“You might think it’s normal to feel tired all the time or to have trouble falling asleep. But when these issues continue, they might be signs of a deeper problem and can then spill over into your personal life. Over time, this can affect your relationships, hobbies, and even overall happiness.” (quoted from calm.com)

General advice

• Before night shift, take a nap for around 90 minutes
• During night shift, take naps 15 – 20 minutes to help you to boost alertness and help to stay awake
  (naps longer than 20 minutes may make you more likely to experience sleep inertia, i.e., a period of grogginess, where alertness and performance are impaired)
• After night shift ends, go home quickly and aim to sleep for 3 – 5 hours
• Wake up by late afternoon / evening around 5 – 7 pm
  • Avoid sleeping all the way to midnight as this delays recovery and disturbs circadian rhythm, causing prolonged fatigue.
  • Avoid long nap (i.e., sleeping till 4 – 6 hours before your main sleep) as they may make it more difficult to fall asleep.
• Evening: light dinner and light activities
• Night: return to bed at a normal bedtime (10–11 pm) to reset circadian rhythm quickly

Short term benefits: Reduces fatigue, improves alertness for next working days, prevents microsleeps.

Long term benefits: Avoids circadian drift, protects mental health, lowers cumulative fatigue across weeks.

Related articles

1. https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/sleep-topics/healthy-sleep-practices-for-shift-workers?
2. https://www.calm.com/blog/night-shift-sleep
3. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12146-shift-work-sleep-disorder