How to stay awake during an overnight shift?

Girlrose

Tonight, I will have my very first overnight shift at my job (9 PM-10 AM). For the majority of the overnight, I'll be sitting in the dark supervising sleeping children (I work at a residential school for mentally ill children). I'm allowed two half-hour breaks at predetermined times during the night.

How do I stay awake that whole time? How do I prepare for the overnight? What food should I eat? How much activity should I have the day of? For how long do I sleep after the overnight so my sleep schedule remains relatively normal? (I will only be working one overnight shift per week.)

randomtai

Working overnight for me totally threw off my internal clock. Would never go back to it. Coffee was my best friend, followed by Red Bulls.

CookNLift

aderall or red bull

cingle87

I often have to cover night shifts most times for a couple a nights only, the way I do it, night wake up a couple of hours earlier than I would normal, for example, if I usual wake up at 8am for my normal shift i would get up at 6 regardless of when I went to sleep. Then I'd carry on like its a normal day, then I would go for a couple of hours nap around 5/6 ish, works for me everytime.

One thing avoid sugary things sweets chocolate, the sugar crash is horrendous on nights, best taking fruit and plenty of coffee.

Have fun

p.s there is the official nightshift thread aswel

CantStopWontStop92

aderall or red bull

Or both :glasses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11OguJCoXqQ

On a serious note, when I did all-nighters in college 0 cal Monsters became my new best buddies. Managed to do 2 back-to-back all-nighters then rage my face off the third night running on those Good luck!

ksimmons19

Sleep all day and drink lots of coffee!!

tmpecus78

cocaine :drinker:

marvybells

aderall or red bull

Or both :glasses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11OguJCoXqQ

On a serious note, when I did all-nighters in college 0 cal Monsters became my new best buddies. Managed to do 2 back-to-back all-nighters then rage my face off the third night running on those Good luck!

i have been working a 5am-1pm shift lately after not sleeping much (insomnia). I have been popping ginkgo & ginseng pills which give some energy & alert feeling. Today I tried a 5hr energy knockoff from the $ store as well. It worked pretty well for about 4-4.5 hrs.

I also picked up some caffeine tabs. and monster drinks. I haven't tried the monsters yet, but i see they are suggested by others so probably a good bet.

63lab

hi
i worked regular nights for many years and soon learned that for me,the secret was not to eat carbs ( starchy or sugary) and to be a lil' bit hungry all the time.i know this probably isn't what you wanted to hear,lol...but ,honestly this was the best way to stay alert for me.
good luck.

bloominheck

My brother and I both work(ed) in the healthcare. He always worked the 7pm to 7am in the NICU. He loved it. He had more energy than anyone I ever knew. (God I miss him)

renatewolfe

Avoid sugary foods and high carb foods that can make you sleepy. Take snacks like hummus and veggie sticks, tuna made with laughing cow lite cheese and minced veggies, hard boiled eggs, string cheese sticks, etc. Be careful about those energy drinks. They can be really bad for you. You made need caffeine, but avoid it the last few hours of your shift. If you are only doing one night shift a week, I'd take a four or 5 hour nap when you get home. Then you should be ready for bed around midnight.

Girlrose

Thanks for all the great advice, all! I don't generally consume caffeine (except for green tea and chocolate), or at least not the "hard stuff" like five-hour energy or Monster. I'm going to try to do this without the caffeine support, so I hope I figure something out. I slept in until 12 PM today to prepare, but I think next time I'll be better off waking up earlier than usual, then sleeping during the day.

renatewolfe

Oh and the day of, try to sleep in and get a 2-3 hour nap before work.

pawnstarNate

marvybells

Thanks for all the great advice, all! I don't generally consume caffeine (except for green tea and chocolate), or at least not the "hard stuff" like five-hour energy or Monster. I'm going to try to do this without the caffeine support, so I hope I figure something out. I slept in until 12 PM today to prepare, but I think next time I'll be better off waking up earlier than usual, then sleeping during the day.

I can understand that. I actually made it through the first several days on this shift with just some ginseng (and advil for my back & foot pain). I did not consume any caffeine or other energy supplements. it worked pretty well, so maybe give that a try & see how it works for you. that is, if you are not opposed to taking some ginseng (I only started with the other stuff after the insomnia bouts started and i was walking around like a zombie)

sweet_blasphemy

NoDoz was my best friend when I worked night shift My insides would've eroded away if I drank the required amount of coffee to keep me awake and functioning, especially since I was alone in the building with no human interaction to keep me alert the entire night.

BL_Coleman

I did a steady does of tea. No sugar but has caffiene. also bring enough snacks to get you threw the 8 hours.....lots of little foods...

I also slept from 8-12 then got up and went back to bed around 6/7 to get me on a normalish schedule..

vtmoon

I was going to give a suggestion but decided, I can't handle the fame of being the most hated person on MFP for the week.

WisiPls

inject pre-workout into your heart

rieann84

That's a long shift. They make you sit in the dark? Sheesh! Good luck to you. I work nights also, but it's high energy restaurant and I still get tired lol.

Girlrose

I was going to give a suggestion but decided, I can't handle the fame of being the most hated person on MFP for the week.

Now I'm intrigued!