Managing Shift-Work Disorder

In a perfect world everyone would get eight hours of sleep, starting around 10 to 11PM in the evening. The reality for many of us, however is that duty calls at any time. If you work a night-shift job, or job that starts early in the morning or lends late at night, you know firsthand the difficulties of balancing your work, your sleep, and the rest of your life. To help you, we’d like to share some of the tips we’ve learned in our years of practice for helping professionals make the most of their unusual schedules.

Prioritize Sleep over “Relaxation”

When people have shifts that end late in the evening, they often spend many hours surfing the internet, chatting with their spouses, or talking to friends. This is perceived as much-deserved relaxation after a long shift at work, but it’s common for people who engage in these habits to stay up until early in the morning as they attempt to “make up for” the evening spent at work. They then fall asleep much later than they should, start the day less-rested, and embark on an unhealthy cycle.

To fix this, there is a simple, but difficult solution: put your sleep first.

Unless there’s something special happening, or a meaningful connection with your family being made, it often isn’t worth your time to stay up and “relax.” Will you remember the hours you spent on the internet before finally drifting off to sleep? If not, why not try to fall asleep right away? We’re not saying that you need to check out the moment you get home. By all means, connect with your family and do other things you enjoy, but don’t let the hours drag on just because you want “more” time. Your shift ends at the end of your day. Accept that, and you will start feeling much more rested.

Maintain a Positive State of Mind

Matthew Allen, who used to work a late-night shift at a factory in Florida, stresses that learning how to stay positive was essential for his health. “It’s so easy, when all you want to do is be in bed, to let negative thoughts come in and take over.” He says that doing little things to improve his time on shift, like reading books or taking naps during breaks, went a long way in helping him maintain a peaceful state of mind. And he remarks that if he felt content and positive by the time he came home, he was far less likely to try and “make up for lost time” by staying up even later.

If the nature of your work involves long periods of “inactivity,” such as being a first-responder, consider engaging in something interesting to fill your time instead of just trying to pass it. If you have to remain entirely alert the whole time, as many nurses do, bookending your shifts with something pleasant can give you something to look start with and look forward to in a way that keeps you sane when you get back to your own bed.

Make Plans

Many shift workers struggle with the feeling of being disoriented or not having enough time to interact with people who aren’t on their schedule. This can lead, once again, to unexpected efforts that involve staying up very late, sometimes with very little reward. A good answer to this is to make plans with your friends and family in advance. Even if it sounds a little formal at first, scheduling something as simple as a board-game, a date, a dinner or a movie can help you skip “light” social interactions and get straight to the meaningful bits. It’s making the most of the time you have.

Plans will also allow you to anticipate days where you’ll be more fatigued because you decided to spend time with others, and knowing that ahead of time can have a positive impact on your work and the rest of your life. It also makes prioritizing sleep easier on you and the ones around you since, if you frequently make plans with those people, it will be totally understandable if you cut an interaction short in order to sleep.
Shift-work can have a serious effect on your mental and physical health. Sleep constriction is associated with a whole list of health issues, and while you may be acclimated to your lifestyle for now, it’s important to take steps that prioritize your health so you can make the most of your life even when shift work is long behind you.