Working Late Night Shifts: 9 Tips for Better Sleep

Everyone, I found an old Tang handout for career employees who work overnight shifts, and I thought it might be worthwhile to share here as well, especially because we have those overnight shifts coming up over Finals and RRR Week!

If your job requires that you work the night shift or hours other than the traditional 9 to 5, you need to pay close attention to your sleep. These tips can help you get good sleep:

1. Try not to work a number of night shifts in a row. You may become increasingly sleep-deprived over several nights on the job. You're more likely to recover if you can limit night shifts and schedule days off in between.
2. Avoid frequently rotating shifts. If you can't, it's easier to adjust to a schedule that rotates from day shift to evening to night rather then the reverse order.
3. Try to avoid long commutes that take time away from sleeping.
4. Keep your workplace brightly lit to promote alertness. If you're working the night shift, expose yourself to bright light, such as that from special light boxes, lamps, and visors designed for people with circadian-related sleep problems, when you wake up. Circadian rhythms are the body's internal clock that tells us when to be awake and when to sleep. These rhythms are controlled by a part of the brain that is influenced by light. Fleming says that being exposed to bright light when you start your "day" can help train your body's internal clock to adjust.
5. Limit caffeine. Drinking a cup of coffee at the beginning of your shift will promote alertness. But don't consume caffeine later in the shift or you may have trouble falling asleep when you get home.
6. Avoid bright light on the way home from work, which will make it easier for you to fall asleep once you hit the pillow. Wear dark, wraparound sunglasses and a hat to shield yourself from light. Do not stop to run errands, tempting as that may be.
7. Stick to a regular sleep-wake schedule as much as you can.
8. Ask your family/roommates to limit phone calls and visitors during your sleep hours.
9. Use blackout blinds or heavy curtains to block sunlight when you sleep during the day. "Sunlight is a potent simulator of the circadian rhythm," Fleming says. "Even if your eyes are closed, the sunlight coming into the room tells your brain that it's daytime. Yet your body is exhausted and you're trying to sleep. That discrepancy... is not a healthy thing for the body to be exposed to."

If you want to adhere to advice on this list, like not working multiple overnight shifts in a row, please write me a note on the bottom of your schedule request form and I'll do my best!