Night shift work
Our 24-hour world means more people are being asked to do night shifts. The money might be good, but the toll on your body can be extreme. Keep healthy with our guide to staying awake while everyone else is asleep.
Our 24-hour world means more people are being asked to do night shifts. The money might be good, but the toll on your body can be extreme. Keep healthy with our guide to staying awake while everyone else is asleep.
"Turning things upside down can throw everything out of whack"
It's no exaggeration to say that getting a good night's sleep is key to your health, wellbeing and happiness. Unfortunately, working night shifts can lead to poor sleep patterns, which can make you feel run down, anxious or stressed, affect your immune system, and cause lack of concentration.
We're designed to be awake during daylight and asleep at night, so turning things upside down can throw everything out of whack. Every time you lose sleep you add to your 'sleep debt', which makes you more tired and run down. To feel better, you need to make up the debt by getting a solid night's sleep, especially if you're operating heavy machinery or driving. Research from Stanford University showed people who lacked sleep had slower reaction times than those who were drunk – so never underestimate how much your nightly Zs affect your world!
Sleeping well is all about your environment; doctors call it 'sleep hygiene'. Making sure you have a comfortable bed in a quiet, dark room is priority number one for anyone aiming to get some decent shut-eye. Avoiding stimulants like nicotine, coffee and sugar before bed are also key, as is making sure you don't get under the duvet while all wound up from work, make sure you're relaxed before you go to bed.
Finally, if you really can't sleep, try not to stress (easier said than done, we know). Instead of lying there fretting, get up, have a drink, maybe read for a while or listen to your iPod and then try again. You're bound to get more sleep than you realise – most people only remember how long they lay awake during a fit of insomnia, not the quality of the snooze they had in between. See our action points for more sleep tips.
Staying awake on your night shift is going to be much easier if you start well rested, so try not to go out boozing the night before. The Royal College of Physicians advise junior doctors – who have to be on call for long periods of time – to get a nap before they start their shift. In fact, napping is very important – they also suggest trying to have at least one 45-minute sleep while you're at work. Exercise and light meals are also important for staying awake. If it's too warm and cosy you'll start to feel sleepy, so get some fresh air now and again. The toughest time for night shifters is between 3–6am, when your body is programmed to be doing as little as possible, so make sure you have enough stimulating work to do. Finally, getting into a routine is important, so try to get your shifts in blocks so you can adjust properly.
Around 17% of all employees in the UK (4.1m people) work night shifts.
Night shift work has also been linked to heart attacks and breast cancer. However, as this well-researched article shows, there is no need to panic – the people in the studies had been shift workers for 20 or 30 years.
Road safety charity Brake claims driver tiredness causes one in five crashes on our roads, estimating that about 300 people a year are killed by drivers falling asleep at the wheel.