Grindset be dammed
In shift work and/or entrepreneurial pursuits you’re often working uncomfortable hours – it’s all about the grind right? Wrong.
The importance of sleep and ones sleep hygiene is more often than not understated in the fast paced modern world. The amount of hours you sleep pales in importance to the quality of your sleep – the age old adage of quality over quantity is hard at work here.
There are five sleep stages in a cycle — wake, NI, N2, N3, and REM — which typically lasts 90-110 minutes. Research suggests that getting four to six cycles is ideal, and being sure to complete full cycles will provide you with the best sleep experience.
Those with roster consistency
If you’re fortunate enough to have a roster that at the very least has an identifiable pattern in hours the following points should be your bare minimum to experience a measurable improvement in sleep quality. Remember, quality of sleep is the goal here – large hour quantities are simply a bonus.
Those without…
If you’re on something insane such as a first responders roster or train drivers roster do try to implement the following and reach out with some feedback on what does and doesn’t work – I’d love to hear from you.
Some of this will seem like common sense but it always helps to step it out.
- Identify rostering pattern and ‘lay over days’ – (the days in between switching between day shift and night shift rotations). (Again if this is not possible due to chosen profession, move on)
- Once the shift patterning is identified you will be able to pick those ‘lay over days’ where you will want to flip your sleep hours to better suit a full 8-12 hours of alertness regardless of the time of day outside. Check the companion post at the bottom of the page to learn more about experiences with ‘sleep flipping’ and shift worker sleep disorder.
- No caffeine a minimum of two hours before a sleep period. To be on the safe side I do not consume stimulants in the last 4-5 hours of a shift, if you’re really struggling grab yourself some ice cold water or have a healthy snack – the act of snacking will provide energy and a little bit of mental stimulation (if your shift is really that slow).
- Use a ‘sleep calculator’ to identify the best waking periods based on the time you need to sleep – proceed to note these down and map them to the different rostering periods identified in step 1.
- Try to allow a minimum of a 30 minute wind down period before sleep with ZERO blue light exposure (factor this into your sleep calculation). This means no doom scrolling – I recommend 30 minutes of fiction before sleep, this helps to switch your mind off work and relax (Warhammer 40K, Battletech or Halo are my go to fiction universes).
- If you’re aiming to maintain circadian rhythm as best as possible – configure smart lights within the room to fade out to dark from a mild amber to trigger the brains circadian response.
- A hot shower before sliding into bed in your temp-controlled room is another tip from a 30 year shift worker colleague of mine (it never occurred to me before but it works a treat!)
- If you’re aiming to maintain circadian rhythm as best as possible – configure smart lights within the room to fade out to dark from a mild amber to trigger the brains circadian response.
- Ensure the room you’re in is blacked out with the exception of your automated lighting – you will have this set to fade in with a bright white to simulate sunrise over 30 minute period before your wake-up alarm is triggered allowing for the most natural and gentle rise possible in-line with your calculated sleep window.
Hear no, see no..
Another point of contention between shift workers is whether or not to eyemask and earplug – this is entirely personal preference; not everyone lives in quiet areas I get that and if earplugs are needed to ensure restful sleep than go for your life.
Now I’d be saying one thing and doing another if I told you after everything mentioned above to go ahead and don an eyemask for sleep periods – I am a big proponent of utilising smart lights in ones wake-up routine however if you’re a very light sleeper and perhaps light sensitive you may have to concede and go down the eyemask route, if so – use the above points as more of a scaffold and adjust your own routine accordingly and be sure to let me know how you go!