Working Night Shifts? How to Sleep Better During the Day, According to Research and Real Shift Workers

Quick Answer: Sleep after a night shift tends to be shorter than normal night-time sleep. The most consistent advice from sleep experts is to make your bedroom dark, quiet and cool, keep a regular sleep schedule, time caffeine carefully and use short planned naps. Research on specific fixes such as bright light therapy and melatonin is mostly low certainty, so treat them as possible helpers rather than solutions.

Nurses, doctors, factory and logistics staff, security guards, call-centre teams, airport crews and many others in Malaysia keep the country running overnight. The hardest part for many of them is not staying awake at work. It is trying to sleep at 9am while the sun is up, the neighbourhood is busy and the afternoon heat builds. This article looks at what the research says about daytime sleep after night work, what experts recommend and what real shift workers find helpful.

Why sleeping during the day is harder

Your body clock (circadian rhythm) is set mainly by light. It pushes you to be alert in daytime and sleepy at night. Night work asks you to do the opposite. Cleveland Clinic describes shift work sleep disorder as a circadian rhythm problem that affects roughly 10% to 40% of people who work non-traditional hours, with symptoms such as trouble falling or staying asleep, sleepiness at work, poor concentration, headaches and irritability. Not every shift worker develops it.

The Sleep Foundation reports that about 18.5% of night shift workers meet the criteria for insomnia, compared with 8.6% of day workers.

A small 2022 study in Nature and Science of Sleep measured sleep with home polysomnography in 15 young adults after three simulated night shifts. Their daytime sleep was about 73 to 80 minutes shorter per day than their normal night sleep, adding up to nearly four hours of lost sleep over three days. Deep sleep was largely preserved, which suggests the main problem was how long they slept rather than sleep quality. This was a small lab-based study in young volunteers, so real workers may differ.

What a Malaysian study found

A 2020 cross-sectional study in BMJ Open looked at 494 manufacturing workers aged 40 to 65 from 11 factories in the Klang Valley, including 177 night-shift workers. Night-shift workers reported poorer overall sleep quality (an average Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score of 6.3 versus 4.8, where higher is worse), took longer to fall asleep, slept less and had more daytime dysfunction. They also scored lower on every area of health-related quality of life measured, and poorer sleep partly explained that gap.

Because this was a snapshot study, it shows an association, not proof that night work caused the difference. Still, it is a useful local reminder that sleep is a real issue for Malaysian shift workers.

What the evidence says about common fixes

Bright light and light timing

A 2016 Cochrane review of non-drug approaches for shift workers found that bright light during the night shift slightly reduced sleepiness at work, but did not clearly change how long or how efficiently people slept afterwards. Most of the evidence was rated low or very low certainty, with small studies and wide margins of error.

Naps

The same review found mixed results for night-shift naps: one study showed less sleepiness, another did not. Cleveland Clinic's practical guidance is to keep naps planned and short: a nap of about 90 minutes or 20 to 30 minutes before a shift, 20 to 30 minutes mid-shift, and only 10 to 15 minutes before driving home. Avoid long naps of an hour or more near the end of a shift, because they can make your main daytime sleep harder.

Melatonin

A 2014 Cochrane review found that melatonin taken after a night shift may add about 24 minutes of daytime sleep (seven trials, 263 participants), but it did not help people fall asleep faster. The evidence was rated low quality. Health experts advise speaking to a doctor or pharmacist before using melatonin or any sleep medicine.

Exercise and sleep education

In the Cochrane review, the only comparison with moderate-certainty evidence, a programme of exercise plus sleep hygiene education, did not clearly improve sleep quality compared with a wait-list. That does not mean good habits are useless, only that strong trial proof is still limited.

A practical daytime sleep set-up

These tips come mainly from Cleveland Clinic and the Sleep Foundation. They are expert recommendations rather than findings from large trials.

• Make it dark. Blackout curtains and a comfortable eye mask block most daylight.
• Make it quiet. Earplugs, a fan or a white noise machine can mask traffic, renovation or school-run noise. Ask family members to keep noise down and put your phone on Do Not Disturb.
• Keep it cool. The Sleep Foundation suggests around 18°C as ideal. That is hard in a Malaysian afternoon, so a fan or air-conditioning, light bedding and breathable sleepwear can help.
• Be consistent. Try to sleep and wake at similar times, including on days off where possible. Some people do better with one long sleep; others prefer a shorter sleep after work and a second sleep before the next shift. The Sleep Foundation notes both approaches can work.
• Aim for enough total sleep. At least 7 hours in 24 hours is the general adult recommendation.
• Time caffeine. Cleveland Clinic suggests stopping caffeine at least four hours before your shift ends. Avoid alcohol before sleep, as it disrupts sleep later on.
• Limit morning light on the way home. Sunglasses can reduce light exposure, but Cleveland Clinic advises against wearing them while you drive when tired, as dimmer light can add to drowsiness.
• Don't drive drowsy. Take a short nap first or find another way home.
• Limit long runs of nights. Where you have a choice, Cleveland Clinic suggests five or fewer consecutive night shifts, followed by a proper rest break.

What real users say

In online discussions and interviews, night shift workers keep returning to the same points:

• Darkness is non-negotiable. Blackout curtains plus a well-fitting eye mask is the most common recommendation, with many saying a good mask made a big difference.
• Noise masking helps. Fans and white noise machines come up often, and some prefer a real fan sound over phone apps.
• Switching back and forth is the worst part. Many say flipping to a day schedule on days off drains them more than the night shifts themselves.
• Go to bed soon after the shift. Several people sleep right after work until early afternoon to protect their main sleep.
• Short wind-down routines. A quick shower, reading a few pages or breathing exercises before the mask goes on.
• Common complaints: broken or short sleep, relying too much on caffeine, fast food and weight gain, daytime appointments cutting into sleep, and feeling cut off from family and friends.

Some workers mention magnesium or lavender scents. These are personal experiences, and the sources we reviewed did not provide evidence that they improve daytime sleep.

Who should be careful / talk to a doctor first

• Anyone who regularly struggles to sleep or stay awake at work for weeks, despite good sleep habits.
• Anyone who has nodded off while driving or had near-misses at work.
• People who snore loudly, gasp or stop breathing in sleep, which can be signs of sleep apnoea.
• People with low mood, anxiety, heart disease, diabetes, digestive problems or other long-term conditions.
• Pregnant women, and anyone on regular medication, before trying melatonin, sleeping pills or supplements.

A doctor can check for shift work sleep disorder or other sleep problems and suggest options suited to your schedule.

The bottom line

Daytime sleep after a night shift is usually shorter, and research on quick fixes is still limited. What the evidence and expert guidance support most is the basics: a dark, quiet, cool bedroom, a schedule that is as regular as possible, smart caffeine and nap timing, and never driving while drowsy.

Your bed is part of that set-up. A comfortable, supportive mattress and a bed that lets you rest in a relaxed, slightly raised position for a short pre-shift nap or a few minutes of reading may make daytime rest more comfortable, though no bed can reset your body clock. If you would like to explore options, browse our smart mattresses and beds or try them in person at a SnowFit store near you.

References

1. Slanger TE et al. (2016). Person-directed, non-pharmacological interventions for sleepiness at work and sleep disturbances caused by shift work. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
2. Liira J et al. (2014). Pharmacological interventions for sleepiness and sleep disturbances caused by shift work. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
3. Lim YC et al. (2020). Association between night-shift work, sleep quality and health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study among manufacturing workers in a middle-income setting. BMJ Open.
4. Pedersen TT et al. (2022). Sleep Homeostasis and Night Work: A Polysomnographic Study of Daytime Sleep Following Three Consecutive Simulated Night Shifts. Nature and Science of Sleep.
5. Cleveland Clinic. Shift Work Sleep Disorder.
6. Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. How You Can Sleep Better if You Work the Night Shift.
7. Sleep Foundation. How to Sleep During the Day: Tips for Shift Workers.
8. Tildes community discussion. Night shifters of Tildes, what tips do you have?
9. Apartment Therapy. Tricks for Falling Asleep When It's Light Out, According to Night Shift Workers.

This article is for general information and is not medical advice.