Did you ever work shift work? If so, how did you cope with it?

I used to do shift work long ago. I coped by "splitting the difference" which was basically finding a sleep schedule which was horrible for both but guaranteed I got a solid 4~ hours regardless of which shift I was on, and then I would just shift up or down a couple hours.

Setup your sleep space. Do some research and you can get plenty of ideas like black out curtains, white noise, and even yoga before bed. It'd tough but the human body can adapt.

I worked 2 days, 2 swings, 2 mids, every 10 days for years. It has it's advantages and it's drawbacks with suicide rates fairly high but nothing is as bad as the MARINES and Army soldiers who fight and do Bivouacs and Major Maneuvers. In spite of some of the drawbacks I had it made. We even worked in the Command Post during chemical warfare attacks.