Surviving shift work: Tweaks to keep yourself sane and healthy

Uncategorised
Written By Laura Linham

Shift work has its ups and downs. If you’re working shifts, you know only to well that it can offer convenience, flexibility and the added bonus of avoiding rush hour and actually being able to get to the bank while it’s still open.

But on the flip side, they can wreak havoc on your life: interrupt your sleep, make it harder to manage family obligations, and keep some semblance of a social life.

And studies have shown that these factors create some inherent health dangers. For instance, interrupting the body’s circadian rhythm can increase the risk for heart disease and insomnia, and adversely affect a person’s eating habits. There's an established link between shift work and high blood pressure, stroke, anxiety, depression, traffic accidents, menstrual irregularities and addiction.

A recent study by workforce management app Deputy suggests that the happiest shift workers are domiciliary care workers, with almost nine in ten (88%) shifts worked by domiciliary care workers resulting in them feeling ‘happy’ last quarter, compared to just one in five (21%) for care home staff.

At the other end of the scale, the highest reports for feeling ‘stressed’ or ‘frustrated’ were recorded by those working in the cleaning industry (16%), healthcare (12%) and retail (11%).

The data has been recorded using the app’s Shift Pulse feature, which allows workers rate how they’re feeling at the end of their shift on a sliding scale from ‘stressed’, to ‘frustrated’, ‘ok’, ‘good’ and ‘happy’.

Workers recording a ‘happy’ score at the end of their shift were ranked as follows: 

  1. Domiciliary care: 88%

  2. Pharmacies and chemists: 71%

  3. Cafes & coffee shops: 57%

  4. Fast food & take out: 52%

  5. Pubs & bars: 51%

  6. Retail: 43%

  7. Cleaning: 39%

  8. Restaurants: 38%

  9. Healthcare: 31%

  10. Care home staff: 21%

David Kelly, General Manager for EMEA at Deputy, said: “It’s great to see so many happy shift workers from the domiciliary care sector.

“We all know that every business is only as good as its team, especially in care. Not only is it vital to look after your team for their own wellbeing, a happy, healthy workforce is also good for business.”

If you’re a shift worker, these tips might help to make your life a little easier and your shifts a little happier.

Sleep

  • Most adults need 7-8 hours of sleep a day although this may decrease with age. If you cannot do this, try to rest, as this is still beneficial. Recording sleep patterns and problems using a diary may help to explain fatigue and tiredness. It can also be used to help find the most suitable strategies and conditions for better sleep quality.

  • Quit smoking. Smokers tend to report high rates of insomnia; they have a hard time falling asleep and a hard time maintaining sleep. Last year a new study linked smoking with sleep disturbances. The study found that cigarette smokers are four times as likely as nonsmokers to report feeling not rested after a night's sleep.

  • Sleep in your bedroom and avoid using it for other activities such as watching television, eating and working;

  • Use heavy curtains, blackout blinds or eye shades to darken the bedroom;

  • Disconnect the phone or use an answer machine and turn the ringer down;

  • Ask your family not to disturb you and to keep the noise down when you are sleeping;

  • Discuss your work pattern with close neighbours and ask them to try and avoid noisy activities during your sleep time;

  • If it is too noisy to sleep consider using earplugs, white noise or background music to mask external noises;

  • Adjust the bedroom temperature to a comfortable level, cool conditions improve sleep.

Diet

  • Regular light meals/snacks are less likely to affect alertness or cause drowsiness than a single heavy meal;

  • Choose foods that are easy to digest such as pasta, rice, bread, salad, fruit, vegetables and milk products;

  • Avoid fatty, spicy and/or heavy meals as these are more difficult to digest. They can make you feel drowsy when you need to be alert. They may also disturb sleep when you need to rest;

  • Avoid sugary foods, such as chocolate – they provide a short-term energy boost followed by a dip in energy levels;

  • Fruit and vegetables are good snacks as their sugar is converted into energy relatively slowly and they also provide vitamins, minerals and fibre;

  • Drink plenty of fluid as dehydration can reduce both mental and physical performance but avoid drinking too much fluid before sleeping as this may overload the bladder.

Family and friends

  • Talk to friends and family about shiftwork. If they understand the problems you are facing it will be easier for them to be supportive and considerate;

  • Make your family and friends aware of your shift schedule so they can include you when planning social activities;

  • Make the most of your time off and plan mealtimes, weekends and evenings together;

  • Plan your domestic duties around your shift schedule and try to ensure that you do not complete them at the cost of rest/sleep. You may need to change the times/days when some jobs are done;

  • Invite others who work similar shifts to join you in social activities when others are at work and there are fewer crowds.

Staying alert

  • Take moderate exercise before starting work which may increase your alertness during the shift.

  • Keep the light bright;

  • Take regular short breaks during the shift if possible;

  • Get up and walk around during breaks;

  • Plan to do more stimulating work at the times you feel most drowsy;

  • Keep in contact co-workers as this may help both you and them stay alert.


    ‍