Sleeping Tips For Night Shift Workers
Are you working in night shift? Do you not feel hard to fall asleep? If yes, don’t worry we have a sleeping solution for night workers to get the full amount of sleep. In this article, I am providing some best sleeping tips to get the best sleep workers.
Nowadays, many companies offer to their employees working in the night shift or alternative shift. Workers working in night shift faces difficulty to doze off during the daytime. Insufficient amount of sleep can lead to workers done a number of errors in their work and eventually, they have to take sleeping pills to get a full amount of sleep and they will give their best at work. Well, some research shows that take sleeping pills is not good for health. Taking sleeping pills is not a solution. Now let’s see stats of the night shift workers.
What Is The Percentage Of People Working In The Night Shift?
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that “over 27 million workers work in a manger post and other professional posts only 1.3 percent of the workers work in night shift and 1.7 percent workers work in evening shift”.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also states that “ over 11 million service workers only 6.5 percent of the workers work in night shift and 10.7 percent of workers work in evening shift”.
Challenges Of People Working In Night Shifts
Working in a night shift can create the number of health issue to the employes. The night shift work changes the sleeping pattern of the people and reduces their work efficiency. Let’ see the challenges people face in night shift are:
1. Drowsiness
Working in night shift change the sleeping pattern of the natural body clock circadian rhythm and sleeping at daytime. People who work in night shift don’t get enough REM sleep and ultimately experience drowsiness. Feeling drowsiness can lead to lots of mistakes in their work and reduce their efficiency which eventually causes to lose their job.
2. Health Issue
Working in late night and sleeping during daytime can cause major health problems such as ulcers, cancer, cardiovascular problems, obesity, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems, depression etc. People who in night shift they may become the prey of these mention disease. So, it is important to take care of your health. If you feel that working in night shift will destroy your health then ask your superior to change your shift right away. Your health is your wealth!
3. Work-Life Balance
Those who work in night shift and sleep during daytime, they are more like to spend less time with family than usual. They don’t share the meals with their family and spend quality time with them. Working in night shift for a long time change the behavior of the person. People don’t feel well and ultimately leads to anxiety. Depression, sadness, and anxiety are the most common thing people face working in night shift. Working in night shift also has a bad impact on the relationship of the employee.
4. Workplace Issue
Another challenge people face working in night shift is that they interact with their colleagues working in the same organization. Usually, night shift work is occupied with few workers and if you want to speak with the HR or the superior authority of the organization which holds traditional work hour then you need to disrupt your sleep during daytime to speak to them. You may not attend the meeting in the organization.
What Is The Best Sleeping Schedule For People Working In Night Shift?
It’s hard to get the full amount of sleep working in night shift, but some researches show that with some little planning in our schedule even a night shift workers get the same amounts of sleep as the daytime workers. As Charmane Eastman rightly said that “ Within about a week, permanent night-shift workers can reset their body clock so they feel sleepy at the right time of their day,”. He is a professor as well as researchers at the Biological Rhythms Research Lab at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center. He has been trying to figure out how to help the night shift workers to get the proper sleep for 30 years. He has provided the sample guideline to follow to fit your schedule and body response. Follow the below workday plan to get complete sleep.
If you are working in 11-7 night shift then you have plan things to get the proper sleep and it doesn’t affect your job.
Your work start at 11 pm. If you are a coffee drinker or tea drinker then make sure to have it before 3 am because the effect of the caffeine last for four to six hour and it could disrupt your sleep later. Eat dinner between the 3-4am because it gradually shifts your meals. Expose yourself to bright light or light therapy box at midnight at 5 am it will help you to reset your body clock and keep your body alert don’t make feel sleep. At 7 pm this is where you have to avoid the lights completely. Put on the sunglasses with lenses to help to remove the blue lights. At 8 am, head to bed as soon as possible dark your dark completely with the help of blackout curtains and use the white noise app or earplugs to remove the loud noise. Darken room will help your body clock to hint that it is night and help you sleep faster. Sleep between 8am-3pm will help you get comfortable to sleep. 3- 4 pm, wake up and have breakfast and 4-7pm have to do your daily activities hangout with your family talk to parents. At 9 pm, eat lunch.
These are the schedule guidelines for workers working in night shift. If they these guidelines properly they will get comfortable sleep for sure.
Best Sleep Aids For Night Shift Workers
There is bad news for those working in night shift that Shift Work Sleep Disorder is real and has awful consequences at work. Lack of sleep or insufficient amount of sleep amount make you more irritable and depression to a large extent. You are more likely to make errors at work and your work efficiency reduce gradually. You may not give your best at work. The worse condition of sleep disorder is that you may become drug addicts and alcohol dependency. After knowing all these things now I am sure you are seeking the solution. The good news to all our night workers is the Shift Work Sleep Disorders can be cured with a simple solution. Well, there is only a simple solution to all these problems is sleep. You need to comfortable to remove all these problems.
To cure Shift Work Sleep Disorder we have the best and effective sleeping aids for you. Let’s each one by one.
1. The Right Mattress
If your present mattress cause pain in your back and unrestful sleep all night and if it is 10 years old then it’s time to replace your present mattress with the new mattress. If you are mattress making sound like Sagging, squeaking and creaking then these are signed where you need a new mattress. So, before you go out to buy a new one from the nearby furniture mall or online it is important to know some point before placing the order. Know your sleeping position, sleeping habits, and your budget. You can read the reviews of the mattress online. The reviews will help you to buy a comfortable mattress so that you will get total restful sleep.
2. The Right Pillows
Like the mattress, your sleep gets disturbed by pillows. If your pillows are 10 years older, very hard and don’t match with your sleeping position then you must replace it with a new soft pillow otherwise you will feel arm numbness, headache and neck pain. You can check online and read reviews before purchasing a comfy pillow.
3. Dark Curtains
Another sleeping aid for you is dark curtains. If your home gets lots of sunlight exposure then these exposures will activate your natural body clock and can’t fall you asleep. A simple solution for this is that you can buy dark curtains for your home. Dark curtains is an opaque, foam-backed fabric and black out much of the light passing through the window and in addition to that it is also an energy saver. It trapping all the heat during the winter season and black out much of the light during summer season make your room a comfortable place for sleep.
4. Sleep Mask
If in case the dark curtains are expensive and won’t fit your budget, don’t worry you can opt for a sleep mask. The sleep mask is inexpensive and easily affordable to you. By the way, not all sleep mask is the same. Sleep mask for side sleepers is different than the people on their back. If you want that much of the light will be blocked and get a comfort sleep then you need to buy a sleep mask that can block out 98% of light. By the way, if you are sleeping in a room has lots of bright light then you need to buy a sleep mask that has 98% to 100% light blocking capacity. You also need to check the sleep mask’ material different material has different property. The cotton material gives comfortable sleep and the Soft satin material is also cool and helps you fall you asleep faster.
5. Essential Oils
There are lots of natural and non-toxic oils are presently working as a sleeping aid. So, why not try these oils?
You can use these oils with your diffuser or dilute them with the right carrier oil before putting oil on your skin for massage. These oil remove all your tensions, help you relax, and fall you asleep faster. There is a lot of option you can buy from. These oils are:
- Roman chamomile
- Lavender
- Cedarwood
- Clary sage
- Valerian
6. White Noise App
Well, you may hear about the white noise app. White noise app is a mobile app that acts an anti-noise. The app helps you to sleep faster by diminishing the other noises such as people talking outside of your room, children playing, music etc. If you wake up suddenly in the middle of the night then the app is not much help for you because this app stop working after one to two hour and if you are looking for a restful sleep all night you need to opt for other sleep aid.
7. Earplugs
If white noise app is not suitable for you, you still have a choice you can go for earplugs. Earplugs are inexpensive and easily affordable. It blocks much of the noise and you will get relaxation sleep at night. It can block air-transmitted sounds but has very limited effects on vibrant sounds.
Looking for a high quality of sleep with improper work schedule is quite difficult, but can be achieved with proper sleeping aids. So, if you want restful sleep, buy any of these sleeping aid tonight.
Sleep Advise Tips For Night Workers
Major adjustment needs to be made in order to minimize the side effect of working irregular hours. Working at odd hours make your brain dull as well as memory and you can focus on your work properly. You need some guideline so that in case if you forget these guidelines will help you. Here, we are providing the best tips from the experience night workers. Let’s see these tips
1. Follow The Same Sleep Schedule
The most important tips for you is to maintain the same sleep schedule. You may need to interrupt your sleep for any important work. Try to complete all your important work before the schedule and sleep within the same sleep schedule.
2. Dark Your Room During The Day
Well, the light will help you to fall you asleep because lighting will cause your body clock secret melatonin hormone which keeps you awake. So, in order to sleep you need to dark your room with black curtains or other sleeping aid. You can also use a sleep mask to block out the lights and help you to give comfortable sleep. Earplugs or white noise app help you to block all the noise and give you noise free sleep.
3. Be Careful With Caffeine
Caffeine acts a stimulant. Don’t drink caffeine too much during your work because it can cause to keep you awake and not fall you asleep. If you are a coffee lover and can’t resist without it then you can do one thing that at the starting of the shift you can drink coffee, but don’t drink it before four to six hour of bedtime. The effects of the caffeine last for four to six hours.
4. Eat A Good Breakfast Before Work
Avoid spicy food for breakfast before and during the shift. Bring protein, nuts, and vegetables for breakfast. Have a small portion every few hours will help you to keep your sugar level stable and also keep you healthy. Also, have water during work don’t get hydrated.
5. Lighting Is Important
Lighting is important to fool your brain. During work, you expose yourself to light so that your body clock recognize it day and keep you alert and don’t fall you asleep. However, on your way home, you can wear sunglasses with lenses to reduce the blue lights that stimulate your body clock and doesn’t fall you asleep.
6. Keep Busy All Night
Try to keep busy yourself all nights. Do your work with lots of efforts. Once the work is done try to do other activities like wiping chairs, playing games with friends, reading the magazine so that you will keep your brain engage and it will not cause your brain to go for sleep during work.
7. Get To Know Your Co-Workers
Time passes quickly when talking with friends or co-workers. During the night if you get bored it is the perfect time for you make friends with your co-workers and have a gossip with them. This will help you your shift time pass quickly and your brain engaged during gossip. It’s the perfect time to get to know each other.
8. See A Doctor If Nothing Works
Never consume alcohol for sleep. It will fall you asleep faster but keep you awake after two to three hours. Don’t take any sleeping pills unless it is recommended by the sleep specialist. There are lots of sleeping pills available at the pharmacy, but taking sleeping pills will make you more dependable on pills. However, some pills have side effects too. If you are not getting any help from the above tips then you must visit your nearby doctor. The doctor will assist you.
Harmful Consequences For Night Shift Workers
Those who work in the night shift they are more like to suffer from Shift work sleep disorder (SWSD). Shift work sleep disorder is a chronic, long-term sleep disorder that affects the individual who works nontraditional hours like split shift, graveyard shifts, early morning shifts, or rotating shifts. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it is estimated that 10 to 40 percent of people have experienced SWSD. It is important to note that not everyone is affected by SWSD. It is characterized as excessive sleepiness, lack of sleep, and drowsiness. This disorder disrupts your natural body clock circadian rhythms and increases the chance of cancer.
The symptoms of this disorder are lack of energy, depression or moodiness, difficulty concentrating and many more.
People who suffer from chronic sleep deprivation face the major problem like heart attacks, the rise of the chance of cancer, impact on heart health, make potential errors on jobs etc.
Conclusion
Some people they don’t have the choice to work except night shift. Working night shift is as important as your health. In order to work with full efficiency, you need to follow the above-mentioned tips. These tips are very helpful for you. It will help you to keep you healthy and you don’t need to go to any doctor for sleep deprivation. Remember always that your sleep is one of the most precious gifts given to you by GOD. Take care of it. Sweet Dream!
