How can I sleep well when working night shift?

Black-out curtains/blinds really help. Don't sleep right away when getting home. Minimize looking at computer/LCD/phone screens.

After your night shift is done, allow your body a couple of hours of relaxation/decompression time, just as you would do after any other shift. Since daylight will approach soon, try to sleep in a room with no windows (or thick, dark curtains over the windows that allow *no* sunlight to penetrate the room). Any type of outdoor light that is perceived by your pineal gland will instantly disrupt your sleep/wake cycles and melatonin flow. You may be tempted to eat a heavy meal after your shift, but you should avoid this if you plan to sleep. Eat as light of a meal as possible. You should eat your largest meal prior to work, or even during your lunch break at work. Also, experiment with Isochronic Tones -- specifically, Delta wave patterns (you can find these for free on YouTube) which can induce a deep sleep quickly. Isochronic tones don't require headphones, and the videos can be as long as eight hours long. I use them frequently, and I work the night shift. The very last thing is to get a loud alarm clock to wake you up after your eight to ten-hour-long sleep. If you have any questions, send me a message!

My dad recently just got into a new job and he does the graveyard shift like five days out of the seven. He honestly sleeps right when he gets home and he doesn't wake up until late during the day like when I get home from school and all. Your sleep is very important so please do not take that for granted or push it to another day or what have you.

Get into a good habit of sleeping, and try not to eat, exercise or exert your brain too much before going to sleep.

Working a night shift can definitely take a toll on your ability to sleep well, and normally requires an adjustment period if you've been on a fixed schedule for a while. However, getting good rest on this type of schedule is not impossible. One important thing to do is to take a look at everything you need to get done in a day, whether it be bills, cleaning, taking care of your family, etc and creating a plan. Make sure you are budgeting enough time for everything you need to take care of while leaving plenty of room for sleep. It always helps to be on top of things. Watch your diet and caffeine intake, and also try and get more exercise. Assuming that your sleeping will be done during daylight hours, I also highly recommend blocking out as much light as possible in your bedroom. Normal blinds and curtains can work, but the most efficient route is to invest in complete blackout curtains. Just making your room dark as possible is a natural and effective way to "trick" your mind into thinking it's nighttime, and stimulate those sleepy feelings. If all else fails or you need a little boost, talk to your doctor about using all natural sleep aids, such as melatonin.

Planning your sleep around when you work can help you to maximise the amount of sleep you can get so that you're not too tired to work late

Try to make your bedroom really dark. Get dark curtains, and turn all the lights off. Darkness produces a hormone that induces sleep.

Meditation can help with relaxation after work to help you to sleep, not to much caffeine. Some studies have shown it will take longer to fall asleep after you check facebook or other stimulating media.

If doing the night shift for a long(ish) period of time, you should get a strict routine. Have meals like you would have them during the day, so breakfast before going out, and then supper when you get in from work - make sure you use black-out curtains so it's very dark when you try and sleep, and keep to a schedule!

Some people can do this well, some cannot. The body has a sleep wake cycle called the circadian rhythm. There is a lot of stuff called Sleep Hygiene that points us how to sleep well but shift working turns that on its ear. There is a natural product called Melatonin that can help you get to sleep. Melatonin is a natural chemical your brain makes at sleep time to help you sleep. Taking a melatonin tablet might just trick your brain into thinking its sleep time. Drugs that are designed to help you sleep might just make the problem worse and give you a hang over which is dangerous if you drive or operate machinery. If you find changing from night to day and back again on a cycle of shift work is not letting you sleep, then perhaps shift work is not your ideal. I know that is not what you want to hear and its not a great solution for finances when its your job... but you have few options. Its also worth nothing that shift workers on average live ten years less than the general population. I was a shift worker being both a baker and later, a nurse. Now I cannot work shifts. Jet Lag is the same as shift work. It takes me over a week to get my sleep pattern back into order now so working shifts is out of the question. Full time night shift is fine but then you have to always sleep during the day in a dark room even on your days off. Otherwise you will throw your sleep pattern out again. I hope that helps and sorry if its not good news.