How to get a week off when you work shifts
Updated October 13, 2026 · with an example to try
List your shifts on the days you want off, then find a swap or giveaway for each that works with the others: no colleague asked twice, the shifts you take back neither clash nor leave too little rest between them, and none falls on a day you want off. Capillary's want-off list picks such a set for you.
Plan a week off
Example · runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent
The sample group's two weeks. Tap the days you want off; your shifts on them are the ones to clear. The planner picks one swap or giveaway for each, so the set works together.
You
An amber outline marks a day you want off.
4 shifts on those days. 3 of 4 can go: 3 swaps.
Mon, Nov 2 day: Ava takes it; you take Ava's Wed, Nov 11 day.
Ava: no shift before it, 36 hours off after. For you, with all the picks: 24 hours off before it, 24 after.
Tue, Nov 3 day: Ben takes it; you take Ben's Mon, Nov 9 night.
Ben: no shift before it, 48 hours off after. For you, with all the picks: no shift before it, 24 hours off after.
Fri, Nov 6 night: Dee takes it; you take Dee's Sun, Nov 15 night.
Dee: no shift before it, 12 hours off after. For you, with all the picks: 36 hours off before it, no shift after it.
Sat, Nov 7 night: No one can swap it or take it outright.
Everyone's two weeks
Ava · won't work nights, picks up extra shifts
Ben · won't work weekends, picks up extra shifts
Cy · works anything
Dee · won't work days
Made-up schedules for two weeks from Monday, November 2, 2026. Each pick checks the shift you take back against the rest of your schedule and the other picks: no clash, at least 11 hours off, and nothing on a day you want off; no colleague is used twice. In this example, swaps come before giveaways so you keep your hours, and three-way swaps aren't tried.
The sample marks the week of November 2. Three of your four shifts can go, each to a different colleague, and the shifts you take back land the next week with enough rest between them. Saturday night can't go one for one or outright. On its own, it has a three-way swap.
Why one swap at a time falls short
Swaps found one shift at a time can collide. The same colleague may be your best bet for two of the shifts, the shifts you take back may land next to each other with too little rest, or one may fall on another day you wanted off. Clearing a week means choosing the swaps together.
The want-off list in Capillary
- In your list of shifts in Find a swap, mark the shifts you want gone and the days you want off, or give the first and last day of a trip and Capillary marks those days and every shift that touches them.
- Find a swap never offers you a shift on a day you want off.
- Find swaps for all of them picks one swap or giveaway per shift so that the set works together: no colleague twice, and the shifts you take in return don't clash with each other or leave too little rest between them.
- Each pick has Send a swap request, so every colleague gets a link to answer (swap requests).
- When every small swap for a shift clashes with the others, Capillary looks again for that shift at bigger swaps and longer lines of colleagues, leaving out the people and times the other swaps use.
- Send all the swap requests at once, then text each colleague their link.
- Shifts with no option that fits the rest are listed with why. A swap alert can watch them.
Steps
- 1
Mark the days, not only the shifts
A day you want off keeps you from taking a shift back on it, which a list of shifts alone doesn't.
- 2
Ask early
A no leaves time to ask someone else. Ask the colleagues for all the shifts at once, since each swap stands on its own.
- 3
Start with the hardest shift
Weekend nights have the fewest swaps. If one can't go, the rest of the week may not be worth clearing.
Common questions
- Will I work more the week after?
- With swaps, often yes: each swap gives you one of the colleague's shifts back, and the planner keeps them off the days you marked. A giveaway doesn't, but you work fewer shifts that month.
- Should I ask my scheduler instead?
- Before the schedule is made, yes: ask for the days off. Once it's published, swaps and giveaways are how a week opens up.
Find swaps in your own group's schedule.
Find a swap is free for clinicians. Bring in your group's schedule from its calendar link, and Capillary checks every swap for overlaps and rest for both people, puts the colleagues most likely to say yes first, and finds three-way swaps, and bigger ones where smaller swaps run short. Your copy is yours: no one in your department or hospital sees it (who can see what).