Thursday, September 22, 2016

First rule of survival when waking for an overnight shift


I'm a morning person when I don't have to be, like on weekends. I'm usually up before anyone I know. Of course, I work from midnight to 8am five days a week, so waking up at 4am on a Saturday is actually sleeping in. Like, a lot.

I'm often asked what my routine is like, because my hours are so backwards. I always tell people that I have to be super strict about bedtime. I discipline myself to crawl into bed sometime between 1pm and 2pm, whether I'm sleepy or not. Sure there are plenty of days when nature takes over, and I couldn't find sleep if it walked up and slapped me. Those days suck, so sometimes I slightly supplement the routine. I'm not talking Valley of the Dolls here, just a Tylenol Simply Sleep tablet to take the edge off.

It's on those days that I'm most grateful for the most important part of my regimen: the prep work.

First rule of survival: if it can be done before bed, do it.

Before bed every night (day), I make sure I have to do minimal thinking the next day (night). I prep the coffee pot (3 tablespoons of Dunkin' Donuts medium roast-- it's not very strong, but I love it), and set out my coffee mug, spoon and three pink packets. Aspartame is my friend. Timer set for 11pm so the joe's waiting on me, not the other way around.



My favorite coffee mug from Starbucks

Next, it's breakfast. The pan goes on the stove with my little spatula for scrambled eggs, along with a bowl and fork with which to do said scrambling. Protein.

Love my tiny Calphalon pan- perfect for two scrambled eggs
Other side of the stove, my plate, a fork and knife, and the toaster all stand ready for my two slices of wheat toast. Can't have eggs without the toast. I'm nothing if not a believer in using food as a vessel for more food.

Flashy red toaster! 

Can't beat the wheat!
Salt and pepper to taste and I'm ready to close the kitchen for the night. When I wake up for work, I don't have to do any thinking. It's all on autopilot.



It also helps to pick out what I'm going to wear in advance, cutting down on the amount of time I stand in the closet staring at rack full of clothes, deciding there's nothing to wear. I'm a jeans girl (duh!) so that decision is already made.

I'm also a jewelry junkie, but tend to stick with the same simple pieces every day. I don't feel complete without a watch, necklace, earrings and at least two rings!

Baubles!
When everything is clicking, I'm up by 10:50pm, fed, showered, dressed and out the door by 11:45pm. 

It's a living!

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