Morning Shifts. I hate them.

People always tell me how good morning shifts are. Usually the statements I hear are 'you can get so much done!' or 'you finish earlier and have more spare time'.

Maybe this is true if you're a morning person, or a robot, but not for me. If I have to get up before 8am then I need a nap during the day. And that makes me less productive. If I skip the nap then I spend the remainder of my day moping around, drinking coffee and mumbling incoherent sentences about feeling dead inside.


I'm not sure what it is exactly but when I have to do morning shifts my brain has a meltdown. At first it convinces me everything is fine but then as the shift draws nearer things take a turn for the worst. The best way to illustrate it is a timeline of my thoughts, just like this...

10 hours before shift starts: I should go to bed early tonight.

9 hours before shift starts: I don't need 9 hours sleep, I'll just have lots of coffee.

8 hours before shift starts: 8 hours is a good amount of sleep, I should turn off my computer.

7 hours before shift starts: after this episode I'll go to sleep.

6 hours before shift starts: I'm only going to have 6 hours sleep! Quick sleep now!

5 hours before shift starts: FIVE HOURS SLEEP! STOP THINKING! SLEEP!

4 hours before shift starts: *wakes up* did I sleep through my alarm?

3 hours before shift starts: *wakes up* hope I didn't sleep through my alarm.

2 hours before shift starts: ALARM?

1 hour before shift starts: I am dead inside.