How to deal with shift work

As any nurse, police officer or firefighter will no doubt tell you, shift work can be an absolute killer (hopefully not in the literal sense).

It messes with your sleep patterns, can interrupt your family and social life, and have you reaching for snacks or multiple cups of coffee well past your bedtime. Not to mention leaving you feeling part human, part zombie.

But if your job requires you to work at unorthodox hours, you’re not alone.

Associate Professor Brad Aisbett, of Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, estimates that 15 to 20 per cent of Australians now engage in some form of shift work.

While certain jobs have always required odd hours, for example healthcare staff, transport operators, construction workers, cleaners and emergency services, Professor Aisbett believes there’s been a progressive increase in the number of other people taking on shift work.

“I think many people don’t necessarily count themselves as shift workers but they are working a significant amount of hours outside the traditional 9 to 5,” he says.

Some might do it out of choice – for example if they can work remotely from home around responsibilities such as picking up the kids from school. Others, such as personal trainers, simply have to bend their hours around everyone else’s.

“Then I think the connectivity across the globe in different time zones would be a driver as well,” Professor Aisbett says.

So what impact is all of this having on our health?

Firstly, the risk of making errors or being involved in an accident at work (or on the drive home) increases. There could also be other health consequences for long-term shift workers.

“If you sustain a lifetime of shift work, there’s significant risks to your long-term health, from your risk of diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes,” Professor Aisbett says.

He adds that shift workers may also face an increased risk of developing some forms of cancer.

“Shift workers are more likely to have shortened sleep, and then the shortened sleep is what, if sustained, increases our risk of disease and poor health.”

He says humans by nature sleep best at night, and are designed to consume and metabolise food during daytime hours. Then there’s the link between shortened sleep and depression.

“If we think about the three pillars of good health – sleep, physical activity and nutrition – a night-time shift system is the most challenging to achieving those goals,” Professor Aisbett says.

They’re the unfortunate facts, but if you can’t dodge shift work, what’s the best way to cope with early or late starts – or worst of all, the overnight shift?

One is grabbing sleep wherever you can get it. For example, professional firefighters sometimes get the opportunity to nap, or at least rest, during shifts.

If your shifts change regularly, try and nab some solid sleep in between your shift changeovers, Professor Aisbett says.

An ill-advised strategy is to deprive yourself fully of sleep in the days before or after night shift to try and change your habits. Assoc Professor Aisbett says that’s been strongly associated with people saying they cope less with shift work.

“Whereas workers that try and have a progressive changing of their clock, before and after a night-time shift, seem to cope better.”

Daytime sleeping will be easier if you’re in a cool, quiet, dark room. But if you’re struggling to get all your sleep in one hit, two sleeps of three to four hours’ length might be the next best option.

Professor Aisbett says eating lighter, nutritious meals with a sustained energy release is also a good idea, as is avoiding caffeine in the hours before you need to sleep.

Shift work will never be everyone’s idea of a good time. “As a base understanding, human beings don’t like to be awake overnight and they don’t like to sleep during the day,” says Assoc Professor Aisbett.

“But I think if you can monitor the way you progress your sleep into your shift work, take those opportunities to sleep when you can get them … engage in physical activity, eat nutritiously and maintain hydration, I think you can improve your chances of feeling happy and healthy during shiftwork.”