Have you ever worked a graveyard shift? I worked 12am to 8am for about 10 months from 2017-2018. I realized I made a mistake a couple weeks after I took that shift. However, it looked like I was only going to be getting about 2 days a week if I stayed on-call, so I made the decision based on whether or not I got work.
Getting sleep was a joke. I thought I would be OK in this shift because I considered myself a night person – if left alone, I normally fall asleep at about 4 am. The only time I get any real sleep is on my weekends during the night time – exactly when I should not be sleeping!
I feel like I also need to add that I didn’t work with people that I enjoyed. After I put in my resignation, I started to sleep better (although still not the best).
The Center for Disease Control has a PDF about the effects of shift/night work. In short, this file explains that graveyard shifts suck and are bad for your health and social life. If you are thinking about taking a graveyard shift or have a loved one who is, take a look at that file. I know of only a handful of people that actually like a graveyard shift.
Here is a list of items that were suggested for me (and a starter kit I think every employer should give to employees taking on a full time grave shift):
- Blackout Curtains. These probably were the most helpful – they blocked out the light, some sound, and the heat. Be prepared to invest a bit for the good curtains and some curtain rods. I had to cover up a balcony, an empty doorway, and two windows (the bathroom didn’t have a doorway).
- Melatonin. These didn’t really work for me. They just made me groggy, and I maybe only slept for an extra 30 minutes. However, I did talk to a handful of people that it actually helped. Make sure to start small and work your way up – don’t just pop three pills without knowing how it will make you feel!
- Eye Mask / Ear Plugs. The eye mask helped me more than the ear plugs. After you darken your room, though, you may not need them.
- Water Bottle. Get yourself a nice big bottle and keep plenty of water in it. During the summer, I would just take a gallon jug, fill it with water, freeze it, and take it to work. That water helps keep you awake and hydrated.
- Weed. I had a few people tell me this would help. I was too afraid to do it! I didn’t want some sort of accident to happen at work and then BAM! I get slapped with a drug test. I’ve never encountered a Zero Tolerance Work Policy Incident (ZTWPI) and I don’t plan on it. However, some people did tell me this helped them get sleep.
Here are a few things that I found helped me:
- Sleeping in the closet. If you have a walk-in closet big enough to lay down in, this is great. It’s completely dark and very soundproof (if you have lots of clothes hanging in there a.k.a. a girl living with you, lol). Throw down a ton of pillows and you might be able to sleep in peace.
- Try to get a nap in before work. Whenever I was able to get a good 1 or 2 hours of sleep before my shift, work wouldn’t be nearly as bad if I got some sleep earlier that day. Notice what I underlined there.
- Put the cell phone in another room. This kept the big distraction away, plus there have been studies that show that the light from the screen doesn’t help you get to sleep.
- Not Exercising. This is ultimately what put me so out of shape. For a month, I tried and kind of succeeded at keeping up some physical activity, even though I was very, very tired. However, for some strange reason, my body doesn’t want to sleep when I’m on an exercise regiment. I even lost weight, but I wasn’t sleeping. I eventually found it best to just sleep when my body wanted to, even though it usually wasn’t much sleep.
Personally, I wish I would’ve retracted my decision to go full time graveyard about a month after I started. If I did, I would’ve found other work that wouldn’t put me on grave. However, I really didn’t want to have to look for other work.
Part of the reason I quit was because it didn’t look like I was ever going to move up to a day or swing shift. I already spent 10 months hoping for another shift to open up (and even then, there were two others ahead of me) and I didn’t want to wait a month more.
In the end, I would say get your employer to give you some benefits for taking a shift very few people want. “Getting more hours” isn’t enough if your life is figuratively going to the gutter to get those hours! Extra pay, more paid time off, and the Graveyard Shift Starter Kit are a few things you could ask to have for taking a graveyard shift!
I will do a vlog on the Graveyard Shift Starter Kit soon and post it in here!
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