How You Can Adapt to Shift Work
Switching from days to nights or swing shift isn’t fun. Shift work can wreak havoc on your body’s daily sleep/wake cycle and hormonal patterns IF YOU LET IT. Some effects are unavoidable, but you can drastically reduce their impact with a few simple practices.
One overriding strategy that will help more than you think – live a generally healthy lifestyle. Eat a diet rich in whole foods, protein, and vegetables. Stay hydrated and limit your alcohol intake. Get regular exercise doing something you enjoy. Maintain and build good relationships and hobbies. This will work wonders for you if one area is lacking. Once you’re working on those things, here are some other tips.
Don’t be a martyr; make your sleep a priority. I know plenty of people who prefer to work nights rather than days or evenings because of their family’s schedule or because they want to work a ton of overtime. It can be hard to juggle competing priorities, but you probably won’t be much good to your family if you’re exhausted and grumpy on 4 hours of light sleep. Model healthy habits. I didn’t say it would be perfect or easy. It’s about time management and priorities. If you’re working a ton of overtime to maintain your lifestyle, that’s your choice and I’m not one to judge. I would just ask you to consider if it’s worth it or if maybe it’s time to downsize. You can’t put a price on your health.
Wake up at the same time every day. Yeah, sometimes you may have to work overtime or be up for special events, but generally try to maintain a consistent schedule, even on your weekends or if you couldn’t fall asleep at your normal time. This gets slightly complicated if you work overnight or work a rotating shift, going from days to nights every few weeks. In that case, allow yourself a day or half a day to adapt, but generally try to stay close to what you do during the workweek. Progress, not perfection.
If you aren’t sleepy, don’t go to bed, even if you have a specific time you have to get up. Do something relaxing, ideally in a dark room other than your bedroom. Wait until you start to nod off, then go to bed.
Get black out curtains and a lamp that mimics sunlight if you sleep while the sun is up. Your body naturally responds to sunlight for its sleep/wake cycle. Black out your room while you sleep and sit in front of a sunlight-mimicking lamp for 20-30 minutes if you’re waking up when the sun is down.
An energy drink is not a meal. Limit caffeine close to your bedtime, no matter what time that is. Shooting for a cutoff 8 hours before bed is ideal but not always possible. Your individual tolerance will dictate how close to bedtime you should cutoff your caffeine, and let’s be real, if you work nights your tolerance is probably pretty high. Personally, I cut off caffeine about 3-5 hours before bed most days.
Have an intentional wind-down ritual. Don’t just jump in bed and play on your phone for a while until you get sleepy. Get your face out of your electronics and read a book. Glasses that filter blue light are a great option if you prefer to watch TV or a computer screen to wind down. Yoga and mindfulness/meditation are also great.
Avoid food 2-3 hours before bed. When I worked nights, I’d come home and eat “breakfast” (my dinner) and go straight to bed. Not a great idea, and I wondered why I didn’t sleep very well. Give your body time to digest your last meal. Going for a 10 minute walk after you eat can help jumpstart this process and will also help you relax.
While using some (or all) of these tips, focus on the QUALITY of sleep you’re getting rather than the quantity. If you’re sleeping during the day, you probably aren’t getting 8-9 hours. That’s just the reality. Instead, optimize what you can. Our bodies weren’t designed to be awake all or most of the night, but you can work with your body and schedule rather than against it.
If you’re looking for a fitness trainer in the Mt Juliet/Hermitage/Nashville TN area, online fitness training, or just need some advice to get your fitness program started, contact me