Would it be possible to live at night and sleep in the day in the UK?

[-]

Worldly-News3438@reddit

Thought about this as given the line of work I'm in I could study an online degree during nightshift hours. It's totally possible depending on you.

[-]

I work nights, 5pm -5am. Sleep until 11am. Get to walk dog, go gym ect while I’m most energetic and then slowly wind down as my day progresses. I’d rather the best part of the day where I’m feeling good be dedicated to the things I enjoy and be tried at work.

I’ve actually found I’m more productive now vs when I worked5am-5pm. I was drained coming in from work, food habits got worse, gym & dog walks started to seem like a chore rather than something I enjoyed.

This all only works due to me switching to night shift the same time I became single, the night shift lifestyle would absolutely not be on the cards while trying maintain a healthy relationship.

[-]

KeyJunket1175@reddit

Forget service availability. It's not very healthy to do that. Your biology is set for being awake during the daylight.

[-]

Some-Background6188@reddit

I've done nights nearly drove me mad. Trying to nap and the bin men are clanging about. Or the neighbour his revving his car. Just lots of daytime noises. Fun times.

[-]

bbbatkins@reddit

Depends on the job. Regular Human Bartender?

[-]

Dmahf0806@reddit

I remember when working nights winter was the worst. In my early twenties, I worked in a care home from 10 pm to 7am. There were a few weeks in December/January that I saw no daylight whatsoever, even through a window. As I slept as soon as I got home. That really messed me about rnding up getting quite sad.

Social life was affected as well. I remember going to London to see Wicked and I fell asleep in it. Also I fell asleep when I went to see the hobbit at the cinema.

So I would never recommend night shifts.

[-]

Curious_Sundae_6627@reddit

I worked nights for 6 months over winter a few years ago. I thrived at work and felt fine sleeping during the day but my social life was shot and I ended up being very fatigued and depressed outside of work after a few months.

[-]

Jlaw118@reddit

I worked nights for a brief period in my last job about eight years ago on a 00:00 - 08:30 shift and trialled various different sleeping patterns. Best I found personally for this shift in the end was going to bed around 11am/12pm and getting up at 9pm, so the opposite of my typical sleeping pattern back then.

The job was fast paced and the shifts themselves typically flew by. Then felt like absolute bliss crawling into bed on a morning when others were getting up and ready for work, but then felt extremely lonely when everybody was going to bed and I was sat up waiting to go to work.

The hardest part I found with nights was going into the weekend sleeping pattern wise. I worked Monday to Friday, starting Sunday night and finishing Friday mornings. But found if I slept most of the Friday, I’d struggle to sleep on the Saturday night. If I took a nap, I’d struggle to get up and have any energy, so I typically would force myself awake all day until I couldn’t take any more. Would usually make it until about 5pm before I’d crash. Then I’d fall asleep but I’d be up at 3/4am on the Saturday and would feel so headachy and exhausted all day I really couldn’t enjoy it. Would crash again about 4/5pm and end up waking up about 7pm, watch a bit of TV or game for a bit, go to bed at 10/11pm, wake up at more of a normal time on the Sunday feeling better but then having to throw myself back out, force myself to try and sleep in the afternoon and get ready to do it all again for another five nights.

I’ve met people who tell me they just live nights on a weekend like they’d work them during the week. But I think I’d end up going crazy if I did that

[-]

Tim-Sanchez@reddit

Plenty of people work night shifts. What do you mean by "access to society"? Inevitably your social life will suffer significantly if friends are out for dinner whilst you're having breakfast

[-]

Mysterious_Brush7020@reddit

I worked Nightshift as a nurse for years. It's acceptable to have beers in the morning cause it's your dinner time and at night with others because it's 7pm. Win win. D:

[-]

WillyWonka1234567890@reddit

And Witherspoon's opens at about 8AM.

[-]

Mysterious_Brush7020@reddit

In Edinburgh we have strict booze laws but there was always a couple of pubs open around 6am for us nightshifters. Used to go for a few Guinness and a few games of dominos with the old jakies in the pub. Was always a good laugh.

[-]

Jlaw118@reddit

I remember still living at home when I last worked nights and mum ordered a takeaway one Thursday night and I asked her to get me a pizza for me to warm up in the morning. I looked forward to it all night and it was an absolute god-send at 8/9am that next morning whilst my mum got up and was disgusted 🤣

[-]

pm_me_boobs_pictures@reddit

I did that once or twice after night's. Always felt wrong

[-]

Sad-Garage-2642@reddit

As a teen I was nocturnal. It was absolute bliss, having the house to myself while the children and parents were asleep

[-]

wanderingunicorn1@reddit

Possible but why would you want to shorten your life span

[-]

jackyLAD@reddit

Now, this is true on those studies, but at the same time, most of the people they are studying aren't openly choosing night because they wish to do it. So they are unhappily doing night work, which leads to mental strain.

If you are happily doing them of your choosing, while keeping your health in tact with a few solid hours daylight either side, there's less to back up it'll shorten your lifespan. The OP seemingly fits in here.

[-]

wanderingunicorn1@reddit

Nope daylight, vitamin d, circadian rhythms and probably a bunch of other stuff we dont even understand. We need daylight to thrive.

[-]

jackyLAD@reddit

Thus why I said "a few solid hours daylight either side"

The happiness part is the key part to shorter lives from this though, as it leads to unhealthy habits - drinking, lack of diet and lack of exercise.

People can happily live long lives after a career on nights.

[-]

PatTheCatMcDonald@reddit

It depends if you can get groceries reliably (tricky in many rural areas) and also you need good ear defenders / light shades to stay asleep.

Not recommended long term, lack of daylight messes with your sanity.

[-]

No_Potato_4341@reddit

Yes you can

[-]

OwnUse237@reddit

I’d go with 8pm-4am. If you’re in bed by 5 you could be up by midday - 1ish and have 7 hours before work

[-]

pm_me_boobs_pictures@reddit

When I worked nights I finished at 7am. Went straight home for a kip and was normally up 3ish. Plenty of time to live life. You couldn't pay me to do it again mind

[-]

Messybirdy@reddit

Hello from the NHS! I work predominantly nights, 12.5 hour shifts. I prefer night shifts over days, but working nights does unfortunately have a negative impact on your health.

[-]

atsevoN@reddit

My biggest struggle with nights was eating properly and sleeping in the summer when it was super hot and everybody would cut their grass in harmony

[-]

NectarineMammoth4919@reddit

You'll likely shave years off your life

[-]

Bill_Hubbard@reddit

The worst thing that happened to me was next door getting their drive done when I worked 4 on 4 off, I swear they timed it for me to be on nights, fucking whacker plate going for two days I thought I was gonna die!

[-]

YourMaWarnedUAboutMe@reddit

In my late teens I was a part time nightshift worker - flipping from day side to night side and vice versa isn’t easy but once you’d transitioned to night/day it was a snap.

Later in life I was working two jobs: 9-5 Monday to Friday in an office and then a Saturday nightshift between 6pm and 7am. That was a little easier although Sundays were a writeoff for me because I knew I couldn’t sleep all day and then snap back into dayshift on a Monday morning.

If I could make it work, I’d work 9pm until 5am. That way you’re literally flipping your life. A lot of shops start to open at 6am and are often open until 10pm, so you can do things before and after work. Banks are a little difficult but they are for 9am to 5pm workers as well. I’m

[-]

sirbzb@reddit

I think it depends. Through the different ages of your lifetime you will likely find you need more/less sleep and will tolerate being awake earlier or later in the day differently. So a collection of people of mixed ages acting as a society has the ability to provide a watch over the entire period of a day. So I guess yes, but it's probably a damn sight easier to do it when you are a teenager than when you are thirty something.

[-]

Emergency_Town3366@reddit

I work nights and I thrive on them (not the case for everyone, horses for courses). However, I don’t think I should have to explain this really - but you have days off, too!

I don’t think of myself as “living by night” or “accessing society” by night. I just…do shit in the daytime, when I’m off?

[-]

bsnimunf@reddit

You'd probably be better going half way like. 4am start 2pm finish or 4pm start 12am finish. I say this because one of the worst things about working nights is trying to sleep in the day light whilst most of the world is making a lot of noise. Also not be able to walk around in daylight can make alot of people depressed.

[-]

t0et0e@reddit

I have watched it take a massive toll on my mate's memory but somehow he just flips nights and days every 3-7 days, sometimes im asked to do the odd thing like post office run, delivery pick up or something if he needs more sleep than usual

[-]

klc81@reddit

I do it.

It's a bit of a pain dealing with things like dentist appointments, sicne there's only about 2 hours of overlap between when they're open and when I'm awake, but other than that and the need to take vitamin D supplements, it's fine.

[-]

No-Win2424@reddit

Of course you could do it logistically. The millions of shift workers have non-work lives to live and they manage just fine.

When I worked nights, I'd either get up at a reasonable time to have a late afternoon and early evening to get on with life or I'd go to bed late and do things in the morning, eg get in a round of golf etc

[-]

It's not new and there is a whole "other" side of society just waiting to be tapped into. Have fun!

[-]

AutoModerator@reddit

Please help keep AskUK welcoming!

When repling to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!

Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.