“Not everyone has a work schedule that resembles the traditional nine-to-five day. In fact, more than 22 million Americans work evening, rotating, or on-call shifts. You face many challenges when working non-traditional hours. It can be hard to keep up with family and friends. You may feel disconnected from the people you care about the most. You may have trouble organizing your time and activities. You may be frustrated to realize that most things are planned around the schedule of the typical day worker. It may seem like no one has your needs in mind.  Your physical health may also suffer from shift work. It can be very hard to get the sleep you need to stay well rested. This can make you more likely to get sick. It also makes you at potential that the job is hard for you to stay alert on the job.  Being tired increases the chance that you could suffer a work-related injury. Even driving home from work is a risk when you are sleepy.  Studies show that sleepiness can have a negative effect on any of the following:

1. Attention 2. Concentration 3. Reaction time 4. Memory  5. Mood.

A main challenge of shift work is that it forces you to sleep against the clock. You have an internal body clock in your brain that produces circadian rhythms.  If you work at night, you must fight your body’s natural rhythms to try and stay awake. Then you have to try to sleep during the day when your body expects to be alert.

It is a good idea to take a nap just before reporting for a night shift. This makes you more alert on the job. A nap of about 90 minutes seems to be best. Naps during work hours may also help you stay awake and alert. You may also want to take a nap during the night shift “lunch hour.” This can make you more productive and more satisfied”

UCLS Health (https://www.uclahealth.org/medical-services/sleep-disorders/patient-resources/patient-education/coping-with-shift-work)