Sleep tips for working night shifts

Key takeaways

• Day sleep is shorter and more broken. Your body clock is set for sleeping at night, so sleep after a night shift often ends after four to six hours.

• Light is the strongest tool you have. Bright light early in the shift and as little light as possible on the way home and in the bedroom help your body clock adjust.

• Naps help. A nap before a night shift, and a short one during a break if you can, cut sleepiness at work.

• Time caffeine to the start of the shift. Stop several hours before the end so it doesn’t keep you up when you get home.

• The drive home is the riskiest part. In a driving study, near-crashes happened only after night shifts. If you’re very sleepy, nap first or get a ride.

Why sleeping after a night shift is so hard

Your body runs on an internal clock that expects you to be awake in the day and asleep at night. It sets your sleepiness, body temperature, and hormones on a roughly 24-hour cycle, and daylight keeps it on schedule. Working at night means sleeping when that clock is telling you to be awake, often in a bright, noisy house.

The result is shorter, more broken sleep. According to a 2009 review, sleep studies show that day sleep is one to four hours shorter than night sleep, and it often ends after just four to six hours, and many people can’t get back to sleep. Night workers rarely adjust fully, because days off and the sunlight on the way home keep pulling the clock back toward a daytime schedule.

For some people the problem becomes a disorder. In a 2021 review of 29 studies, about one in four shift workers had shift work disorder (ongoing insomnia or heavy sleepiness linked to their work schedule), though the rates varied widely between studies.

1. Get bright light early in the shift, and avoid it at the end

Light is what moves your body clock. Bright light in the first half of a night shift helps you stay alert and nudges your clock later, which makes it easier to sleep in the morning. Light in the morning does the opposite, telling your body that the day has started.

The CDC’s workplace safety institute recommends bright light during the first half of the shift and dimmer light in the second half. In a 1994 lab study of 50 people on a simulated night schedule, the combination of bright light at night and dark goggles in the morning shifted their body clocks the most.

On the way home, wear dark sunglasses to cut the morning light, but only if someone else is driving. The CDC notes that dark lenses can make a drowsy driver more likely to doze off.

2. Make your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool

Your bedroom needs to block out the daytime. Blackout shades or an eye mask keep the light out, which our post on blackout shades covers in detail. Earplugs or steady background sound help with traffic, deliveries, and the rest of the household.

Keep the room cool, since daytime is when bedrooms warm up. Turn your phone to Do Not Disturb, and ask the people you live with to treat your sleep hours like the middle of the night.

3. Keep a regular sleep time, and protect an anchor

Going to bed at the same time after each night shift makes it easier for your body to settle into a routine. If you can’t get a full block of sleep, an anchor sleep is the fallback. That means a few hours of sleep at the same time every day, including days off, with the rest of your sleep wherever it fits.

The idea comes from a 1983 study in which people who kept four hours of sleep at a fixed time each day held their body rhythms to a 24-hour cycle, even when the rest of their sleep moved around. For many night workers, an anchor in the late morning, with a nap before the next shift, is easier than one long block.

4. Nap before your shift, and on breaks if you can

Naps are one of the best-supported tools for night workers. A 2014 review of 13 studies found that napping during night shifts reduced sleepiness and improved performance. The studies were small, and none measured accidents.

A nap before a night shift makes the first hours easier. During a break, a short nap is safer, because a longer one can leave you groggy when you wake. The CDC suggests giving yourself time to shake off grogginess before you go back to work. Our post on the ideal nap length covers how long is too long.

Combining caffeine and a nap works well. In a 2006 study, an evening nap plus caffeine beat a nap or caffeine alone in a lab test, and in 53 real shift workers the combination improved alertness and cut sleepiness.

5. Use caffeine early, then stop

Caffeine helps at the start of a shift, but it lasts. The CDC advises taking caffeine at the beginning of the shift and stopping several hours before it ends, noting that its effects take about five to six hours to fall by half. Coffee near the end of a shift will still be working when you’re trying to sleep. Our post on how late you can drink coffee has more on timing.

6. Eat light at night

Your body handles food less well at night. In a 2021 lab study of 19 people on a simulated night shift, eating only during the daytime prevented the problems with blood sugar control that appeared when they ate at night. A 2019 study of 39 people found that a snack in the middle of the night left them more alert and better at a driving test at 4am than a full meal.

Between midnight and 6am, the CDC advises eating less or skipping food altogether. A light snack will carry you through better than a heavy meal.

7. Don’t use alcohol to fall asleep

A drink after a night shift can feel like the way to switch off, but alcohol helps you fall asleep and then wakes you early. The CDC warns against using it as a sleep aid. Our post on alcohol and REM sleep explains what it does to the rest of the night.

8. Plan your days off

Days off are where many night workers lose ground, switching straight back to a daytime schedule and then struggling with the next run of nights. The CDC describes a middle way for days off. Stay up until 3 or 4am and sleep until about noon or 1pm, so your body clock doesn’t swing all the way back. Avoid staying awake all day before your first night shift.

A 2009 study tested a similar compromise schedule, with bright light during night shifts, sunglasses outdoors in the morning, a dark bedroom, and outdoor light in the afternoon. It let people’s body clocks settle at a point that worked for both night shifts and days off.

What about melatonin?

Melatonin may help a little with day sleep. A Cochrane review of seven trials found that taking it before day sleep added about 24 minutes of sleep, though the evidence was low quality. It didn’t help people fall asleep faster, and higher doses didn’t work better. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before trying it, especially if you take other medicines.

Get home safely

Drowsy driving after a night shift is a real risk. In a 2016 driving study, 16 night-shift workers drove a closed track after a night shift and after a night’s sleep. After the night shift, six of the 16 drives included a near-crash, and seven were stopped early for safety. After sleep, there were none.

Most drowsy-driving crashes happen between 4am and 6am, according to the CDC. If you’re struggling to stay awake, take a short nap before you leave, use public transit or a ride, or share the drive. Opening a window or turning up the radio does not fix sleepiness.

If you have a say in your schedule

• Fewer nights in a row is better. The UK’s Health and Safety Executive suggests limiting runs to two or three consecutive night shifts where possible.

• Rotate forward. When schedules rotate, moving from mornings to evenings to nights is easier on the body clock than going backward, according to the HSE and a 2007 study.

• Leave time to recover. The HSE recommends allowing two full nights of sleep when switching between nights and days.

When to see a doctor

See a doctor if you can’t sleep or stay awake well enough to function, if you’ve nodded off while driving, or if the problems go on for weeks. Shift work disorder is a recognized condition, and a doctor can check for other sleep problems, like sleep apnea, that make shift work harder.

Frequently asked questions

How much sleep do night shift workers need?

The same seven or more hours as anyone else. Because day sleep tends to be shorter, many night workers get there with a main sleep after the shift plus a nap before the next one.

What is the best time to sleep after a night shift?

As soon as you can after getting home, while it’s still early and before the day gets loud and bright. Keep that time the same after each shift.

Is it better to sleep before or after a night shift?

Most people sleep best in a main block after the shift, plus a nap of an hour or two before the next one. Some prefer to split sleep, part in the morning and part in the late afternoon.

Should you wear sunglasses after a night shift?

Dark sunglasses on the way home cut the morning light that tells your body it’s daytime. Do not wear them if you’re driving, since they can make drowsiness worse behind the wheel.

Does melatonin help night shift workers sleep?

A little. A Cochrane review found it added about 24 minutes of day sleep, but it didn’t help people fall asleep faster. Ask a doctor or pharmacist before taking it.

How do I switch back to sleeping at night on my days off?

Try not to switch all the way. Going to bed around 3 or 4am and sleeping until about noon on days off keeps your body clock closer to your work schedule, so the next run of night shifts is easier.