The Night Shift! (and readjusting to normal climbing life in between)

Specific to nursing (1900-0730) but anyone working nights can chime in. What are the tactics you all use for working consecutive nights and quickly readjusting to climbing/skiing during the days? Thanks!

I just started working night shifts recently. I've always been a morning person and never napped during the day...Surprisingly it wasn't to hard to adjust. This is basically what I do.

Always try to schedule your shifts three in a row.

A normal routine would be...The night before my first shift I sleep like I would normally. I wake up the day of my shift early maybe around 0700. I then do whatever I want until about 1200 when I try to sleep in till 1700 to wake up and get ready for work.

The not so normal...the day of my first shift I just don't sleep. So basically I wake up and stay up until I'm off the next morning.

The days I work when I get off I stay up till about 0900 and then sleep till about 1730.

My last shift I can either stay up and go to bed around 2000 or your normal sleeping time for day shift. Or I just go to bed at 0900 then just flip back to day.

I found that working night shift actually gives me the opportunity to climb more...that is if you aren't feeling tired from all those 12 hours shifts.

The downside to night shift is trips become a little trickier to plan. Which I have just come to notice when I took one of my first trips to climb.

Hope that makes some sense.

Been working nights for the last 3 years and I do things very similar to Mostafa. A few other tips if I am planning on heading out after work in the morning I will try and sleep later the day before so I wake up right before leaving for work.

I also find myself not sleeping at all before my first day back or when I get home on my Friday. Depending on how much sleep I have will determine the activity I do. Being drowsy while climbing/belaying a few pitches up isn't good for anyone.

Climbing early after work has many perks like no crowds even in popular spots, cooler temperatures(which is becoming unnecessary this time of year), and less bees. Only downside is finding a partner to go with.

I like to sleep 2-3 hours before my first shift. Workout/Cardio between days 1-2 and 2-3.

Currently, I work 50/50, nights/days. I hate nights. If you really want to get after it then work day shifts. You will probably live longer too.

Sometimes Caffeine up and Ambien down.

I've been a NOC RN for about 5.5 years now 1830-0700. I pretty much do what Mostafa listed with little adjustments. But doing 3 nights in a row is your best bet when trying to schedule work and climbing life.

If I'm about to start my 3 nights or 2 nights in a row, I usually sleep normal the night prior and wake up early like Mostafa said. Luckily for me my go to crag (riverside quarry) is about 15 miles away so I try to go there and climb (like today) or I try to go to my climbing gym in the morning. I try to be at home at least by 12-1pm and sleep around 1400-1430 and try to get at least 2 hours of sleep before the begins.

After my night shifts I usually try to sleep early as possible and usually only get a few hours of sleep 3-4 hrs max because my body/mind gets to excited knowing I don't have to work that night. It also sets me up to be tired enough when night comes to sleep like a normal person in the evening.

But after 5.5 years of doing this I'm actually ready to switch to days pretty soon. It's getting harder on the body for me.

i've worked both night shift and day shift -- i would say day shift makes me feel better overall and contributes to a better quality of life. but i just started travel nursing so i'm doing night shifts again.

second time around, i have employed a few tactics. number one, i take a benadryl 25mg when i get home after my first night shift. helps me get 7 or 8 hrs of solid deep sleep. using a sleep mask also really helps deep sleep, because even when your eyelids are closed your brain can still sense the light and it triggers the release of hormones which act to wake you up.

to stay awake during the night shift, strong coffee, americano's, or more recently, 5 hr energy help keep me alert.

eating well is tricky when you're working night shift, i think. my tendency is to want to snack. mostly i just eat the graham crackers and drink the milk they provide. and trader joe's indian food with baby carrots on the side is a nice dinner.

in terms of quickly re-adjusting, i've never tried staying up after my "friday" shift, ie; work 1900-0700 and don't go to sleep until 2000 the next day. seems like i'd be a zombie.

usually i work 1900-0700 and wake up around 1300, which is pretty painful. i usually feel, not like a zombie, but still like hell all day and can be irritable. then i take a benadryl that night about 30 mins before i'm ready to try for sleep. works pretty well to get you switched back.

I've been working nights 1900-0730 for a few years now. In general I try to get a little extra rest for my first night shift (maybe sleep in until 1000) get some exercise and run some errands. After my first night I try to get a quick workout in (45min max). My third day I take a rest day, and try to get some rest. On my first off day, I wake up a little bit early (after 4-5 hours sleep) and get out. Then I'm good to go for the next three days with a pretty normal life schedule.

Nick Stayner wrote:Specific to nursing (1900-0730) but anyone working nights can chime in. What are the tactics you all use for working consecutive nights and quickly readjusting to climbing/skiing during the days? Thanks!

Well, I didn’t climb between shifts, but on my last shift, when the morning came, and I got off work I just went to the crag. As long as I was standing I dident feel fatigued or overly sleepy. Once the day was over I went to sleep like normal and got up the next day. I always had trouble getting up early though. Because I would normally sleep right after I got home from the crag my sleep pattern was jacked which meant I was an arrive-at-noon type guy on cragging days. Also, I was used to obscure sleep patterns because I did two day shifts, two days off, two night shifts, three days off. So I always flipped back and forth. I found the night shifts to be easier. I would much rather stay up all night than get up any earlier than 7AM.

stay up after your shift to adjust! You don't have to sleep at a normal time the day (night for you?) after. For instance if you work 11pm-7am you can get off and climb somewhere or ski and then go home and shower, eat dinner, chill with loved ones, watch a movie and go to sleep by 7pm. Thats only up for 20 hours straight (not even a full day). Then you can be up SUPER early the next day to pursue your activities (helps to find somebody that likes SUPER early climbing sessions).

Its the only way I could enjoy my weekend doing 5x 3rd shifts in a row during the week and then having sat/sun off. I would just kill it during friday the day after my last shift and then crash real early friday night and have a HUGE day saturday with the "normal" world. Then I would sleep sometime real late saturday and reverse the process and have a LONG day sunday ending with my first shift. Then I realized its fucking stupid doing that for 16/hr and I quit and found much more lucrative work (double or triple that wage) during the day. I'm sure though you are making more than 16/hr and its worth it to you.

Best of luck man!
Andy