You come home after working all night. Your body is exhausted; physically tired, mentally drained, ready for rest. You get into bed while the sun is rising, close your eyes, and wait for sleep to come.

And wait. And wait!

Meanwhile, you can hear your neighbors starting their day; cars starting, lawn mowers running, people talking. Every sound feels amplified. Even though your blackout curtains are closed, you can sense the daylight pressing in. Your body feels tired, but you’re somehow also alert. After an hour of tossing and turning, you realize with frustration: “I can’t sleep after night shift. Again.”

If this is your reality, you’re not alone, and you’re definitely not imagining it. Working nights is one of the most challenging things you can ask your body to do, and if you can’t sleep during the day when working nights, there are specific biological reasons why and specific strategies that can help.

Read more: The Night Shift Worker’s Guide to Quality Sleep Against the Odds

Why Is Sleeping During the Day So Hard?

Your body has an internal clock called your circadian rhythm that’s evolved over millions of years to be awake during daylight and asleep during darkness. This rhythm controls not just sleep and wakefulness, but also body temperature, hormone release, digestion, and alertness levels.

When you work nights, you’re essentially asking your body to ignore this deeply ingrained biological programming. It’s not just about being tired, you’re fighting against your brain’s fundamental understanding of when it should be alert and when it should be asleep.

Here’s what makes daytime sleep particularly challenging:

Light is a powerful wake signal: Even small amounts of light can suppress melatonin (your sleep hormone) and activate cortisol (your alertness hormone). When you’re trying to sleep during daylight hours, your brain receives constant signals that it’s time to be awake.

Your body temperature is wrong: Core body temperature drops at night to facilitate sleep and rises during the day to support wakefulness. When you’re trying to sleep during the day, your temperature is naturally rising, which works against sleep.

The world is noisy: Daytime brings traffic, construction, deliveries, neighbors, all the sounds of a world that’s awake while you’re trying to rest.

Social factors disrupt your schedule: Family obligations, appointments, social events; they all happen during the day, making it harder to maintain a consistent sleep schedule even on your days off.

Common Mistakes That Make It Worse

I worked with James, an ER nurse working 12-hour night shifts. “I’m so tired when I get home,” he told me, “but I can’t fall asleep. I lay there for two hours feeling exhausted but wide awake. When I finally do sleep, it’s light and broken. I woke up feeling terrible.”

When we examined his routine, several patterns were sabotaging his sleep:

Mistake #1: Exposing himself to bright morning light on the way home: He drove home as the sun was rising, getting 30-45 minutes of direct sunlight exposure. This was essentially resetting his circadian rhythm to be awake during the day.

Mistake #2: Eating a big meal right before bed: His body was trying to digest food during what should be sleep time, raising his core temperature and energy when he needed them to drop.

Mistake #3: Keeping his room too warm:  He kept his bedroom at 72°F, which is too warm for optimal sleep regardless of when you’re sleeping.

Mistake #4: Inconsistent sleep schedule on days off: On his days off, he’d flip back to a regular schedule to spend time with family, meaning his body never fully adjusted to either schedule.

These mistakes are incredibly common among night shift workers and fortunately, each one can be addressed.

5 Strategies to Actually Sleep After Night Shifts

1. Block Light Aggressively (Especially on Your Commute)

Light exposure at the wrong time is likely the biggest factor preventing good daytime sleep. You need to treat light management as seriously as you’d treat safety equipment at work.

On your commute home:

• Wear wraparound sunglasses (even if it’s cloudy)
• If possible, avoid east-facing windows in your car
• Consider driving a route that has less direct sunlight exposure

In your bedroom:

• Install blackout curtains that seal completely at the edges
• Cover any electronic lights (even small LED lights from chargers or alarm clocks)
• Put a towel at the bottom of the door to block hallway light
• Consider using a sleep mask as an additional layer

2. Create Temperature Conditions That Support Sleep

Your body needs to drop its core temperature to fall and stay asleep. Working nights means you’re trying to sleep when your body temperature is naturally rising, so you need to actively work against this.

Cool your bedroom to 60-67°F: This might feel cold initially, but it’s essential for sleep quality. Use extra blankets if you get cold during sleep, the key is that your core temperature can drop while you stay comfortable.

Take a warm shower before bed: Counter-intuitively, a warm shower helps you sleep. When you step out into cooler air, your body temperature drops rapidly, which signals to your brain that it’s time for sleep.

3. Manage Light Exposure Strategically Throughout Your Shift

How you handle light during your night shift affects how well you’ll sleep afterward.

During your shift:

• Get as much bright light exposure as possible, especially in the first half of your shift
• This helps shift your circadian rhythm to recognize nighttime as wake time

In the last 2-3 hours of your shift:

• Dim lights if possible, or wear blue-light-blocking glasses
• Avoid looking at bright screens without protection
• This helps your body start preparing for sleep before you even leave work

The principle: You’re using light strategically to shift your rhythm, not randomly exposing yourself at times that confuse your body’s clock.

4. Time Your Meals and Caffeine Carefully

What and when you eat affects your body temperature, digestion, and alertness, all of which impact sleep.

Avoid eating a large meal in the 2 hours before sleep: Have your main meal mid-shift, not at the end. If you’re hungry before bed, eat something light and easily digestible.

Stop caffeine 4-6 hours before your intended sleep time: If you usually sleep at 8 AM, your last coffee should be around 2-4 AM. Caffeine has a half-life of 5-6 hours, meaning it stays in your system longer than most people realize.

5. Consider Melatonin Timing (with caution)

Some night shift workers find melatonin helpful, but timing is everything and it’s not right for everyone.

If you choose to use melatonin:

• Take 0.5-3 mg about 30 minutes before you want to sleep
• Use it consistently, not just occasionally
• Understand that melatonin is a circadian signal, not a sedative; it tells your body it’s time for sleep but doesn’t force sleep

While some find melatonin helpful for jet lag and sleep quality, evidence remains mixed for night-shift workers.

The Consistency Challenge (And Why It Matters)

Here’s the hardest truth about working night shifts: your sleep will likely never be as good as someone on a regular schedule, especially if you flip back and forth between day and night schedules on your days off.

The best sleep outcomes for night shift workers happen when they maintain their night schedule even on days off but this often conflicts with family, social life, and personal preferences. There’s no perfect solution here, only trade-offs you get to choose based on your priorities.

If you do flip schedules on days off:

• Give yourself at least 2 days to adjust in each direction
• Use light and darkness strategically to speed the transition
• Be patient with yourself during adjustment days; your sleep efficiency will temporarily drop

James’s (an Insomnia patient) Transformation

After implementing these strategies, James reported: “I’m not going to pretend daytime sleep is perfect now, it’s not. But I am actually falling asleep within 30 minutes instead of 2 hours. I wear sunglasses on the drive home, my bedroom is like a cave, and I stopped eating breakfast right before bed. I am sleeping in 5-6 hour blocks instead of broken 3-hour chunks. It’s made a huge difference.”

His experience is typical: night shift sleep will probably never match the quality of nighttime sleep, but it can improve dramatically with the right strategies.

You’re Working Against Biology (and That’s Hard!)

Night shift work is genuinely difficult, and if you’re struggling to sleep during the day, it’s not because you’re doing something wrong, it’s because you’re asking your body to do something it wasn’t designed for.

The strategies above won’t make daytime sleep effortless, but they can make it substantially better by working with your biology as much as possible rather than expecting your body to simply ignore millions of years of evolution.

If you’ve tried these approaches and still struggle significantly, it may be worth talking with your employer about schedule adjustments (fewer consecutive night shifts, slower rotation schedules) or considering whether long-term night shift work is sustainable for your health.

Some people adapt to night shifts better than others, there’s genetic variation in circadian flexibility. If you’re someone who simply can’t adjust despite trying everything, that’s valid information about your body, not a personal failure.

Ready to transform your relationship with sleep? Learn more about our 6-week science-backed Gently to Sleep online sleep coaching program and take the first step toward restful nights and energized days.

Contact us to schedule a free sleep consultation with Tony Ho, Founder Quadra Wellness.