That’d kill me too. Try proper night shifts … start 6 or 7pm, finish maybe 3 or 4am. Not for everyone, but I find it far easier than working days on early starts.
Did that last year…wasn’t for me hence why I tell the agency’s I don’t do nights
I think some people can cope with shifts, some people just aren’t suited to them, just like some people can function perfectly well on 5 hours sleep, other need at least 9.
Personally I don’t work a true night shift, I start work at 6pm and I’m usually home and in bed by 4:30AM. I set my alarm for 11:30AM but rarely sleep until then, usually daylight or the ‘call of nature’ wakes me up at approx 10AM and that’s it, I’m awake then. 5.5 hrs of sleep Mon-Fri is hardly ideal, I usually wake up grumpy and with a fuzzy head and I’m sure it takes me longer to get over colds & illnesses, but it allows me to spend every afternoon with my 3 year old son so it’s a price I’m prepared to pay. I try to get 10hrs sleep on both weekend nights to ‘bank’ some sleep, which helps.
As people have mentioned, earplugs and unplugging the phone are a necessity. The missus and young un’ don’t wake me up when they get up at 8 but I can still hear my alarm go off. It’s harder in the summer when it’s a lot brighter outside, I’ve even tried ridiculous-looking eye masks but they’re more of an irritation than being effective. Even black-out blinds are pretty ineffective at keeping out the summer sunlight in my experience.
what’s sleep?
you can either do nights or not.
found i could do then fine ,
used to have night starts from 10 pm onwards.
latest start we used to get was 4am. but most were 0030 to 2 am
found i could sleep fine. just used to be a bugger finding any thing other then fry ups at services. when all you want is a mid day meal!
i did 18.00 - 06:00 shift five days a week for 5 years till i gave it up last year. Even after 5 years i could not get regular sleep patterns and i was always too tired at the weekend.
Research shows that night shift workers are more liable to have heart attacks and strokes than day workers , its not natural , I was trying to reverse thousands of years of evolution by sleeping in daylight and working at night , much better now i am not trying to defy nature any more 
Silver_Surfer:
I don’t know how people do a week of nights & then a week of days & repeat, now that would F you up.
my old man has spent the last 20 years doing 2 weeks nights then two weeks days at landrover. can usually tell what shift he’s on by the mood he’s in
im not sure i’d like night tbh, just the darkness makes me sleepy.
I have been working shifts for the last 20 years with a mixture of day and night shifts.
I still can’t get used to it.
Rhythm Thief:
I seem to cope quite well with it.
People are either morning people or evening people. My idea of hell would be to go back to getting up at 5 or 6 am and doing a day job.
+1, I can’t stand mornings since I was a child til this day. I can sleep through well (7h+ a day) as long as it’s quiet, my phone goes on silent & the landline doesn’t ring much. I use ear plugs if its noisy but rarely.
fodentanker:
I have been working shifts for the last 20 years with a mixture of day and night shifts.I still can’t get used to it.
Me too mate,i must admit i prefer the nights only 10hours but i really struggle with sleeping it always seems that once the night shift starts the roadworks start up near by or the council cutting the grass with the loudest lawnmowers on the planet ,tree lopping bloody automated phone calls,people knocking on the door to see if i want double glazing or cavity wall insulation and people who think we have got and endless supply of clothes we dont need anymore 
My nightshift pattern is wac 1 night i start 10.30pm next night 2am the next night 00.30am and i get 3 nights off a week just to chuck a big spanner in my sleep pattern. The joys of nights i guess
DUFFMAN:
fodentanker:
I have been working shifts for the last 20 years with a mixture of day and night shifts.I still can’t get used to it.
Me too mate,i must admit i prefer the nights only 10hours but i really struggle with sleeping it always seems that once the night shift starts the roadworks start up near by or the council cutting the grass with the loudest lawnmowers on the planet ,tree lopping bloody automated phone calls,people knocking on the door to see if i want double glazing or cavity wall insulation and people who think we have got and endless supply of clothes we dont need anymore
I do 10 hour nights too, which helps.
Going from nights onto days is always the worst shift, you go from getting 7 hours sleep to next to none at all for the first few day shifts.
Then you feel tired a lot of the time as your body re-adjusts. Then when you have got used to days you’re back onto nights.
When i was in the Navy… seriously, we used to do 8 hours on 8 hours off and repeat. Absolute killer, especially with Harriers landing on the deck (HMS Illustrious) waking you up. But, life in a blue suit as they used to say !!!
I work constant nights, ADR Tankers, and i love it. Couldn’t do days now. Traffic is less, and like tonight i get stand downs on full pay, kerrrching !!!
Rhythm Thief:
I seem to cope quite well with it. In fact, one of the best things about nightshifts is the ability to stay up late on Sunday nights drinking malt whisky and watching motorsports on the computer (in season). I tend to get up around 1pm every Monday, and even then my other half (who works at home) has to wake me up repeatedly.
People are either morning people or evening people. My idea of hell would be to go back to getting up at 5 or 6 am and doing a day job.
I work constent nights.working im fine,its when im off i cant sleep and sit up all night
nearly there:
I work constent nights.working im fine,its when im off i cant sleep and sit up all night
Happens to me too. I’ve got used to it now, and I just live at night instead. I find myself fixing my car by the light of a head torch, or going out for a run at 4am. Then I sleep half the day.