Are you Tanning?

I think the shopping, vacuuming, cleaning, baking at 1 AM are a little weird. I'll have music on and the windows open and I'll have to stop myself and think, "If the neighbors were up, they would wonder *** I'm doing." and I'll have to shut the windows and be a little quieter. The baking, though, hey, it's gotta get done. If I'm still pulling stuff out of the oven at 0230 during night shifts, that's been a good, productive night.

Lol I used to drink at 7 in the morning

Lol I used to drink at 7 in the morning

Yeah! I switched to days a while back and kind of miss the bar at 0700. For some reason it was easier to stop for one after working nights than it is now that I'm on days.

I've been known to wake my husband up at 2 or 3 in the morning to go grocery shopping with me (only if he's off the next day) because I have a weird phobia about grocery shopping alone (no matter what time of day I go). He's never complained about me doing that. I also vacuum the house at night if our neighbor isn't home (he works nights, too).

I've always done my shopping in the middle of the night. Once while visiting my son I made the mistake of "running out to Walmart" at noon on a Saturday - OH THE HORROR! I had no idea!

Wherever I am on contract I manage to find the local all night eateries. I'm enjoying my current place in NV as the casinos are open all night and there are other people awake with me!

"Oh the horror." lol. No kidding. I'd rather have a root canal than to go to Walmart at that time of day. Especially during the holidays.

I'm a hardcore night shift worker.....

Anyhow, 'breakfast' is at 5:30pm, 'lunch' is around midnight (plus or minus one hour), and 'dinner' takes place during the morning.

I despise being forced to attend mandatory workplace meetings at noon because it is as if I am forcing myself to awaken at midnight. The rest of the working world has no appreciable cognizance of the typical night shifter's needs. One of those needs entails not being bothered during the daylight hours so we can sleep.

Coffee is my personal savior. Without it, night shift would be too unpleasant to tolerate.

Are you sleepy that the coffee helps?

Laundry gets done at the wee hours of the morning. That's why in my current apartment search, a washer/dryer in unit is an absolute must! I refuse to go walking out at 2am to any laundry facility.

Night shifters are not hermits durning the day! Day is when we sleep, just like day shifters sleep at night. I still don't know why people think that when we work all night we should be up all day!!

Mind if I ask what you usually eat at 'breakfast', 'lunch', and 'dinner'? In other words, what foods keeps you going?

I started evening-nights three months ago, and really want to figure this out to stay healthy, so here's what I'm trying. I work 7:30pm-8:00am shifts, and I go for a big meal at 6:00pm 'breakfast', maybe eggs, toast & turkey bacon, OJ. Then my 1:00am 'lunch' is a sandwich, fruit, milk or maybe a salad with grilled chicken I picked up on the way to work. By the end of my shift I'm ravenous and probably should get a power bar or a handful of almonds in my tummy around 6:00am, but my unit gets super-busy.

When I get home, I eat 'dinner' - but I'm so whipped I have a hard time creating a good meal for myself. Sometimes soup and leftover veggies. Then I recline and watch a couple of "Mad Men" episodes--which I've already seen, so when I start nodding off, that's very okay. My body welcomes sleep, it's my mind that has to slow down.

I'm so interested in finding a routine that works, and trying to avoid caffeine when I can. I'm curious to learn what works for you and other "night-shifties".