Sleep schedule for restaurant servers on closing shifts
By the My Circadian Health editorial team. Reviewed by Brandon Korenek, Founder.
If you work closing shifts (5 PM – 2 AM), here is a sample schedule built around one main sleep window on work days and an overlapping window on days off. Late closes followed by an early brunch shift are the hardest turnaround, so avoid back-to-back close and open shifts where you can.
- Shift
- 5 PM – 2 AM
- Sleep on work days
- 3:30 AM – 11 AM
- Sleep on days off
- 2 AM – 10 AM
Why this schedule works
Your schedule is late or early but not upside down, so the goal is consistency. Keeping your days-off sleep within an hour or two of your work-day sleep avoids the Monday-morning jet lag that comes from swinging between two schedules.
Tips that make it easier
- Make your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool: blackout curtains, earplugs or white noise, and your phone on do not disturb.
- Keep caffeine to the first half of your shift so it has worn off by the time you sleep.
- Tell the people you live with when you sleep, and treat that window like a work shift.
When it’s more than scheduling
If you still can’t sleep during your sleep window, or feel very sleepy at work even with a steady schedule, you may have shift work disorder. It is common and treatable, and worth raising with a clinician.
This is general information, not medical advice. The times are examples; shift them to fit your commute and household.