For me is like my body can’t decide, sometimes I can, sometimes I wake up exhausted.
I slept better for the 15 years I worked nights than I have since I switched back to working days. Never had a problem falling asleep, never used blackout blinds or anything like that just always found it easy to get in a good 8 hours.
When I wanted to switch my sleep schedule I would do what another commenter called a reset where I would basically just stay up for 24 hours, be over tired then go to sleep at a “normal” time so I could switch back to day time waking hours for a weekend. Then in reverse I would usually have a nap from 20:00 - 00:00 then wake up and stay up the rest of the night before going back to sleep at my usual work time to flip back the other way.
Same. When I was on 5 week offshore rotation I usually did the night shift. It’s quieter, fewer people around, and my arctic ass doesn’t like the equatorial sun. Beyond my lifelong affliction of inability to fall asleep in a timely manner (fixed by audio books), I slept better then than I’ve ever done since.
Yeh I miss the calm of the night so much, working alone with no idiots trying to talk to me about stuff I didn’t care about, the commute back home in the morning on my bike before most people were awake especially when it was just getting light. Even on my days off riding my bike around d town at 2am when it is a different place, so peaceful!
My mental health however is definitely better for not working nights. In the winter I’d often go weeks without ever seeing the sun which as much as I didn’t want to admit it at the time definitely negatively impacted my mental health.
I had to get a sleep mask because I can’t put up blackout curtains in my apartment. Works well enough for me. But also, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a mutation on my DEC2 gene, because I only sleep 4-5 hours a night (or day, technically) and feel just fine, so I’m not sure if that helps or hinders my abilities during my waking hours.
I worked 12 hour night shifts for a couple years. It was fine for me but falling asleep is sort of my superpower. You may want to get some blackout shades if your room gets to bright in the morning. Also, keeping your body on the night shift time on your days off can help with sleeping.
I sleep better with lights, noise and distractions than without; without gives my brain time to think about things like elections, exactly how much time I have left to sleep before I have to get up for work, what troubles I’ll face at work the next day, etc. I slept so much better during the days than I do during night.
edit: For some reason my client decided to post this as I was in the middle of typing a sentence. Edited to actually finish the post.
Vitamin d helps with sleep. When I worked 3rds. If I didn’t take it… I would wake up after 4 hours…
Also do you might look into a sleep study. Could be that you’re snoring or clinching your jaw which is impacting your sleep.
I don’t work nights anymore, but back when I did, I had a lot of trouble falling asleep after work. After switching medications, I started dreaming again and that’s been a game changer. I wasn’t getting into REM sleep as often, if at all before, but now my nights are so much better.
I’m unresponsive to blue light, so I can sleep anytime
I have an inconsistent schedule which includes night shifts. Ive never slept well, and whiskey+doxylamine=sleep, most of the time
