Those on quiet night shifts, how to stay awake

[Mad1988]

I started a new job with a big insurance company and we take turns being on-call for the night shift. Once I have a call, I can handle it, because I spring into action but in-between emergencies, OMG, it is so hard. I go on MN, reddit and other websites to stay awake, walk from desk to door and back. I can't really snooze because computer goes on sleep mode (no pun intended) if inactive for more than 5 minutes and then I have to do all the logins, passwords, safety and it takes a while. I tried having more coffee but it made me nauseous.

Even staying awake until the beginning of my shift at 12am is torture.

Any tips?

Well I work in a dementia care home, some nights it's busy other nights it's not. The way I stay awake is go outside for 5 minutes and that wakes me up. Or I will get up and find some cleaning to do. I'm outside having a fag break and it bloody cold, wrapped in a blanket.

Being "on-call" might make it a bit different, do you have to work in the day as well?

I do night shifts but plan sleep and meals around them carefully. It's why I'm up at this time of night, I'm on a night shift tomorrow and staying up to acclimatise a bit!

It’s just horrible working nights. I never feel like eating or drinking, I’m not going to say the Q word as I’m on a ward where anything could happen at any time.

Shift work is sooo hard !
Do you do it on a set short patten, ie 4 on 4 off , or 4 days , 3 afternoons 2 off .

Which ever why round it works if you can gor one or ideally two days before try to get your body clock use to getting up later and going to bed later .
( hard if you have young dcs )so when you night shifts come round it's not a shock to the system.
Then structure you shift as you would do a day shift , log on do what ever you need to , have a coffee break , go back to work .
If there is nothing for you to do try some online games, or training courses .( I completed my IOSH course doing this )
Do you know anyone in different time zones you can video call ?
Have lunch something with protein and carbs but not to heavy or you will want a nap to sleep it off.
Keep the room coolish
Invest in some good noise cancelling head phones and put some lively music on. ( que me dancing and singing to Billy idol at 3 am last week 😄 )
Yoga
Can you extend the time on your computer so it only goes to sleep after say 15/ 20 mins so you can go out into the garden or stand on your door step for a while and get some fresh air.

On line surveys and earn a bit of extra cash .

I wouldn't advocate napping as no matter what you think you sound like it's easy to tell if you have just woken up.

Caffeine is small doses is fine but the spikes and troughs are gard to deal with and make it harder for some yo sleep when you finish your shift.

But surely if things are less quiet, time will go faster and you'll feel more awake?

I think your main problem is trying to stay awake until your shift starts at midnight. I always at least try to get some sleep before a night shift and if it started at midnight that would be much easier.

I do not lie in before a night shift, but try to get out in the fresh air in the morning (maybe go for a run?) , then home big carby lunch and try to sleep for a couple of hours (difficult if you have a school run). Not starting till midnight I would try to sleep between 5 and 9pm (appreciate this may not be possible for you).

We have four shifts and we are scheduled on each.@rubydoobydoo
Two during the day, two during the night. 6-12, 12-18, 18-24, 24-6. During the night shifts, we only take calls, deal with emergencies, issue tickets and the day shifts do the follow-up. It is like having two different jobs between night and day. Day time shifts also take calls. The third shift I don't mind, but the fourth, it is only my second time and I am not sure I am cut for it.

The pay is great for the night shifts. 1.5 for the third and double pay for the fourth. I finish at 6am, and won't work until 6 am following day, then the second, then the third, then fourth and back to first, with an additional day at weekend alternating between Saturdays and Sundays . Not sure I explain it well. Brain is half dead and I haven't been here long.

Thanks for the tips, @DeanStockwelll

@babyyodaxmas I will try to have a sleep next time, but having a different shift every day makes it hard to get used to.

Thanks everyone, I already feel more alert!

Nipping out and getting some fresh air would help but that's not great if you need to keep logging back in. Have you thought about getting a mouse mover/jiggler?

Where do I find that @SirenSays and is it something I need to install? It is the company’s computer

I agree with @babyyodaxmas try to get a few hours kip before your shift starts .
If you can't at least go and lie on your bed with no screens on ( listen to audible/ podcast etc ) give your body time to ' reset '
As I said upthread try to treat it like a day shift but I forgot to add have breakfast before you start work

Lol invest in a wireless mouse and a robot vac attach the mouse to the side of the vac so it scans the floor while the vac runs .
House work and work work done at the same time 😃

Sleep before the shift starts .. I work irregular night shifts and it took a while to get used to day sleeping. I’d be sleeping till maybe 7/8am after your 6pm to midnight shift, waking myself up enjoying the day then going to sleep at 7/8 pm for a few hours.
just have to jig the times a bit to figure what works for you best xx

I just googled 'a mouse jiggler'
And they are on Amazon
I never knew such a thing existed!

😂 I like the way you think

Type 'screensaver' at the command line and see if it brings up the page to increase the number of minutes before your machine thinks you are away.