Five Apps to Get You Through the Night Shift

Twelve hours of work can sometimes stretch on and on, especially if you’re working a particularly quiet night shift as a travel nurse. While no technology can make you less sleep-deprived, pulling out your smartphone or tablet when you have a break can help brighten your mood. Here are five fun apps to help you get through the night shift.

Dubsmash

If you hit karaoke bars on your nights off (or even sing in the shower), you’ll love the Dubsmash app. It allows you to upload videos of yourself with different quotes or sounds dubbed over them. Your coworkers will probably want in on the action, though, so play with this app in an empty break room if you don’t want five other nurses to join in. If you do want to be social, you can share it with friends through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram as well.

Colorfy

Detailed coloring books for adults are a popular way to relieve stress. Rather than lugging colored pencils, markers and a coloring book to work, download the Colorfy app. You choose your design and then tap sections of the image to add different colors. Once you’re done, you can save the image to your phone or share it with friends.

QuizUp

Test your knowledge of practically everything (history, fashion, Disney movies, geology, literature, to name a few) by taking quizzes and competing against friends and family, along with people throughout the world. You earn points for answering questions correctly faster than your opponent and earn badges and awards for increasing your knowledge. And it’s always fun to challenge a friend to a quiz and rub your victory in their face (tactfully, of course).

WordBrain

While this game isn’t exactly relaxing if you’re taking a break from a hectic workday, it’s addictive and helps you use a different part of your mind. WordBrain levels each have a set number of letters, which you have to connect to form multiple words. The catch? The letters have to touch each other, either diagonally, vertically or horizontally. Levels get progressively harder, and you earn “hints” to help you as you complete them.

Duolingo

Think you don’t have time to learn another language? Duolingo makes it easy, fast and fun to become fluent in Spanish, French or 14 other languages, no matter how little time you have. Lessons are broken into categories, such as numbers, nature, prepositions and time, so you can complete a section in a matter of minutes. If you miss a question, you lose a “life,” which makes learning more like a game — and highly addictive.

These five apps can help those long shifts at your travel nursing jobs go by more quickly. Did we miss your favorites? Which apps get you through a never-ending night?