Getting the Proper Sleep to Drive Nights

Since Day 1 out with my trainer, I always struggled with driving nights.

It only took 7 1/2 years, but I have finally discovered what works for me. It may or may not work for you.

I wasted a ton of time and money trying to black out my bedroom windows, the door jambs and below the bedroom door but to no avail. Light still came around the edges and filtered through. I'd be lucky to get 4-5.5 hours of sleep every day, then I'd have to drive a grueling 10.5 hrs for my run and I'd always be so exhausted.

Things changed when I discovered the MZOO Sleep Mask
https://www.amazon.com/Contoured-Sleeping-Blindfold-Concave-Meditation/dp/B07KC5DWCC

This ultra comfortable mask blacks out everything in front of my eyes and I see NO LIGHT. I also take a melatonin sleep supplement of 1.5 mg about 30-45 minutes before bed time (3 mg made me groggy all night, so I bought a pill splitter and cut them in half and 1.5 mg seems to do the trick). I also take 2-4 tablets of Advil PM. I get my needed 7.5 hrs - 8 hrs of sleep on a daily basis.

Lay down and turn the phone off (mine is put on do not disturb mode from bed time to wake up time), put your mask on. (If you have a noisy outside environment, ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones might be necessary.

Transitioning from a day run to a night run sucked. The entire weekend of the switch was brutal. Saturday night was rough, Sunday night was the worst. By the time it got to Monday for the time I go to bed, I was so dog tired and exhausted, I fell right asleep with my mask, and had taken my melatonin and my Advil PM. I slept all the way through to my alarm and I woke up feeling refreshed and energized.

The first week of night driving wasn't bad. It wasn't rough, but at the last 30 miles of my run I was yawning. The drive home I felt tired. Once I got home, I was nearly a zombie and I went to bed about 30-45 minutes early.

Week 2, my body had adjusted perfectly and I no longer get tired on the way back to the yard and I have the energy to do a few things when I get home for the 2 hours of free time I have. Mow the grass, clean the house, change the oil or whatever.

Looking forward to Week 3 and seeing how that goes.

The hardest part for me is to keep my weekend schedule the same as my work schedule. You miss out on doing a lot of stuff or you suck it up and learn to take your 30 minute power naps, go have fun, and still get your work sleep schedule on track for Monday night. It's also difficult to stay busy at home in the wee hours of the night. You're pretty limited to what you can and can't do outside and in the garage due to neighbors and noise ordinances (if you live on land in the country well it's not so bad).

I understand melatonin won't work for some. Try a herbal supplement called Deep Sleep (look on Amazon. fairly expensive but it does work for many).

Breathing exercises will help as well. I trained myself to take a 30 minute nap for my break several years ago. I'd go in the sleeper and make it slightly stuffy in winter time but not overbearingly hot, (turned the a/c on in summer time) crawl under a blanket and start taking deep, deliberate, slow breaths with my eyes closed and slowly count to 30 or 40. A minute or two later, I was out like a light. When my 30 was up, I woke up and felt refreshed and ready to drive.

If you have any tips for sleeping during the day and driving nights, leave a reply below.