Night Shift Sleep: How to Sleep Better When You Work at Night

When you work nights, your body fights you. night shift sleep, the struggle to rest when your internal clock says it’s daytime. Also known as shift work sleep disorder, it’s not just being tired—it’s your circadian rhythm, your body’s 24-hour biological clock telling you to be awake while the world sleeps. This isn’t laziness. It’s biology. And if you’re trying to sleep during daylight hours after a 11 PM to 7 AM shift, you’re battling light, noise, and your own brain chemistry.

Most people don’t realize how much melatonin for shift workers, a natural hormone your body makes to signal sleep gets suppressed by morning sunlight. Even with blackout curtains, your eyes pick up enough light to confuse your brain. That’s why some shift workers take melatonin before bed—but only if they get the timing right. Too early, and it won’t help. Too late, and it messes up your next shift. It’s not a magic pill. It’s a tool. And it works best with strict routines: same bedtime, same wake time—even on days off. Skip the caffeine after your shift. Don’t hit the gym right before bed. Your body needs cues to switch modes.

There’s no perfect fix, but the people who manage night shift sleep best do three things: control light, control noise, and control expectations. They use blue-light-blocking glasses on the way home. They run white noise machines to drown out lawn mowers and kids playing. And they stop blaming themselves for feeling groggy. It’s not your fault. Your job schedule is out of sync with human biology. But you can still get better sleep—just not by doing what daytime workers do. The posts below show real strategies: what meds help (and which ones don’t), how to use light therapy safely, why naps matter more than you think, and what to avoid if you want to stay healthy long-term. No fluff. Just what works for people who work nights.