiz otherwise come 4am I'm still awake thinking here we go again!
Depends muchly if you're on permanent nights or just the odd one.
I do a week of nights every now and again, but have in the past done nights after days in odd sequences.
I start nights at 10 and what works for me is:
First night shift: Sleep normally the night before, stay up until about 4pm and then powernap until 6pm. Have a normal dinner, off to work at 8:30-9pm, and work through. Home at 9am, and sleep until about 3-4pm. Good curtains are essential!
3pm I get up, have breakfast cereal, then mooch about, walk dog, watch telly until evening meal, back to work ,rinse and repeat.
Because I come off nights after a week I find it essential to keep meals roughly at the right time. all that happens is that I have breakfast twice (9am and 3pm) and have a "lunch" meal at about 2-3am. Just a sandwich or something. then once nights are over I flip back to a normal routine.
I do a week of nights every now and again, but have in the past done nights after days in odd sequences.
I start nights at 10 and what works for me is:
First night shift: Sleep normally the night before, stay up until about 4pm and then powernap until 6pm. Have a normal dinner, off to work at 8:30-9pm, and work through. Home at 9am, and sleep until about 3-4pm. Good curtains are essential!
3pm I get up, have breakfast cereal, then mooch about, walk dog, watch telly until evening meal, back to work ,rinse and repeat.
Because I come off nights after a week I find it essential to keep meals roughly at the right time. all that happens is that I have breakfast twice (9am and 3pm) and have a "lunch" meal at about 2-3am. Just a sandwich or something. then once nights are over I flip back to a normal routine.
I often work til 1am, 3am or 7am. 9pm-7am i find quite hard to adjust to as I am a light sleeper and after a gruelling weekend night shift the general noise of family, traffic, postie etc wakes me up early. Have been known to wake up at half 10 for a piss after falling asleep at 8am and not be able to get back to sleep again.
An ideal pattern for me is to sleep straight away at 8, wake up at 3 or 4, xbox or laptop for a couple of hours then have a mighty big fk off tea before I start getting ready for work at 7.30pm. If its dead and im really tired I might sneak off for an hours kip instead of taking a lunch break. A nibble to eat about 4am when i get peckish, oh and diet coke is nice to keep me awake as I dont drink hot drinks.
I find it much easier to sleep in the daytime in winter does anyone agree? Probably due to the darkness / bein warm in bed rather than sweating your tits off under the duvet when its 30 degrees out
An ideal pattern for me is to sleep straight away at 8, wake up at 3 or 4, xbox or laptop for a couple of hours then have a mighty big f
k off tea before I start getting ready for work at 7.30pm. If its dead and im really tired I might sneak off for an hours kip instead of taking a lunch break. A nibble to eat about 4am when i get peckish, oh and diet coke is nice to keep me awake as I dont drink hot drinks. I find it much easier to sleep in the daytime in winter does anyone agree? Probably due to the darkness / bein warm in bed rather than sweating your tits off under the duvet when its 30 degrees out
Been on nights since october. We have one night worker off on long term sick so i volunteered to do nights until at least feb. Maybe 6 months more after that.
Start at half 10, finish at 06:30
Maybe a few hours kip in the afternoon on the first night, 3pm - 6pm. get up, have something decent to eat, watch a bit of tv, shave and shower etc and in for half 10.
Finish at half 6, go home via mcdonalds for a breakfast, straight to bed, and sleep till around half 2 - 3pm, get up, watch tv, have something decent to eat, and repeat!
My sleep pattern is usually ok but been all over the place the past few days off. Cant sleep at night, and wide awake in the day! bummer
Start at half 10, finish at 06:30
Maybe a few hours kip in the afternoon on the first night, 3pm - 6pm. get up, have something decent to eat, watch a bit of tv, shave and shower etc and in for half 10.
Finish at half 6, go home via mcdonalds for a breakfast, straight to bed, and sleep till around half 2 - 3pm, get up, watch tv, have something decent to eat, and repeat!
My sleep pattern is usually ok but been all over the place the past few days off. Cant sleep at night, and wide awake in the day! bummer
I sleep so much more on nights, get in at 6-7 and then sleep until 4:30 every day, eat before work and have a hot meal there as well.
I used to be ok with only 3-4 hours kip for nights shifts, but after a couple of years on days I'm having real issues finding a decent routine.
I do become fully nocturnal though, the hardest part for me is the swap back to days when I finish.
I used to be ok with only 3-4 hours kip for nights shifts, but after a couple of years on days I'm having real issues finding a decent routine.
I do become fully nocturnal though, the hardest part for me is the swap back to days when I finish.
James_N said:
Stupid shift patterns don't help. Mine is
3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off, 2 on, 2 off.
So you never get into a decent routine.
7 on, 7 off would probably work much better!
I used to do 3 days, 2 nights, 3 days off, then 2 days, 2 nights and 4 days off. - all 12 hours shifts 7-7 am or pm!3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off, 2 on, 2 off.
So you never get into a decent routine.
7 on, 7 off would probably work much better!
I was in a constant twilight. No sleep routine whatsoever. On the plus side, I still don't suffer jet lag!
Didn't mind it actually, My day after the last night shift was designated my "playstation day" and no-one expected anything from me that day.
4 week cycle of seven nights on 12hr shifts every 3rd week
I get to bed a couple of hours before I start work
straight to bed after around 0830am
wake up around midday then do it all again.
12years so far of this has seen me ok.
I eat when I get up and sometimes toast/cereal during the night.
plenty of Tea
I get to bed a couple of hours before I start work
straight to bed after around 0830am
wake up around midday then do it all again.
12years so far of this has seen me ok.
I eat when I get up and sometimes toast/cereal during the night.
plenty of Tea
I used to do 7pm-7am 4 on 4 off with a 1 hour drive each way and as I sleep for ever I used to get home and sleep get up shower and go to work, for the first year I switched to days on my off but it used to fk me so I stuck with nights and varying by a few hours when I needed to do something in either the morning or afternoon but as I would do an average of 2 days overtime as well I spent 3 years up at night and it makes doing normal things a nightmare and still now I have trouble sleeping before 4:00am
k me so I stuck with nights and varying by a few hours when I needed to do something in either the morning or afternoon but as I would do an average of 2 days overtime as well I spent 3 years up at night and it makes doing normal things a nightmare and still now I have trouble sleeping before 4:00amHaving managed to avoid doing nights so far, it looks as if I have at least 2 weeks, maybe 6 weeks, of 7pm starts then finish whenever! Whenever beeing somewhere between 3 and 10am usually. I love doing say 6pm til 3am, as long as im asleep while its dark, or just getting light im fine, but the thought of working well into the daylight doesnt interest me at all.
Do you guys have good blackout curtains? And does it get hot during summer?
Do you guys have good blackout curtains? And does it get hot during summer?
Condi said:
Do you guys have good blackout curtains? And does it get hot during summer?
turns up.
Living by a busy dual carraigeway didn't help either,couldn't open window during
the day for ventilation with outside noise going on.
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