The calculator on the homepage handles the maths of your rota. These guides cover what living with the rota actually looks like — sleep, food, fatigue, family life, and the NHS-specific shape that doesn't fit any textbook. Each guide is source-backed (NHS, HSE, BMA, primary research) and written for the person on the shift, not for HR.
We are not doctors, lawyers, or dietitians. The guides flag where you should speak to a professional, and link to the right NHS or regulatory route.
Shift Work and Sleep
What's actually happening when you try to sleep after nights, what helps, and what to do if you're stuck. NHS- and HSE-referenced.
Read guide →Eating on Rotating Shifts
What to eat before, during, and after nights. How to manage weight and energy without joining the vending-machine ambush at 04:00.
Read guide →Managing Family Life on Shift Work
Strategies for partners, parents, and carers when your week isn't Monday-to-Friday. The shared calendar that saves arguments.
Read guide →Fatigue, Safety and Shift Work
What HSE guidance says about shift-work fatigue, the legal duties on your employer, your rights as a worker, and warning signs to take seriously.
Read guide →NHS Rota Patterns Explained
Long days, twilights, internal rotation, e-rostering, and the patterns specific NHS roles actually use. UK-specific.
Read guide →Which Shift Pattern Is Right for Me?
Head-to-head comparison of every common shift pattern on sleep, weekends, recovery, family, and income.
Read guide →Use your rota to plan
Whatever you take from the guides, the practical step is laying out your year so you can see it. Generate your 12-month colour-coded shift calendar at the MyShiftCalendar tool and pair it with the guidance above.
If you don't know which pattern matches your rota, browse the pattern index or use the custom builder.