You are correct - unless managed very carefully the low cost short haul roster will progressively burn you out. A lot of our guys are using increasing amounts of caffine / Red Bull etc to keep alert... but this only goes so far.
There are many aspects to the but the single biggest factor is quality sleep hygine. I don't know of any LCC that allows sleeping on the flight deck (the cabin crew are far too busy selling to keep the waking crew member aroused).
Quality rest at home is the solution... we are all different but here are some of my trail and error findings :-
-Don't use melatonin- addictive and lots of anecdotal evidence of adverse side effects.
-Find a way of avoiding sleep interruptions... I'm a very light sleeper and struggled with this until I found a sleep mask / ear defender combination that puts everything else in the shade. The one for sale on ebay.co.uk (item no 221058385799) has ear plugs that on their own reduce noise by 39dB (significantly better than the US version). The ear pads probably double that and light is eliminated completely. Reusable I'm on my third is two years!
- As you get older getting up to go to the loo can really screw up your quality deep sleep. Prostabeta max makes a massive difference to this.
-Get into early mode at least two days before... staying on your late pattern until the night before earlies can't work (which means I should be in bed now)...so
- Last one don't do anything mentally demanding / stressfull on your last day off. Your partner needs to understand that our single most important responsibility is to report for work well rested.