The 3am circle saved my winter

Something that helped was writing the day of the week on the box, because on a run of nights I genuinely lose track.

The fridge at work is not somewhere I trust, so mine never leaves the house, and that decision has removed a recurring worry.

Thank you. Genuinely.

The thing I would say to a new shift worker is: pick your anchor day and protect it. Everything else can be flexible.

Ossian has already said most of this and I want to add the one part that was different for me.

What surprised me was that my energy on shift improved noticeably at about month five, and that has been the durable benefit.

I have found the guides here more usable than most because they do not assume a nine-to-five, which is rarer than it should be.

My storage question was the one I asked here first, and I got a practical answer within an hour from somebody on a similar rota.

I do mine straight after my last night, before sleeping, and that has been the most consistent slot I have found in four years.

Coming back to say the anchor day held through two rota changes and a ward move, which is more than most of my habits have managed.

Huw — yes, and the bit that took me longest to accept was the next part.

My week has no shape and everything written about this assumes one. Anchoring to a fixed day rather than a fixed time was what finally worked.

Recognition rather than advice, if that is any use at all.

I do mine on the same weekday regardless of what shift I am on, and I gave up on the time of day entirely about a year ago.