Preparing for the Night Shift
How do you get more energy when you work the night shift? How do you prepare for the night shift and recover from sleep-deprivation? Learn everything you need to know about preparing for the night shift in this virtual chat. Featuring Sleep and Fatigue Specialist Clinton Marquardt and Caffeine Scientist and Author GreenEyedGuide.
Topics:
- Inexpensive Fatigue Prevention tips – How to get a better night sleep when you work night shift
- The 5S of Caffeine – How to get MORE energy with LESS caffeine
- Other Fatigue Countermeasures – What can you do when you’re tired at work?
Ready? Let’s go!

New to this blog? Hi there! I'm Caffeine Scientist, Author, and Speaker GreenEyedGuide.
I earned my degrees in food science and biochemistry. I use my science background to help people like me – people who depend on caffeine to get them through the day. I’ve juggled multiple jobs while going to school full-time. I’ve worked the night shift in a bar. And I’ve endured the sleep-deprivation that comes with being a new parent.
Whether it’s your work, your kids, or your midterms stealing your sleep, I can help.
For over 10 years, I’ve been a resource – a GUIDE – for those who want realistic, science-based answers to their questions about caffeine and energy drinks. That’s why I wrote the books, “Are You a Monster or a Rock Star: A Guide to Energy Drinks” and “How to Get Sh*t Done When You Feel Like Sh*t”.
But enough about me, let’s get to the good stuff!
Related Reading: Best Energy Boosting Drinks for Night Shift
Preparing for the Night Shift: Fatigue Prevention and Countermeasures
Time Stamp – Click the link to open to this exact moment on YouTube, or use it as a guide to manually skip ahead in the embedded video, above.Â
- 6:06 How NOT to drink caffeine
- 8:07 Defining Prevention versus Countermeasures
- 9:53 How to PREPARE for Night Shift
- 12:05 Fatigue PREVENTION and Strategically Timing your Caffeine
- 16:45 Should you take Melatonin?
- 23:00 Other INEXPENSIVE Fatigue Prevention Tips
- 27:15 Fatigue Countermeasures – So you’re tired at work, NOW WHAT?
- 28:00 5Ss of Caffeine – SIP
- 29:00 The Proven Power of the Placebo Effect
- 30:00 5S of Caffeine – SWITCH, plus Caffeine Dosing Recommendations
- 32:30 Do the other ingredients in energy drinks actually do anything?
- 35:00 Coffee vs Energy Drinks and Caffeine Content
- 36:50 How to drink caffeine DURING your night shift
- 38:45 Should you have caffeine right before you drive home?
- 39:30 Napping on the job and 5S of Caffeine – STOP
- 41:00 5S of Caffeine – SLEEP, plus Sleep Inertia 101
- 49:00 When NOT to have caffeine, 5S of Caffeine – SKIP
- 51:42 The 5S of Caffeine, RECAP
- 52:00 SUMMARY of Fatigue Prevention Strategies

Thank You to My Co-Host

Clinton Marquardt
Changing minds about sleep & fatigue one night at a time.
As one of Canada’s top Sleep & Fatigue Specialists, Clinton takes the latest in fatigue science and turns it into practical, implementable solutions that reduce the risk of fatigue and propel the health, safety and productivity of your 24/7 workforce towards excellence.
Clinton is the only Sleep & Fatigue Specialist qualified by the Superior Court of Canada to serve as an expert witness and he lends his expertise to provincial and federal accident investigations. Clinton modernized the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s approach to understanding the influence of fatigue on human performance, accidents and incidents and he wrote the TSB’s Guide to Investigating Sleep-Related Fatigue.

- Having coffee first thing in the morning makes it LESS effective because of hormonal changes?
- Drinking caffeine immediately before a nap can reduce mental haze upon waking?
- Smaller doses of caffeine led to FEWER mistakes among sleep-deprived truck drivers in a simulation?