h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Although the first day of the shift was always the hardest, I found shifting my start of day to a few hours before the start of the shift the way to go.

It also meant that instead of being in bed all day then spending the evening socialising, but having to leave just when things were getting interesting, I could spend the day getting things done ('cos the shops and places to pay bills were open, but quiet), then slide off to bed when most people were coming home from work, and be bright as a lark for the start of shift.

The only problem was the social life (or total lack of it, except when you had friends who also worked shifts).

Even now (20 years on) I still get hungry if I'm awake at 3AM (night-shift lunch time).