this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2024
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The only time I felt human was when I worked night shift. I can spend hours trying to fall asleep and I sleep like shit until around dawn, then I sleep like the dead until whenever I need to get up. When I worked night shift I'd get home around 7:30-8am, eat a small meal, shower, be in bed by 8:30-9:00 am, and if it took me more than 15 minutes to fall asleep it was unusual. I'd be out solid until anywhere from 2-5pm and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go. When I switched from days to nights people who'd known me for years kept commenting on how my entire personality changed and how I was so much happier; for the first time in my entire life I wasn't struggling through a constant haze all day every day.
I have an interview this week for a night shift job and my heart is absolutely dancing at the thought of getting back into that schedule again.
It is currently 4am and I am finally heading to bed.
Why? Work.
Am I tired? Eh, sorta.
Could I stay up? Probably.
Would I be tired later? Yes either way.
Literally the only difference I have found between getting 9 hours of somewhat broken sleep and not enough is that my body will struggle more with moving around for long periods. No matter what, even if I wake up having slept awesome, I will be tired by 3pm. Either it's nap time or I struggle til 5p where I'll start to wake up properly.
My schedule is back heavy. So this about checks out for the whole 12p-1p thing, with some fluctuation.
Course I have the unholy trifecta of depression, anxiety, and adhd. So, y'know...superpowers or something.
I feel the struggle! I wish more industries and the world in general was better adapted for the night owls around us. I wish you could get an office job that was 9pm to 5am, and I wish you could attend college classes in person overnight. Ever since Covid even grocery stores and places like Walmart and Target arent open past 10 or 11 pm anymore, instead of 24 hours like they used to be. Basically, I wish there was a whole different world that took place at night (and I'm not talking about partying, just those of us who wish to live normal life nocturnally). I've seen it put in the way like hundreds and thousands of years ago we would have been so useful to our "tribes", because someone had to stay up overnight and watch for predators and bandits and such, but now there's no need for that so our nocturnal abilities are forced to adapt to a world that tells us we're useless lazy people for staying up late and sleeping during the day.
I've been working nightshifts exclusively for the last decade or so and can confirm. Although I prefer to go to sleep around 11:00 or 12:00 o'clock. That way I have the whole morning to do stuff. Also helps that I hate the midday heat and getting irradiated by nuclear fusion explosions. I prefer the cozy cool light of the Moon. Moon is highly underrated imo. One of the best space objects around.