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Shift work guides · for anyone who works nights

Sleeping after night shifts

Nap in the afternoon before your first night, go to bed soon after you get home between nights, and after the last one have a short sleep of about 4 hours, then an early night. That gets you back onto days in one go.

Checked October 2026 · guidance, not medical advice

This is general guidance for healthy adults who work shifts, not medical advice. If you have a sleep problem or a health condition, talk to your GP or occupational health.

Before the first night

  • Sleep normally the night before. Don't try to stay up late to "get ready".
  • Have a nap of about 90 minutes in the afternoon, finished about 6 hours before your shift. For a 22:00 start, that's 14:30 to 16:00. Naps before a night shift cut sleepiness on shift.
  • Eat your main meal before the shift, not in the small hours.

Between nights

  • Go to bed soon after you get home. Give yourself 15 minutes to settle, not a couple of hours of TV.
  • Aim for your usual amount of sleep, at least 7 hours. Adults are advised to sleep 7 hours or more on a regular basis, and that doesn't stop on nights.
  • Get up in time to eat your main meal and get ready before the next shift.
  • On shift, have only a small snack after midnight, and only if you're hungry.

Example: a Night from 22:00 to 07:00 with a 35-minute drive. Home at 07:35, in bed by 07:50, up at 15:20 after 7 hours 30 minutes.

Make the bedroom work in daytime

  • Dark: blackout blinds or curtains, or an eye mask.
  • Quiet: earplugs, phone on do not disturb, and a word with the people at home about when you're asleep.
  • Screens off half an hour before bed. Bright screens late in your "evening" delay sleep.

Caffeine on nights

Normally, have your last cup 9 hours before sleep. A review of 24 studies found a normal coffee needs to be drunk at least 8.8 hours before bed to avoid cutting sleep.

On nights, make it 6 hours before sleep. That's a compromise: caffeine early in a night shift helps alertness on the job and on the drive home. For bed at 07:50, the last cup is before 01:50.

Up to 400 mg of caffeine a day from everything, and up to 200 mg in one go, is not a safety concern for healthy adults. A 250 ml energy drink has about 80 mg. In pregnancy the limit is 200 mg a day.

The drive home

The drive home after a night is when tiredness catches up with you. If you feel sleepy at the wheel, stop somewhere safe and rest. The Highway Code, rule 91.

After the last night

This is the sleep that decides whether your rest days feel like days off. The aim is to get back onto daytime sleep in one go:

  1. Have a short sleep of about 4 hours when you get home. For bed at 07:50, that's up at about midday.
  2. Get up and get outside in daylight for the afternoon.
  3. Have an early night, around 22:00.

Sleeping all day after the last night feels good at the time, but it can leave you awake at 3am and still on nights for your first days off.

When to get help

See your GP or occupational health if you regularly can't sleep, if you're falling asleep at work or at the wheel, or if poor sleep is going on for weeks. The NHS has advice on insomnia.

Where this comes from

  • Ruggiero JS, Redeker NS (2014). Effects of napping on sleepiness and sleep-related performance deficits in night-shift workers: a systematic review. Biological Research for Nursing 16(2): 134-142.
  • Watson NF, et al. (2015). Recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult. Sleep 38(6): 843-844.
  • Chang AM, et al. (2015). Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. PNAS 112(4): 1232-1237.
  • Gardiner C, et al. (2023). The effect of caffeine on subsequent sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews 69: 101764.
  • Ker K, et al. (2010). Caffeine for the prevention of injuries and errors in shift workers. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (5): CD008508.
  • EFSA (2015). Scientific opinion on the safety of caffeine. EFSA Journal 13(5): 4102.
  • Health and Safety Executive, Managing shift work (HSG256).

SHFTRS gives guidance, not medical advice. If you have a health condition, are pregnant, or take medication, check with your GP.

A sleep plan that follows your rota

SHFTRS knows when your nights start and finish. It plans the nap before the first one, your bed after each one, the short sleep and early night after the last, and your caffeine cut-off, and it offers to move the plan when a shift runs late.

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