Guide · Coming off nights

Switching from nights back to days

Last reviewed · Every claim links to its source

The short answer

After your last night shift, sleep for a few hours in the morning instead of staying up all day. Go to bed that night at your usual time, or earlier if you are sleepy, and get some daylight soon after you wake the next morning. Avoid a long nap in the four to six hours before bed, stop caffeine early, and expect the first day off to be the sleepiest.

No trial has compared one way of coming off nights with another, so this is the advice sleep and shift-work researchers agreed on in 2023, with the field studies behind it.1

Why the switch back is hard

Flipping between nights and days is tiring. NIOSH’s training for nurses compares swapping fully between night and day schedules on days off to a constant state of jet lag.2

After a short block your body clock has probably not moved far. In a study of 21 ICU nurses and doctors, none had adapted even partly to nights after three or four in a row.3 So the switch is mostly about getting your sleep back into the night without losing the whole first day off to it.

The day after your last night, step by step

  1. Sleep for a few hours when you get home

    The 2023 guidelines suggest a short sleep in the morning after your last night, then an earlier night.1 NIOSH advises against staying awake all day after a block of nights.2 The experts say “short” and give no number, so set an alarm for early afternoon rather than sleeping into the evening.

  2. Give the grogginess time before you drive

    Waking from a short daytime sleep can leave you groggy. This sleep inertia usually lasts 15 to 30 minutes but can last up to two hours, and the guidelines suggest avoiding driving while it does.1

  3. No long nap in the four to six hours before bed

    The guidelines advise avoiding longer naps in the four to six hours before your main sleep, because they can make it harder to fall asleep.1 If you are flagging, a short nap of 15 to 20 minutes is fine. The same guidelines say a nap that short can boost alertness.1

  4. Stop caffeine about nine hours before bed

    A review of 24 studies found caffeine cut total sleep by about 45 minutes on average, and suggested a typical coffee at least 8.8 hours before bedtime.4 One study found that a large dose taken even six hours before bed still cut sleep by more than an hour.5 For an 11 p.m. bedtime, that means your last coffee around 2 p.m., which is about when you wake from the short sleep.

  5. Go to bed at your usual time, or earlier

    The guidelines say to go back to bed earlier than your usual bedtime.1 If you are sleepy in the evening, an early night is fine. If you are not, aim for your usual time, and if sleep will not come, the guidelines suggest getting up and doing something relaxing in dim light until you feel sleepy.1

  6. Get daylight soon after you wake the next morning

    Some sunlight after waking in the morning can help your body clock realign to day and night, the guidelines say.1 A short walk outside is the simplest way to get it.

  7. Expect the first day off to be the sleepiest

    In a study of 61 nurses who rated their alertness and sleep for 28 days, many measures were worse on the first rest day after nights than on later ones, and alertness was lowest on that first day.6 The UK Health and Safety Executive advises allowing two nights of full sleep when switching between day and night shifts.7 If you self-schedule, leave room for that before your next day shift.

If you are back on nights in a few days

You do not have to flip all the way. NIOSH suggests that nurses on nights stay up until about 3 or 4 a.m. on days off and sleep until noon or 1 p.m., so that 8 a.m. to noon is always a sleep time, on work days and rest days alike.2 That fits permanent or long runs of nights better than a rotating roster, where the day shifts are coming too.

This is general information, not medical advice.

If you are still not sleeping well days after your last night, you are very sleepy at work or on the road, or your sleep is affecting your health, talk to your doctor. The 2023 guidelines suggest getting advice if sleep problems happen more than three times a week for several weeks.1

Questions nurses ask

Should I stay up all day after my last night shift?

No. Shift-work sleep guidelines suggest a short sleep in the morning after your last night, then going to bed earlier than usual that night.1 NIOSH’s training for nurses advises against staying awake all day after a block of nights.2

How long does it take to recover after night shifts?

Expect the first day off to be the hardest. In a study of 61 nurses, alertness was lowest on the first rest day after night shifts and better on the days that followed.6 The UK Health and Safety Executive advises allowing two nights of full sleep when switching between night and day shifts.7

Can I nap on my first day off after nights?

A short nap is fine. The guidelines suggest avoiding longer naps in the four to six hours before your main sleep, because they can make it harder to fall asleep.1

When should I stop caffeine on my first day off after nights?

About nine hours before the bedtime you are aiming for. A review of 24 studies suggested a typical coffee at least 8.8 hours before bed,4 so for an 11 p.m. bedtime that is around 2 p.m.

From your roster

How Post Nights plans this from your roster

Post Nights sees the last night of each block in your roster and, on the day after it, puts the switch back on one card:

  • the short sleep after your last night, and tonight’s sleep window;
  • the point from which a long nap would cost you tonight’s sleep;
  • a last-coffee time worked back from tonight’s bedtime;
  • a reminder to leave time before you drive, and to get daylight tomorrow morning.

The times come from a published model of the body clock, accurate to about an hour in laboratory studies that measured the light people saw. Yours is estimated from your roster, which is less precise, so every time in the app is a window rather than a minute. It never tells you a date by which your clock is back.

Get the app Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

Today’s plan is free · Premium free for 14 days

More guides

GuideHow to sleep after a night shiftSeven steps for the day sleep between nights. GuideNapping before a night shiftHow long, when, and what to do about grogginess.

Sources

  1. Shriane AE, Rigney G, Ferguson SA, Bin YS, Vincent GE. Healthy sleep practices for shift workers: consensus sleep hygiene guidelines using a Delphi methodology. Sleep 2023;46(12):zsad182. Guidelines 5, 6, 7, 11 and 18. doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad182 (free full text: PMC10710992)
  2. NIOSH. Training for Nurses on Shift Work and Long Work Hours (DHHS (NIOSH) Publication 2015-115), module 9, “Sleep (continued)”. archive.cdc.gov
  3. Stone JE, Sletten TL, Magee M, et al. Temporal dynamics of circadian phase shifting response to consecutive night shifts in healthcare workers: role of light–dark exposure. Journal of Physiology 2018;596(12):2381–2395. doi.org/10.1113/JP275589
  4. Gardiner C, Weakley J, Burke LM, et al. The effect of caffeine on subsequent sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews 2023;69:101764. doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2023.101764
  5. Drake C, Roehrs T, Shambroom J, Roth T. Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before going to bed. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 2013;9(11):1195–1200. doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.3170
  6. Totterdell P, Spelten E, Smith L, Barton J, Folkard S. Recovery from work shifts: how long does it take? Journal of Applied Psychology 1995;80(1):43–57. doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.80.1.43
  7. Health and Safety Executive (UK). Good practice guidelines for shift work. hse.gov.uk