As some barnson.org readers are aware, I recently swapped schedules to the night shift for my work. I should be on this shift for quite a long time to come.
Knowing this, I’ve had some discussions with co-workers over how best to handle working nights, particularly how to get enough sleep.
Sleep is something I’ve always taken for granted. It’s simply a thing I had to do for between 6 and 9 hours every day, like a chore. No big deal. Yet now that I’ve switched to night shift, it seems as if sleep time is as precious as gold. I’ve done some reading on “Circadian Rhythms”, and tried to understand what I can do to maximize the productivity of my sleep while minimizing the amount of time doing it. Unfortunately, as far as controlling my Circadian cycle, my 45-minute-long commute home at the end of the day pretty well nixes that, as it’s after 9:00 AM and bright daylight by that time. Some friends have suggested in my bedroom windows might help my Circadian rhythm “keep step” with my new schedule, but given the length of my in-daylight commute, it’s doubtful.
Anyway, I came across some interesting research. First among these is news that people who sleep the full 8 hours die more. Yep, if you sleep less than 8 hours a night (and more than 4), you are less likely to die young than someone who sleeps the full 8 or more. Curiously, the lowest mortality among the 1.1 million people studied was among those who slept 5-7 hours per night. So from a pure “avoiding death” perspective, the 5 or 6 hours that I’ve been able to squeeze out during the day seems about right.
Yet I’m still tired all the time. Maybe just because it’s my first week back on night shift that I’m so tired and grumpy.
Critically, although those who sleep 5-7 hours per night don’t die as early as those who do 8 or more, they suffer reduced dexterity, mental acuity, and so forth.
There are some drugs that are supposed to help. Modafinil — marketed as “Provigil” — ostensibly keeps you alert without the crashes associated with caffeine and amphetamines. There was an interesting article on Slate some time ago about it. It’s only been out about 10 years, and doctors only prescribe it for occasional use if you’re not a narcoleptic, so it’s not a viable long-term option.
When you’ve had odd sleep schedules, how — and how well — did you cope? Did you shorten sleep, or find ways to nap frequently? Or are you a natural short-sleeper?
NO DRUGS!!
Matt, there’s no need to rely on any drugs to help cope with the sleep (other than coffe or red bull if needed). As someone who has an irregular sleeping pattern as a norm (8 yrs military, shift work, plus working all day and going to school full-time at night), I can tell you that your body gets used to it all on its own. It may take a little while… usually when I switched patterns it took about 3-5 weeks, but it’s worth it. When your body does adjust, you will feel more refreshed when you get less sleep. Right now, if I get any more than 5 1/2 hours I feel like I’m hung-over. As far as ways to help cope initially: when I worked nights I would make a concious effort to stay awake when I got home from my shift. Have breakfast, plan in advnace for something to do out of the house to keep you busy. Then, give yourself time for 6 hours of sleep and an hour to get ready and then go to work. You have to trick your body into believing that when you wake up, it’s 7:00a, or whatever time you normally wake. The BIGGEST mistake people make is going to sleep as soon as they get home because they’re tired. When working a 9a-5p job, you wouldn’t go to sleep at 6p and then wake up at midnight and stay awake before going to work, would you? Anyway, sorry it’s been a while since I’ve written, but I’m an expert on functioning with little or no sleep on a regular basis. Let me know if you need any more info. Good luck, remember, the first three weeks are the hardest!
staying up
my shift changes to 11×7 in 2 weeks. I have never worked midnights an am not a night person. I have considered everything from taking naps to using no doze. If there are any more suggestions that you can give me I would appreciate it.
What may help…
While I was going to college, I worked as a graveyard shift clerk for 7-11 for several months. My shift began at 11 pm and went to 7 am. I would come home in the morning and then go to class for a few hours. After that, I’d relax at home for a bit and then finally go to bed in a darkened room around 2-3 pm in the afternoon. I’d wake up around 9:30-10:00 pm and get ready for work.
Based upon that somewhat limited experience, I am inclined to agree with Kevin when he notes that your sleep patterns will probably work better for you if you can arrange things such that you’re waking up maybe an hour or two before work starts. Avoid the urge to flop right into bed when you first come home at the end of the day and instead use that time to wind down and take care of regular home-life things. You’ll gradually adopt to this sort of a schedule.
Conversely (and I know the temptation and opportunity is there with all that goes on with family and friends), it seems to me the worst thing you can do is not find a schedule – or to be shifting it around constantly – so as to fit with the demands of all the regular folks who are sleeping normal hours. If one day you sleep in a couple three hour blocks, then the next you go to bed early, then the next it is late, then the next is a weekend so you stay up 24 hours, then you crash for 14, and so on – you’ll wind up never adapting and end up always feeling zoned out.
So, set yourself a bedtime that gives you 6-8 hours of sleep before you have to get up for work and try to stick to it. After a couple or three weeks, it’ll feel natural and you’ll actually find yourself feeling refreshed and alert at work.
I would also fully endorse th
I would also fully endorse the concept of a sleep schedule. The more predictable your sleeping patterns are, the more your body will be able to adjust.
Also, it’s not necessarily the amount of sleep that you get that’s important, it’s the amount of REM sleep you receive, during which the majority of recuperation occurs.
Research has been done that indicates that by *gradually* reducing the amount of sleep a night someone got, people could get down to as low as four hours a night with no adverse effects, not even long-term. What happened was that since they were regular with their sleeping patterns, their body knew to go into REM as soon as they entered sleepytime, instead of waiting around in the Beta Relaxation layers that would occur if someone slept 8 hours a night.
There’s some info floating around out there saying that over 80% of Americans are sleep-deprived. ALL of us, actually, are probably sleep deprived. We just don’t realize it because we’ve grown used to it. We could be operating at only 75% capacity and have no idea of it.
Again, they say the best cure is a predictable schedule.
Arthur Rowan Brother Katana of Reasoned Discussion Rebel Leader and Dream Interpreter for the Unitarian Jihad
No drugs..
Seriously, stay away..
Ok, that said, make a point, whenever you sleep, to do it in a regular pattern, and when you have to switch schedules, do it gradually..
I tend to come home and go to sleep… what’s most important is to make it a viable pattern.. and get at least 6 on average. (A little bit of knowledge is a bad thing.. night shift is harder on your body.. you were designed to be up during the day) If you continue to eat right ( a difficult thing on those night shifts) get some activity in and sleep regularly, you should be ok.
Graveyard Day or Night
–I know that years ago when I worked as a graveyard waitress I would run right home and when I was finnally able to go to bed I would make sure that it was in a very dark room. I made sure that no sunlight would come into the room. After I did that I would wake up feeling like I slept and not just took a nap. It was a lot more restfull. My husband now is on that shift, and he knows first hand how hard it is with kids in the house. I have to work in the daytime so he has to stay and be awake for them. Plus with my schedule constantly changing all the time, it is hard for him to keep a schedule on sleep. Even with that though, his body eventually became used to the pattern. It will take a long time so the only thing that I can tell you is to try and be patient with yourself and everyone else around you. The hardest part for Sean was remembering that everyone else around him had to go on with their lives even though he was on a different schedule. I absoulutly agree with Kevin that you shouldn’t rely on the drugs. It prohibit’s your body to naturally change it’s own schedule. And I doubt that you want to be on drugs for a long period of time. Teresa the Flautist and fire dancer
Matt,I disagree with the
Matt,
I disagree with the person who warned you against all drugs. Drugs aren’t necessarily the answer, but they might be worth investigating.
I’ve recently started using Provigil, and am trying to consolidate information/experiences about this alertness-enhancing agent. Please feel free to visit the (currently vacant) message boards and post your experiences. Let’s figure out what this drug can (and can’t) do to enhance our alertness and decrease our need for sleep!
The address is: http://provigilstories.myfreeforum.org/