The reality of Night Shifts: How to Stay Sharp and Healthy

The reality of Night Shifts: How to Stay Sharp and Healthy

Night shift work health and safety: Many IT professionals do night shifts as part of their job requirements.

As a result, they have compromised sleep.  Sleep loss comes with health risks, especially with increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, sleep disorders, and mental illness among other health conditions, as per health research. 

Night shift workers who sleep 6 or fewer hours a night have at least one sleep disorder.

Sleep deprivation associated with overnight call schedules also can worsen individuals’ mood and motivation while impairing their judgment, leading to errors at the workplace, according to a new study published in JAMA (Medical Journal)

Learning to manage night shifts requires a balance of preparation and attention to personal health while caring for others.

Health and Safety Rules for Night Shifts

Here are some tips we propose to help you stay healthy while working nights

1. Prioritize sleep

Working the night shift demands a disciplined sleep schedule,

Prioritizing sleep during the day to combat sleep deprivation requires a supportive spouse or family

Have a  very strict sleeping schedule like  about going to sleep at 8 AM and waking at 3 PM every single day. It can be very tempting to try to stay up and spend time with loved ones, but please prioritize your sleep to maintain   physical well-being

Avoid  coffee to stay awake at night, especially after about 9pm, which could interfere with your day time sleep

Caffeine may help in the moment, but it prevents deep sleep,  So when you finally get sleep after night shifts, you may wake up feeling tired.

2. Eating healthy

Lack of sleep makes it even more difficult to eat healthy on night shift perhaps due to lack of time and most of them end up eating unhealthy food like fast foods  in restaurants or road side cafes .

These foods tend to be high in salt,sugar and fat

When you do not get enough sleep, you eat but you don’t feel full which in turn will increase your food cravings and end up eating more junk food.

We advise you to eat home cooked food before you leave for work.Take  fruits and salads   to snack when working .

To avoid sleepiness, try protein shakes during night shifts. They avoid  sugar spikes and keep your energy level high

You may have a protein shake and fruit before you leave home and carry  vegetarian dinner with you to eat in the early morning hours

Eating small and frequent meals also helps to reduce  sleepiness during working

3. Exercise

Take the Stairs instead of lift.

Try to stay healthy on night shifts,

Try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise at work. Anything like brisk walking , climbing stairs or using the Gym in office can be done. Although its not always possible to do continuous 30 minutes but atleast 10 minutes at a time ,for about 3- 4 times in the night will help.

Prolonged sitting can cause back issues,increase central obesity.

Some activity is better than none

4. Ask for a Ride

We need to encourage people to avoid driving after the night shift to reduce the risk of car/bike accidents.

Use public transport or office-provided transport means or taxi services to get to home.

Otherwise, you are risking you’s and others’ lives!

5. Mental stress

Night shifts can put a strain on mental health, especially when you’re only working, eating, and sleeping and not spending any time with family and friends,

Sleeping when the sun is out often leads to a lack of light exposure which can compound the problem.

Seeking mental health support early is important to avoiding burnout,

We recommend planning a fun weekend activity, trip, or celebration with friends or family after night shifts end so you have something to look forward to.

Bottom Line

Last but not least if you have any serious health-related issues speak to your HR or your boss to adjust your working times and see if your night shifts can be reduced. Night shift work health and safety rule is to take your medications on time and make time to visit your doctors regularly as suggested.

Nothing is more important than your health. You can only continue to work if you are healthy. Always prioritize your health first and take care of yourself.