5 Key Tips for Shift Workers on Overcoming Work-Related Sleep Deprivation

As a Naturopath and Medical Scientist, I am always telling my patients, especially my shift-work patients, that getting enough sleep is key for their physical and mental well-being, but many don’t understand the importance of prioritising their sleep when it comes to their health.

You see, getting enough sleep is crucial for reducing fatigue and sleepiness and helping you stay productive and alert, it helps reduce food cravings and weight gain, reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular, digestive and mental health conditions, reduces stress levels and improves relationships with family and friends. 

Here’s what you need to know about why it’s so important for shift workers (well, anyone really!) to make sure that they prioritise their sleep:

• Most of the issues I mentioned occur because of sleep deprivation.  Shift workers have 1-2 hours less sleep every day than most people. Think about how much missed sleep this is over a week, month and year!  However, not prioritising your sleep and sleep deprivation doesn’t stop at shift workers, we could all benefit from getting more sleep!

• Sleep deprivation reduces concentration, focus and alertness.  This increases shift workers’ risk of accidents and injuries, to themselves and others.  Shift workers often work in high-risk industries, for example, healthcare, mining, and transport, where being alert and focused are key to reducing any potential harm.  This further highlights the importance of good sleep for shift workers.

• The ‘sleep is for sissies’ mindset of shift workers needs to stop.  It’s counterproductive and downright dangerous.  Instead, shift workers should be adopting a better sleep mindset and focus on whatever it takes to get better sleep.

Another area that sleep is necessary for is stress management.  Simply being a shift worker is stressful on the body, and good quality sleep is beneficial for managing stress levels.  You can read more about the health effects of shift work here.

If you don’t get enough sleep or have an irregular sleeping pattern then this can contribute to higher levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) in the body. Too much cortisol can then lead to other health issues like increased blood pressure, a weakened immune system and weight gain.

I’m sure you can now see how important sleep is when it comes to shift worker health.  Although I’ve highlighted shift workers, this applies to everyone, there is a chronic sleep shortage happening all over the planet.  

Here are five key tips I give my patients to help reduce shift work-related sleep deprivation:

Develop a pre-bedtime routine

Having a pre-bedtime routine will encourage pattern recognition, signalling to the body that it’s time for sleep.  Once your brain recognises your routine you will find it easier to fall asleep.  Your pre-bedtime routine could include: 

• • Warm bath or shower then brush your teeth 
  • Listening to soothing music
  • Doing some stretching or meditation 
  • Drinking a cup of sleepy-time tea 
  • Listening to a bedtime story podcast/App such as Get Sleepy or Calm Sleep Stories Reading or listening to a book
  • Journalling
  • Deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation 
  • Anything you find relaxing that helps you unwind. Make sure it’s not stimulating, the more peaceful and kinda boring the better!

Avoid caffeine 6-8 hours before your bedtime

Caffeine interferes with sleep and needs to be avoided 6-8hrs before sleep, otherwise, it will contribute to sleep deprivation.  If you feel tired, instead of reaching for caffeine, have a glass of water, fatigue is a sign of dehydration. Also, get up and move – go for a walk, stretch or shake your body, anything that gets the blood flowing can also reduce fatigue and keep you from reaching for the caffeine. 

Napping

Due to the sleep deprivation shift workers face napping is necessary.  Nap as often as you can.  Have a nap before starting an afternoon or night shift, this can help improve your alertness.  If your work schedule allows some flexibility, a short nap of 20-30 minutes on night shift can help with worker fatigue and wakefulness.

Avoid alcohol too close to bedtime, including breakfast beers

Alcohol may help you fall asleep, however, it affects the second half of your sleep causing you to feel more tired. Additionally, alcohol contributes to dehydration, and dehydration makes you feel tired. If you use alcohol to help you unwind and sleep, a short meditation or breathing exercises instead will help.  If you enjoy the ritual of drinking something, have soda water in a fancy glass with some fresh mint or lemon slices or a cup of relaxing sleepy-time tea. 

Keep electronics out of the bedroom

The blue light produced by electronic devices affects the production of melatonin, your sleep hormone.  Additionally, the addictive scroll of devices also interferes with sleep.  Instead of sleeping, you may spend hours scrolling through social media, watching one last YouTube clip or binge-watching Netflix.  Instead, focus on your pre-bedtime routine – e.g. read a book,  do some gentle stretching, meditate, ect.

Can you now see that there are steps shift workers can take to reduce their sleep deprivation and the health concerns that come with it?

When you get good sleep, the positive health impacts ripple out across your whole life! So let’s prioritise sleep from now on!

Find this helpful?

You might like to grab Shift Workers Guide for reducing bloating on night shift for even more tips on shift worker health, click here to download it.  Or, for more tips on shift worker health come follow me on Instagram at @the_shift_workers_naturopath.