I was always a night owl, even before that job. I LIKED those hours. I’m on first shift now and I MISS those hours.
GENERALLY, I’d get up in time to eat, etc, and go to work
Work
Get out and do things in the middle of the night until it was way too late and I’m seeing the sun come up, oh geez, time for bed
But I could be flexable enough to TRY to get to bed early and get up early to do things needed in the daylight. Mowing, doctors appointments, etc BEFORE work. Now that I’m on first I don’t know how ANYONE sees a doctor, I have to miss a lot of work to do it
When I was psych nursing I used to do little stints of night duty each roster. One guy I worked with taught me the trick that made all future night shifts much better - never go straight home. Go out and do something. Go to the beach and have a swim, go to the early opener pub and have a beer with the wharfies, just do something so that you don’t feel like you are dragging yourself from work to bed, to work. Makes the day seem longer.
The same principle works on weekends. Always try to do something on Sunday night. It makes the weekend feel twice as long. If you sit at home you are practically already at work.
I don’t do that and see no reason to. To go along with your comments about being well-rested and needing 8 hours sleep, I do that and also just stay on the same schedule so I don’t risk going off schedule when the work week starts back up. The only exception for me is sometimes the first day off I sleep longer later, not on a different schedule. Ex, if I normally sleep 6-2 Sun-Weds, on Th. I might stay up a little later like 8-9 but I won’t force myself to wake up at a certain time so I might sleep in well into the evening. I’m not trying to get on a day schedule for one day a week if I can help it. Of course my night schedule is a 10-12 hour warehouse shift that starts earlier than the typical “3rd shift.” So it probably makes a difference that i’m waking up in the afternoon and not night.