Tonight's 3 steps without a card · Full plan with the 7-day trial (card required)
Tonight's Sleep Plan for Night Shift Workers
Tonight's plan is three numbers.
Working nights and sleeping like it's luck? It's not luck. It's when caffeine stops, when you sleep, and when light stays off your eyes — all set by your shift times. Enter your shift below and get tonight's 3 steps, calculated for the shift you are actually working tonight.
By Symone G. · Updated November 2, 2026
In short
- Step 1 — caffeine cutoff: 8 hours before your planned sleep. That is ShiftSync's planning rule, and the cutoff moves when your shift moves.
- Step 2 — sleep window: it starts 2 hours after your shift ends (the wind-down is built in) and runs 7 hours. Shifts of 20 hours or more get a 4-hour anchor block instead.
- Step 3 — light blocking: it starts when your shift ends. Day sleepers block the morning sun on the drive home; night sleepers wear blue-blockers through the wind-down.
- Tonight's 3 steps are free, without a card and without an account. The full week — every shift in your rotation, the 72-hour fatigue forecast, saved schedules, and calendar export — comes with the 7-day trial (card required), then $9.99/month or $79/year.
How do I get tonight's plan?
Enter your shift start and end times in the calculator above and pick your role. Tonight's 3 steps — caffeine cutoff, sleep window, and light-blocking time — appear on this page immediately, without a card and without an account. If you want them in your inbox instead, the result panel has an “Email me tonight's plan” option.
The same calculator lives on the main calculator page, with preset pages for nurses, EMS, and other night-shift roles.
What are tonight's 3 steps, exactly?
One: stop caffeine 8 hours before your planned sleep. Two: sleep in a protected window that starts 2 hours after your shift ends and runs 7 hours (blackout curtains, phone on silent). Three: block light from the moment your shift ends — sunglasses on the drive home if you sleep during the day.
Worked example, 7 PM–7 AM: caffeine stops at 1:00 AM, you sleep 9:00 AM–4:00 PM, and the sunglasses go on for the drive home at 7:00 AM. The caffeine cutoff calculator explains the 8-hour rule on its own, and anchor sleep covers the technique behind the shorter block used on 24-hour shifts.
What does the full planner add?
Tonight, handled. The full planner covers the rest of your rotation: every shift in your week planned the same way, a 72-hour fatigue forecast, saved schedules that carry from device to device, and calendar export. It unlocks with the 7-day trial (card required) — cancel before day 7 ends and pay nothing; after the trial, Plus is $9.99/month or $79/year.
That split is deliberate: tonight's 3 steps are free so you can watch the math work on your real shift before a card is ever involved. The week is the product.
Quick answers
Is tonight's plan really free?
Yes. Tonight's 3 steps — your caffeine cutoff, your sleep window, and your light-blocking time — are computed from the shift you enter and shown on this page without a card and without an account. What is not free is the rest of the week: the full rotation, the 72-hour fatigue forecast, saved schedules, and calendar export unlock with the 7-day trial (card required).
How is the caffeine cutoff calculated?
The cutoff is set 8 hours before your planned sleep — ShiftSync's planning rule, stated the same way on the calculator pages. The engine first builds your sleep window from your shift times (shift end, plus a 2-hour wind-down, plus a 7-hour sleep block), then counts back 8 hours. Caffeine's half-life is about 5–6 hours (NIOSH); the 8-hour rule adds margin because day sleep is lighter.
What sleep window do I get on a 7 PM–7 AM shift?
Sleep 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The shift ends at 7:00 AM, the 2-hour wind-down takes you to 9:00 AM, and the 7-hour block runs to 4:00 PM. Your caffeine cutoff is 1:00 AM — 8 hours before the window starts — and light blocking means sunglasses on the drive home, because morning sun tells your body it is daytime.
Does it work for rotating shifts and 24-hour shifts?
Yes. Enter any shift — nights, days, rotating patterns, or 24s — and the 3 steps are computed from those times. For shifts of 20 hours or more, the plan swaps the 7-hour block for a 4-hour anchor sleep block plus nap guidance, the same anchor technique the planner uses for EMS and fire schedules.
Will tonight's plan tell me when to take melatonin?
No. Melatonin timing is not part of tonight's 3 steps, and ShiftSync does not give supplement advice. If you and your clinician choose to use melatonin, the full plan can show a melatonin timing window — but that conversation belongs with a clinician, not a calculator.
What does the full planner cost after the trial?
The 7-day trial needs a card, and your card is charged on day 7 when the trial ends — cancel before day 7 ends and you pay nothing. After the trial, Plus is $9.99/month or $79/year (the yearly plan is selected by default; you can switch anytime before day 7 ends). Cancel anytime from Profile, then Subscription, then Manage or cancel.
You have tonight. Get the full week.
Your rotating week, the 72-hour fatigue forecast, saved schedules, and calendar export — planned from the same engine that just ran your night.
Unlock my full week7-day trial (card required) — your card is charged on day 7 when the trial ends. Cancel before day 7 ends and pay nothing.
Keep reading: how to sleep after a night shift, switching from nights to days, rotating shift sleep schedules.
ShiftSync gives general sleep-planning guidance. It is not medical advice and does not assess fitness for duty. Follow your employer's fatigue policies and talk to a clinician about sleep problems or supplements like melatonin.