Yes. I tested this on myself (n=1), and I am convinced that it's super bad for you. I had a graveyard shift job for a while in college, which alternated with

Yes. I tested this on myself (n=1), and I am convinced that it's super bad for you. I had a graveyard shift job for a while in college, which alternated with swing shifts from 3pm till midnight a day or two each week, so I was not allowed to have a consistent sleep cycle. I taped aluminum foil over my bedroom windows and wore earplugs so I could sleep at any hour. I lived at a high latitude, about 60, in a city that received about 100 inches of rain per year. During that winter I literally did not see the sun for several months. On many days I would try desperately to get out of bed before the sun sunk behind the mountains in the early afternoon, but I was constantly sleep deprived and I lacked the willpower. Every afternoon was a bitter disappointment when I slept through sunset, and in the morning between a graveyard shift that ended at 7am or later, and a swing that started at 3pm, insomnia would segue into panic as I watched the clock tick past 10 and 11 am, and thought of my next shift starting in 4 hours. At that point I would be reduced to drinking and/or "borrowing" some pills from a friend, setting three alarm clocks, and showing up with a hangover, which was bad for productivity, but less debilitating then no sleep at all. It was generally understood that graveyard shift guys got a little more slack about being late now and then, but calling in "sick" for a whole shift was not tolerated. My boss kept telling me that he would put me on full time graveyard, and stop making me cover day shifts (and also take me off the “training wage”) any day now, but the day never came. I gained 20 pounds in 9 mounts. I became profoundly addicted to nicotine patches because I didn't have time to smoke, and didn't have the willpower or lifestyle health to quit. But the most pernicious effects were on my judgment, mood, and executive abilities. It's almost impossible to create and execute long term plans when you are exhausted all the time, can't think clearly and all of the will power you can muster is devoted to not over-sleeping through your obligations. I was a full time student at the beginning of this, with the intention of completing a CS degree but I had trouble focusing on the work. As I write this now, it sounds melodramatic, but I thought at the time that it wasn't a big deal and I just needed to “tough it out” to work my way through college. In retrospect, I can see that routine insomnia and panic are not normal, that I made all kinds of bizarrely bad decisions that I only noticed later, and did a shitty job at school. It was only possible to sustain that lifestyle because I lived with my parents, who took care of all the household responsibilities while I was at work or school or sleeping through alarms, and because I mortgaged my health. Finally, when it came time to register for a fall semester my boss put off a conversation about scheduling for so long that I registered for a full load of day classes without his permission rather than miss the registration deadline. I showed him my schedule and told him that if he couldn't accommodate it and also stop putting me on graveyard shifts, I would have to look for work somewhere else. He relented, rather than fire me. After that, I quit nicotine, started running, lost 30 pounds, and started spending more time outside. It almost seemed easy once I was sleeping 8 hours every night (Ok, except for quitting nicotine). I also started noticing all the bad decisions I had made once I could think clearly enough not to put off hard problems. I think if I had been 53 instead of 23 it might have actually killed me. Just don't do it. If you do it anyway, please be realistic by discounting your wage against harm to your health and judgment, and to your future earnings. For example, I set back my college career by doing this. Insist on a consistent schedule, and don't be afraid to threaten to quit to get it. It doesn't need to be a bluff because the opportunity cost of not sleeping is so high; your net wealth will probably increase either way in the long run, even if you do get fired. Also I think the harm can be partly remediated with a gym membership. If you can't exercise outside during daylight, this is far better then nothing. Sleep deprivation is shown to cause weight gain and to have a detrimental effect on mood, so exercise is a good way to partially compensate, but it's sort of a chicken and egg kind of problem because adequate sleep and a consistent sleep rhythm are prerequisites to exercise, at least for me. I tried to do it without those preconditions, but I lacked the willpower to consistently exercise while exhausted. Ultimately, I would not consider night shifts again unless I were guaranteed 1) a near term end date, 2) a consistent schedule, and 3) a VERY large wage premium that served a life changing goal.