Shift Work Sleep Calculator

1. Pick a mode, then enter your shift start and end. Night shifts across midnight work automatically. For a 24-hour shift, enter the same time twice. Or tap a preset.
2. Add your commute and wind-down time. These push your bedtime later after the shift.
3. Pick how much sleep you need. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours in 24 hours.

Shift work means working when most people sleep: nights, early mornings, evenings, rotating or 24-hour shifts. Your body clock is set for night-time sleep, so sleeping in the day is harder and often shorter.

When the problem lasts, it can become shift work disorder: heavy sleepiness, trouble falling or staying asleep, low energy and poor concentration, with a higher risk of mistakes and drowsy-driving accidents. For a full routine, see how to sleep after a night shift.

It decides whether your main sleep comes after the shift or before the next one.

If the gap is too short for full sleep plus an hour to get ready, it warns you and suggests a split sleep.

The plan fits, with time for a meal and a short nap before leaving at 6:30 PM.

After your last night shift, the Sleep Health Foundation suggests a short sleep in the morning, then going to bed earlier than usual that night. Some sunlight after waking helps your body clock line up with day and night again. Choose Nights to days in the calculator to get a day-by-day plan:

Example: 3 x 12-hour nights ending at 7 AM, 3 days off, then a 7 AM day shift. Sleep 8:15 AM to 12:15 PM, get outside, then go to bed at 9:30 PM every night off. The half-sleep-need length is our own rule to keep the day sleep short; the 6-hour gap follows the advice to avoid long naps in the 4 to 6 hours before your main sleep.

Flight crews crossing time zones can also plan with the jet lag recovery calculator. Follow your employer and regulator rules on duty and rest times; this calculator does not replace them.

Rest Rules For Pilots And Truck Drivers

In the US, airline pilots must be given at least 10 consecutive hours of rest before a flight duty period, including at least 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep opportunity (14 CFR 117.25). Property-carrying truck drivers must take 10 consecutive hours off duty before driving, may drive up to 11 hours within a 14-hour window, and need a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving (49 CFR 395.3). These are minimums: plan your real sleep inside the rest period with the calculator.

A good night shift sleep schedule protects one main sleep at the same time after every shift, adds a short nap before work, and stops caffeine about 6 hours before bed. Here is how that looks for two common night shifts, using the calculator defaults (30 minute commute, 45 minute wind-down, 8 hours of sleep):

On a run of nights, keep the same main sleep window every day.

Either works if the total reaches your sleep need and the timing stays the same each work day.

Light

Bright light at work and sunglasses on the way home make daytime sleep easier.

Naps

A planned nap before or during a night shift improves alertness, according to sleep medicine practice parameters; the nap calculator helps you choose a length.

Caffeine

Caffeine helps alertness on the shift, but taken within 6 hours of bed it can cut sleep by more than an hour. The caffeine calculator works out what is left at bedtime.

Your Bedroom

Blackout curtains, earplugs and a cool room protect daytime sleep.

• Night workers in healthcare, transport, security, manufacturing and emergency services.
• Early starters, such as pilots, bakers and delivery drivers.
• People on rotating rotas planning each week as it comes.
• Families of shift workers planning quiet hours.

Running Errands Before Bed

Staying up after a night shift shortens the easiest sleep.

Late Caffeine

A coffee near the end of a night shift lands just before bedtime.

No Nap Before Nights

A short pre-shift nap is a simple way to stay alert.

Driving Drowsy

If you are very sleepy, nap first or get another way home.

The times follow sleep medicine guidance and simple rules, but every rota and household is different.

For most people, soon after getting home, in a dark, quiet, cool room. The calculator adds your commute and wind-down time.

The same 7 to 9 hours in 24 hours as other adults, from one main sleep or a main sleep plus a nap.

Yes. A planned nap before or during a night shift improves alertness. A 20 to 30 minute nap avoids grogginess.

At least 6 hours before you plan to sleep. For a bedtime of 8:15 AM, that is about 2:15 AM.

Count back from the time you need to wake, allowing an hour to get ready, and go to bed early enough for your full sleep.

Take a recovery sleep after the shift, then try to go to bed at a normal time that night to reset.

Split your sleep into a main sleep after the shift and a longer nap before the next one.

Ongoing trouble sleeping or heavy sleepiness because of a work schedule, usually for a month or more. A sleep doctor can help.

• FAA: Flightcrew member rest requirements, 14 CFR 117.25 (eCFR) (10 consecutive hours rest, 8 h sleep opportunity)
• AASM practice parameters for circadian rhythm sleep disorders (planned naps, light, caffeine for night workers)
• AASM Sleep Education: Shift work disorder (symptoms and risks)
• Drake et al. Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before going to bed (2013) (6-hour caffeine cut-off)
• Sleep Health Foundation: Healthy sleep practices for shift workers (short morning sleep and earlier bedtime before days off, daylight, naps, 7 to 9 hours)