Sleep Management Tips For Night Shifters!
Contributing post
When you think about how many people out there are not working the standard nine-to-five, it’s natural to feel shocked. People are out there working around the clock to make sure that we live in a safe, healthy, and happy society. Police officers, doctors, nurses, air traffic controllers, firefighters, and more are all out there working the night shift - and it’s the hardest shift to work. Day shifts are by no means an easy thing to do, but at least with the day shift, you can work your sleep patterns far better. You can sleep each night adequately knowing that you are going to be rested for work the next day. We live in a 24-hour society these days, with unsociable hours being the norm for most jobs. Our world has changed, and we expect instant service, and for that to work, we need people working all hours of the day, and that plays some havoc on sleep.
Long working hours and irregular shifts are not easy to work. They affect your health, your sleep and your happiness. When your sleep is concerned, you can often find it difficult both physically and mentally to keep going through the day - and through the night shift. You have to wake in the dark, come home in the dark of the morning, and the cycle continues. This can play a part in making you feel more vulnerable. No matter why you're working through the night, you need to find ways in which you can cope better. The right level of sleep matters and as a night shifter, every single tip you can get will help you to work after dark.
It's not a natural thing, to work through the night. The human body fights against it even when you’ve been working the night shift for years on end. Let’s take a look at some tips below to make your next sleep after your night shift the best one yet.
Photo by Benjamin Voros on Unsplash
Go to bed on time. You need to get home from work and get right into your bedtime routine. If you delay getting to bed after a long night shift, you’re going to be far more awake than you wanted to be. It’s so important to stick to the times that you set yourself if you want to remain as healthy as possible while working through the night.
Hydrate. Your night shift is taking place at a time where you would usually be asleep. So, you need to work on keeping up your hydration levels throughout the night, and then give yourself a drink before you go to bed, too. You don't want to be disturbed through the sleep in the day with feeling thirsty. You can apply the same principle to having a banana before you go to sleep. They’re filling enough to ensure that you feel satisfied before you head to bed.
Don't worry about alcohol. No one wants to come home from work and have a beer at 6am, but if you’re ever tempted, stop and think about what you’re doing. Alcohol diminishes your sleep, so why would you upset an already difficult sleep pattern with “just one” beer? Don't. Wait until you have your day off.
Avoid stimulants. From nicotine and energy drinks, sodas and sugar, you’ve got to try to avoid stimulants before bedtime. The more you take in stimulants, the harder you will find it to sleep through the day. If you are a smoker, it’s time to work on giving up so that you can get the best sleep and do better for your health.
Earplugs, like eye masks, are really going to help you to sleep well through the day. You need to think about how to block out sound as much as you do light, and earplugs are really going to help you to get through the day. You may need to try a variety of earplugs before you figure out which ones will work for you. The point is to sleep comfortably and noiselessly.
Let people know your hours. The last thing that could disturb you are your own friends and family. If you don't let your friends and family know your hours, you’re going to get interrupted when you’re trying to sleep.
Make sure that your bedroom is dark. It’s not easy to do, what with the giant ball of sunshine brightening the day, but it can be done with the right tools. You can do anything from adding blackout blinds behind heavy curtains to block out any light coming through the windows, to learning the benefits of wearing a sleep eye mask. Sleep eye masks can ensure that you can definitely block out the light from the bedroom. The darker the room, the better your brain can switch off and sleep.
Control the temperature. The bedroom cannot just be dark; it needs to be the right temperature to ensure asleep that is calm and comfortable. Temperature control plays a big part in the way that you sleep and allows your body to remain as peaceful and relaxed at all times. You need to have a cool - not cold - room that keeps your body ticking over throughout the day.
Eat well through the night. While you are on shift, you need to try to replicate your routines throughout the day. That means eating the right meals and ensuring that you keep your diet balanced and packed with fruit and vegetables. The better you eat through your awake periods, the better you will sleep at night. There’s no use in stuffing down a huge meal right before you sleep through the day.
Get the right amount of sleep. If you would be getting 7-9 hours of sleep through the night, then make sure that you have that throughout the day. Your body needs to stay in as close to a routine as possible so that you can keep your body healthy. Night shifts encourage you to go against what’s natural, and you should listen to the cues from your internal clock.