Shift workers perform essential duties in industries that make our world comfortably function on a 24/7 basis.  That said, shift workers pay a high price with their health.  A major health problem with shift workers is weight gain.  As a result, learning effective weight management is critical for a healthy shift worker. 

Having worked rotating shift since 2014, let me tell you that each shift worker is different. A lucky few might not gain much of anything; others only gain a few pounds, while others double their weight.   Weight gain is much more than a vanity issue; significant weight gain can lead to obesity and obesity opens the floodgates to a variety of other health issues.  

The human body isn’t designed to carry a lot of excess weight.  Excess weight puts a lot more wear and tear on the joints, especially the hips and knees.  In addition to orthopedic issues, unchecked weight gain can cause cardiovascular issues such as elevated blood lipids, high blood pressure, insulin resistance and diabetes.

How Shift Work Impacts Weight

The human body is designed to sleep at night and be awake during the daytime.  Sleep is when the body goes into repair mode.  A variety of important biological functions occur such as hormone regulation and the conversion of food into energy.  Disrupting your body’s natural circadian cycle by working night shift or rotating shift will disrupt these processes and throw the body’s systems into disarray.  Bottom line, the root cause of all your problems as a shift worker is a disrupted circadian cycle.

It’s Not Your Fault, It’s Your Circadian Cycle

One of the many problems caused by shift work are low melatonin levels.  Melatonin is a hormone that controls the circadian cycle, modulates immune response, body temperature and inhibits hunger. It is produced at night when we are asleep.  When your sleep cycles are constantly disrupted by shift work, your natural levels of melatonin are going to be affected.  

Another problem caused by disrupted circadian cycles is abnormal levels of hunger hormones.  Shift workers have elevated levels of ghrelin, a hormone that activates hunger, and depressed levels of leptin, a hunger suppression hormone.  A natural response to this imbalance is to reach for foods that are high in sugar to wake you up as well as fat and salt to satisfy your hunger. Because your hunger hormones are out of balance, you’re more likely to eat high calorie, high sugar, and high fat content foods at greater frequencies and in larger portions.  Weight gain is always going to be the result. 

Remember when I said that sleeping is when the body turns food into fuel?  Insufficient sleep from a disrupted circadian cycle affects the body’s ability to turn glucose into fuel, resulting in free, unused glucose floating around in the blood.  This can result in insulin resistance and later, Type 2 diabetes.  Sleep deprivation can also result in free fatty acids in the blood; this is often a precursor to pre-diabetes. 

As if imbalances in melatonin and hunger hormones aren’t enough, shift workers also have depressed levels of the feel-good hormones serotonin and dopamine.  As a result, shift workers gravitate towards foods that are sweet, calorie dense and comforting.

Nutrition, Meal Timing and Portion Control

As shift workers, we can’t control the hormonal imbalances caused by our disrupted sleep cycles, but we can control other factors such as our nutrition, meal timing, and portion control.

Having worked rotating shift since 2014, the biggest make or break factor in my ability to work the hours I work is the quality of my nutrition.  High quality, nourishing home cooked meals work the best towards powering me through my shift, followed by meal timing and portion control.  A few of these meals were painstakingly made, others were thrown together last minute, but a majority were leftovers.  A common thread of all my home cooked meals that helped me power through 12-hour shifts is that I knew exactly what was in them.  I knew the nutritional breakdown and the calorie content and, even better, it was cheap.  I don’t know about you, but I love cheap, easy, and healthy.  

Calorie and Macronutrient Tracking

Tracking calories and macronutrients isn’t my favorite activity.  I find it to be very tedious as a matter of fact, but it’s the best way to keep yourself accountable.  Tracking your food intake helps to properly portion out meals and snacks. Nutritional labels and many recipes have the number of calories, and grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates.  There are multiple apps available that track everything for you, all you do is enter some numbers and the app tallies up calories and macronutrients.  How easy is that?  

There is the old expression “Ignorance is bliss”; let me tell you, tracking your food intake by logging the calories and macronutrients removes all ignorance and tells you if you’re eating enough, if you’re eating too much and if you’re eating the right foods.  It also tells you if you need to readjust.  Calculator.net has a personalized calorie calculator.  All you need to do is enter some basic information and it will calculate you daily calorie needs for maintenance and weight loss.  How easy is that?

Exercise Strategies For Irregular Schedules

Another factor we can control is our fitness.  Effective exercise strategies go a long way to counter the effects of rotating shift or night shift.  Fitness is a very personal thing, some shift workers prefer light activity, others workout hard and often.  What is important is to get the body moving 30 or more minutes a day.  

Working out exercises the heart, lungs, muscles, and it makes you feel better and more alert and energized.  Many workplaces offer discounts to gyms in their health plan.  There are 24 hour gyms to accommodate unconventional schedules.  

Garage gyms have become very popular because your gym is literally right there in your home so there is no excuse to not workout.  Also, there are thousands of fitness apps for all ages and fitness levels.  What is easier and more convenient than having a ready-made workout on your phone or tablet that you can do at home?  

Burn Even More Calories

Weightlifting involving progressive resistance builds lean muscles.  More lean muscle mass increases metabolic rate and is an effective hedge against body fat gain.  Look at muscle mass like you would look at the engine of a car.  An eight-cylinder pickup truck is going to use a lot more fuel than a four-cylinder compact car.  More muscle mass translates out to a higher metabolic rate even at rest so get out there and pump iron.  Ladies, don’t be afraid of muscle mass, muscles are your friend.  Unless you’re abusing anabolic steroids, something you should NEVER do, you will never get a burly man’s body.

 Ugh! What Do I Do Now? 

Chances are, if you are reading this article, you gained weight and you’re wondering how you’re going to lose it.  First, don’t beat yourself up over it. You didn’t gain the weight overnight; you’re not going to lose it overnight.  

If you work night shift or rotating shift, you can’t help that your hunger hormones are in disarray, but you do need to reflect on what you did to gain that weight.  Be very honest with yourself.  What are you eating and why are you eating?  Are you eating processed junk food? Are you drinking sodas or sugary coffee drinks?  We all have a well-meaning saboteur of a coworker that brings in pizza or sweets.  Are you partaking in the treats saboteur coworker brings?  Are you an emotional eater? Do you eat out of boredom or habit?  People with desk jobs often eat just to eat.  Don’t do that; be very mindful of what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat.  Space your meals and snacking and keep snacking to low calorie, healthy foods.

Understand the Difference Between Hunger and Cravings

Listen to your body.  Are you actually hungry or are you bored and just want to sink your teeth into something?  There is a difference between wanting to eat something and being hungry.  Tracking your nutrition and when you enjoy your meals and snacks is a great way to keep yourself accountable.  Prep your meals ahead of time.  Make your meals out of healthy nutritios foods.  Pack healthy, low-calorie snacks. 

Have an Accountability Partner

Don’t touch the goodies the saboteur co-worker brings.  When offered, politely decline, and say that you’re trying to improve your eating habits.  Chances are, you have another co-worker that also wants to clean up their eating habits and lose a few pounds.  Healthy eating buddies make the best accountability partners.  Many workplaces have wellness incentives where you can earn a little extra money or gift cards if you quit smoking or lose excess weight.  What better incentive to clean up your lifestyle than a little extra money?   

Pay Attention to Your Body

I’m not a big fan of scales because they show a number, they don’t reflect lean muscle mass vs. fat mass.  You can be eating healthy and working out and gaining lean muscle mass and the scale might not move or it could show weight gain.  Likewise, you can be losing lean muscle mass and the scale will show weight loss.  Look at other factors besides the scale.  How are your clothes fitting on you?  Compare how you look now vs. how you looked six, or twelve weeks ago?  How do you feel?  

GLP-1 Drugs

Before I go into my own story of weight management while working shift, I feel that I need to mention GLP-1 drugs because of the easy availability and the way they are being promoted.  Glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) agonists initially started off as medication to manage Type 2 diabetes.  Without going into the pharmacology weeds, GLP-1 drugs work by lowering blood sugar levels and promote a feeling of satiety.  A side effect of GLP-1 use was weight loss; the manufacturer immediately saw dollar signs and pushed to make it available for off label use.  Off label use for weight loss was initially so expensive, that only the Hollywood crowd and the very affluent could afford it for weight loss.  Now, it’s available to anyone who wants to use it, and it’s much cheaper.  Like any medication, there are pros and cons to taking it.

GLP-1 Pros

1. Substantial weight loss.  If you need to lose a lot of weight, GLP-1 drugs are effective.  I have a co-worker that lost 90 pounds and counting on Zepbound.  She has gone from a size 20 to a size 10.
2. Reduced cravings.  These drugs mimic hormones that influence the satiety centers of the brain by reducing cravings.  Shift workers are notorious for craving unhealthy, calorie rich foods. 
3. Improved bio-marker levels.  Blood sugar biomarkers, insulin resistance, blood lipids and blood pressure are reduced.  

GLP-1 Cons

1. Digestive system distress such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation is very common.  I had a coworker that got violently ill when she was on Wegovy, she couldn’t keep anything down.
2. Muscle, bone and facial volume loss are part of the weight loss, not just unwanted body fat.  Plastic surgeons and estheticians now offer treatments for the loss of facial volume and firmness. 
3. There is no exit plan, getting off GLP-1 drugs often leads to weight regain.
4.  GLP-1 drugs aren’t a substitute for exercise, breaking bad habits and adopting healthy eating.
5. GLP-1 drugs are still expensive.  

It’s All About You

The decision to take GLP-1 drugs or not is a very personal one.  What might work on one person, won’t work on another.  This is a conversation that needs to be had with your doctor.  I know we’re all busy, but this is a matter that needs the kind of medical supervision you get from your health care provider, not from an online pharmacy. 

The Slippery Slope

My own history of shift work related weight gain and eventual loss began with permissiveness over what I ate.  I work out a lot, so I developed an attitude of calories are meant to be enjoyed and not counted.  Besides, I work out a lot, I’m going to burn them off, right? Wrong!  You can’t out train a bad diet.  By bad diet, I helped myself to the big bag of Doritos that a coworker brought in on a regular basis.  If someone brought a box of cookies in, I helped myself.  When pizza was brough in, I helped myself.  Five-dollar calzone night?  Absolutely! 

I descended a slippery slope of weight gain.  Five pounds became ten pounds.  Ten pounds became fifteen pounds.  Fifteen pounds was becoming twenty when I realized that I had a problem that needed to be remedied.  My clothes were starting to not fit me, and I wasn’t going to buy new clothes. Even worse, the processed garbage I was helping myself to was making it difficult to get through my long shifts.  It was time to get my act together right now!

My Story

I didn’t gain nearly 20 pounds overnight, so I wasn’t going to lose it overnight.  I got an accountability partner that also had the same goals as I had and I followed an intermittent fast cycle of 16 hours of no food, followed by an eight-hour window of only nutritious meals.  No, I didn’t eat for eight hours straight; I allotted myself two healthy, well rounded meals and a few low calorie snacks in between. 

Consistency is Key

Whether I worked day shift, night shift or I was off, I made sure I stayed consistent.  I started each day with a cup of Bulletproof coffee.  I didn’t eat breakfast or anything for several hours.  My meals that were lunch and dinner were healthy, low-calorie meals that were easily prepped ahead of time.  Any snacking in between meals was only low calorie, healthy foods and I allowed myself one square of dark chocolate at the end of the day.  

I continued to do my same my same workouts, but after a 12-hour day shift, I made sure I did a gentle but effective workout.  A more gentle workout is better than no workout, right?  

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

After a few weeks I started noticing a difference.  My clothes weren’t as tight, and the scale was going down.  After a few more weeks, the scale went down some more and I could see the difference.  Eight months after I decided I needed to make some changes, I was down 20 pounds.  My body was visibly leaner and the clothes that used to be tight on me were loose.  

Everybody is different; people lose excess weight at a different pace.  Eight months may seem like a long time to lose 20 pounds, but bad habits take time to undo and slow and steady wins the race.      

On an earlier post on workplace etiquette, I mentioned that when you work shift, your crew becomes your second family whether you like it or not.  Building positive crew camaraderie can go a long way towards having a positive work environment.

Start A Coffee Club

I LOVE coffee!  Who doesn’t like coffee?  Coffee has a way of becoming another food group when you are a shift worker.  I had a really nice manager when I was an analyst in the lab.  She was from Texas that had that Texas hospitality.  She always kept a box of K cup coffees and a box of chocolates in her office for the lab workers and she kept her office open during night shift so anyone could help themselves to a coffee and a goody.  One K cup coffee usually isn’t usually enough for a night shift worker, and they can be really wasteful so we started a coffee club. 

Buy A Bag and Set a Coffee Break

Starting a coffee club did a lot for positive crew camaraderie.  Each week somebody in the club would bring a bag of good quality, reasonably priced coffee and they would brew a pot or two of coffee while we were on shift for the others to enjoy.  Everyone in the club was responsible for bringing their own coffee additions such as cream, milk, syrups, and whatnot.  We had a no rotgut rule, no cheap, poor-quality coffee.  Life is too short and shift work is too long for cheap, low-quality coffee. 

Coffee Breaks By the Bulk

Another way to run a coffee club is for someone in a crew to buy a five pound bulk quantity of high quality coffee and anyone interested in being in the club chips in a few dollars a month for an unlimited number of cups. Keep in mind that in a shift work environment where multiple crews rotate in and out of a department throughout the work week, other crews will likely help themselves to your tasty java if you leave it out.  I would recommend keeping it secured when your crew is off duty.   

Start A Snack Club

This is an extension of the Coffee Club when it comes to fostering positive crew camaraderie.  At my work, every crew has a footlocker known as the Snack Box where we keep an assortment of snacks as well as the coffee for the Coffee Club.  In addition to snacks and coffee, there are paper plates and bowls and disposable tableware.  This can be administered in one of two ways.  Everyone can chip in whatever snacks and disposable plates and tableware they can; in return, everyone gets full access to the Snack Box.  This is a great arrangement if everyone on your crew is cooperative. 

Have A Snack Co-op

Another way to administer a snack club is to have a membership where one person administers the Snack Box. They oversee buying the snacks and collecting the membership dues and everyone who is interested in joining pays a fixed amount every month.  In return, they get unlimited access.  To make it more cooperative, take turns every month or two on who will be the Snack Box Master.  This gets everyone involved and fosters a more cooperative team environment.

CAUTION!!!

A major problem with working a rotating shift schedule is weight gain and one of the easiest ways to gain weight is by snacking when you don’t need to be.  This is problematic when you do mostly stationary work.  This is why I don’t participate in the Snack club.  Furthermore, the kind of snacks that a shift worker should be eating can’t be kept in a foot locker.  Don’t sacrifice your health for positive crew camaraderie.  

Potlucks

The possibilities are endless with potlucks.  Because shift workers work on holidays, potlucks are a great way to celebrate a holiday and build positive crew camaraderie.  You don’t need a holiday to have a potluck, have one just for fun!  I work 12 hour shifts, DuPont schedule.  We often have a breakfast potluck on Super Friday, the day before our seven days off.  It’s our way of celebrating our making it through another shift rotation. My crew has also been known to have potlucks on the last night shift of our rotation. 

Pi Day

When I was an analyst in the lab, we had a pie potluck every March 14^th when we were on duty on Pi Day.  There were probably two dozen different pies!  Only three of the pies were savory pies.  We were bouncing off the walls and we probably gained a few pounds but it was fun!  Luckily for our health, Pi Day only happens once year! 

Have A Secret Santa Gift Exchange

This is a fun activity to do over the holiday season.  This is done online, through an app on your cell phone or it can be completely manual.  Set down a few basic rules such as price limit or whatever else, have everybody pick an anonymous nickname, and make a wish list.  Everybody on the crew pulls a name out of a hat and buys an item on the wishlist for the person they pulled.  On the day (or night) of the exchange, the gifts are presented to the person we drew out of the hat. 

Be Creative With Packaging

I live in a state where single use plastic shopping bags are illegal.  Paper bags cost an additional ten cents per bag, so I have started doing more purposeful gift wrapping.  I buy a low cost, but whimsical reusable shopping bag instead of using wrapping paper that will just be discarded. The recipient of the gift has a re-useable bag for their groceries in addition to their Secret Santa present.  It’s like two gifts in one. 

Charity Drive

This is a great team building and community outreach effort for your workplace.  One year a mechanic at my work had a little daughter get diagnosed with leukemia.  The entire work site adopted his family for Christmas.  Each department was assigned specific gifts.  In the end, everyone in the family received gifts for Christmas and the family received gift cards for gas and hotels for travel to the pediatric cancer center. 

More Than Camaraderie, Compassion

Another year my work site adopted a grandmother struggling to raise four grandchildren.  Each department was assigned specific gifts. In the end, everyone got Christmas gifts, housewares that the family needed were purchased.  One of the departments purchased a bicycle and a bus pass for the teenage grandson because he wanted to be able to hold down a job to help the family out.  

Community Outreach

Other great activities to build positive camaraderie in your crew, and help your community, are school supply drives at the end of summer.  Food banks are always taking donations, especially during Thanksgiving.  Lastly, let’s not forget the animals.  Local no kill animal rescues are always in need of pet food, supplies, and services.  

Off Site Social Activities

Ok, I’ll admit that sometimes we need our space because our crew can get on our last nerve and we want to put as much space between us and them.  When it’s not one of those times, off site social activities can be a lot of fun and it’s a great chance to decompress and get to know your crew better.  When I was an analyst in the lab, we used to go to dinner and a movie. I used to join friends from other departments at the local Irish pub for dinner and drinks.  I have several guys on my crew that do fantasy sports and online gaming together. There are a few guys in my department that do role playing games together.  Honestly, you’re only limited by your imagination.    

When you work an unconventional schedule that keeps you on the job site for a long period of time, you can become very close to your crew.  In fact, to a point your crew becomes your second family.  This can be very positive or very dysfunctional, and this is where good workplace etiquette comes in.  Nobody understands a shift worker quite like another shift worker.  Your crew that you work with understands the quirks of working an unconventional schedule, so what better place to forge new friendships than the crew you work with?  We’re all unique individuals, it has been my experience that following a few basic rules can help minimize workplace friction.

Leave Your Religion (or lack thereof) at Home

The workplace is not a place to proselytize your religious beliefs or judge those who are religious.  Religion and spirituality are all very personal things.  Promoting your own religious beliefs or attacking the beliefs of others is terrible workplace etiquette and it can become an HR issue.  Unless you are a missionary or a preacher, and people are voluntarily coming to you, you are not in the business of converting and saving people.  It’s ok to have a private conversation about religion with a like minded coworker.  Preaching to people who may not be interested in what you have to say is not conducive to good workplace etiquette and can have ramifications. People are entitled to come to work and not feel like they are being preached at. 

Yes, This Really Happened

I work for a major engineering company; there were a few Hindu engineers that were from different castes.  The engineer from the higher caste was always disrespectful to the engineer of the lower caste in a passive aggressive way.  The engineer from the lower caste always did very good work and was rewarded with a huge promotion.  That caused a problem because the engineer from the higher caste was now a subordinate to the man he looked down on.  He refused to follow directions from his lead engineer because that man was from a lower caste.  Needless to say, HR got involved and there was a reckoning.

Bringing your religious beliefs to work is not only bad workplace etiquette, it can be a huge HR headache. Don’t do it.

Acceptable Practices

The Civil Rights Act does allow for religious expression in the workplace.  It has to be free from harassment and workplace operations can’t be compromised.  Jewelry or accessories of a religious nature such as a hijab, a yarmulke, a turban, or a cross around your neck is perfectly acceptable as long as it doesn’t interfere with your job duties.  I’m saying this because I know of a Sikh engineer that had to go into a full PPE zone.  His hardhat didn’t fit over his turban and he refused to remove his turban.  This became major safety issue and a life critical one at that.  Management and HR had to get involved.  Always consult the employee manual or ask HR if you have any questions.   

Leave Your Politics At Home

Where do I even begin with this?  Politics can be a very divisive topic and can cause a lot of friction and division at work.  I have personally witnessed shouting matches over political differences.  Let me tell you, it’s exhausting. Political parties, elections, elected officials, and whatever controversial issues of the day can get volatile so it’s best to just leave it all at home. Engaging in positive, thought-provoking discussions with coworkers can be a great opportunity to get to know each other, especially coworkers you may not have much in common with.  The key is to be a mature adult about it and agree to disagree over differences of opinion.

Leave Your Social Justice Cause At Home

I have to be honest with you.  Nobody cares about your social justice cause, so just leave it at home.  Identity politics is also huge no go zone.  Literally, just don’t go there.  Whether you work a 9-5 job or an unconventional schedule, people go to work to earn a living, not be socially engineered.

Leave Your Personal Problems At Home

Most of us know or have known someone who is a swirling vortex of drama. Everywhere they go, they throw themselves a pity party and it just becomes exhausting.  It is a genuine act of kindness to be a good listener and a friend, but people like this can be real energy vampires and they can be incredibly unpleasant to work with.  Avoid these people like the plague, they thrive on attention and drama.  Starve their insatiable need for attention by not giving them any.  Also, don’t be this person, and if you are this person, do some self-reflections on why you have so much drama and angst in your life.

Bad Things Happen to Good People

Life events happen to all of us, they can be minor trials and tribulations, or they can be catastrophic.  Death, divorce, illness, major tragedies and other traumas can be very taxing and can hinder our ability to do our job.  Most workplaces have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), to help us through difficult times.   EAP’s are voluntary work-based programs that offer free and confidential assessments, short term counseling, referrals and follow-up services for employees that are having personal and/or work-related problems.  Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can give insight on what your problems are and how to solve them. 

Protect Yourself

This is more than workplace etiquette. Making your personal problems everyone else’s business could result in a coworker using it against you.  Workplace gossip can be vicious.  The person you thought you could confide in can easily betray you by turning your problems against you and making you a liability.  When you utilize your EAP, you are getting confidential and professional help.  You can rest assure that your problems aren’t going to be water cooler gossip.   

Don’t Sh*t Where You Eat

I’m very sorry for the crude heading but be very leery of workplace romances. When you co-mingle your personal life with your professional life, your personal life becomes everyone’s business at work.  Workplace gossip can get brutal.  Even worse, if you break up with that person, it can get ugly.  Seeing your ex every time you go to work can make the breakup more painful, and any rancor between you can, and often will, spill over to the workplace and nobody wants a toxic work environment, especially people who had nothing to do with your former relationship. 

The Ripple Effect

Failed workplace relationships are much more than just a failed relationship.  Friends of your ex can turn against you.  The feeling of not wanting to go to work because you don’t want to see your ex can affect your job performance, that can lead to a bad performance evaluation from your management and that can affect your career.  If that’s not bad enough, some ex’s can get very vindictive and sabotage your career with a bogus harassment complaint to HR.  I can’t emphasize enough, tread lightly when it comes to workplace romances.  

It’s Much More Than Workplace Etiquette, It’s Your Career

Earlier I said nobody understands a shift worker quite like another shift worker. It’s easy and common for friendships and romances to start between people who work the same profession on the same schedule.  Workplace couples are a common thing that spans professions and plenty of people have met the love of their life at work. The key here is to keep it professional.  Keep work separate from your relationship and your relationship separate from work and you should have no issues.  HR can’t micromanage your personal life outside of work ,but if said personal life is causing problems at work, it becomes HR’s business.   

A major problem with people who work night shift, rotating shift, or early morning shift is getting adequate sleep. Humans are hard-wired to be asleep when it’s dark out and awake when it’s light out.  This circadian cycle has been with us since the beginning of time.

Getting adequate sleep is very important for our physical and mental health and to carry out our job duties.  Shift workers work in very critical industries where the slightest mistake can have serious consequences, ergo, adequate rest and recovery are critical for shift workers.

It’s Not Just Your Beauty Sleep

Sleep is very important for your overall health and well-being.  During sleep, our bodies convert food into fuel to power the processes of repair and restoration in our bodies.  Signaling proteins are produced to regulate inflammation and immune response.  Old, damaged cells and cellular components get broken down and their building blocks get recycled in a process called autophagy.  Growth hormones are released to build muscle mass and repair cells.  When your sleep cycle is disrupted, these critical processes get disrupted.

Adequate sleep is important for optimal cognitive function.  Optimal cognitive function is essential for peak concentration, productivity, and problem-solving.  Sleep is also essential for memory consolidation.  During sleep, the brain processes and stores information gathered throughout the day, enhancing memory retention and learning.  If you ever feel like you are forgetful or just scatter-brained, this is why.  Adequate sleep also helps us regulate our emotions and manage stress.  Everyone gets cranky when they’re tired.

Adequate sleep helps to maintain a healthy weight by regulating hunger hormones.  People who get enough sleep have optimal levels of the satiety hormone leptin and the hunger hormone ghrelin.  If you’re a shift worker, it’s common for the satiety and hunger hormone balance to be off.   If you feel like you eat too much of the wrong foods or just eat too much, this is the reason why.  Barring bad eating habits or other underlying health issues, people who get enough sleep should have a healthy body weight.

Shift Worker Sleep Disorder: Yes, It’s Real!

Yay! We have a disorder named after us!  Aren’t we special?  Let’s be real, when “shift work” appears in the name of a disorder, you know the disorder is real and it is serious among shift workers.  Shift Work Sleep Disorder (SWSD) results from the disruption of the body’s natural circadian cycle.

It overwhelmingly affects people who work the night shift, early morning day shift, and rotating shift because work interferes with our natural sleep cycles.  Oftentimes, when we are supposed to be asleep, we are at work and vice versa.  When our internal clock is disrupted, it leads to sleep disorders.

Symptoms of Shift Work Sleep Disorder

The symptoms of SWSD vary in severity, but they include:

1. Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. The body’s internal clock is primarily influenced by external light and darkness. Humans are hard-wired to be awake when it’s light out and asleep when it’s dark out.
2. Fatigue during waking hours. Inadequate sleep and sleep cycles being disrupted lead to drowsiness when we are supposed to be awake.
3. Poor quality sleep. This is another instance where the body’s internal clock influences sleep cycles.  Night shift workers who sleep during the day often struggle to get quality sleep because the body knows it is light out and, therefore, should be awake.  Other external factors such as background noise can compound the problem.
4. It’s commonly said that shift workers, especially the night shift, run on caffeine and rage.  If you’re a cranky misanthrope, the night shift may be the perfect cover for you.  All jokes aside, sleep helps to regulate emotional stability.  It enables better stress management and mental resilience.  If you’re getting irritable and short-tempered, it means you need sleep.
5. Difficulty concentrating, reduced performance, and making mistakes more frequently. This is a huge red flag because this is where inadequate sleep or poor-quality sleep can be very dangerous.  You wouldn’t go to work drunk, would you?  You wouldn’t because that’s dangerous and a huge liability for your employer, yet you work exhausted.  Like alcohol, sleep deprivation impairs judgment, reaction time, decision-making, and increases the risk of a major accident.

Sleeping for Shift Work: Making the Best of a Less Than Ideal Schedule

It’s no joke that the night shift, rotating shift, and early morning shift wreaks havoc on your sleep cycle.  The fact that there is a sleep disorder named after us speaks volumes.  We can’t control the disrupted sleep cycles our job entails but some hacks can help mitigate the effects of “shift worker sleep”.  I don’t know about you but I like to focus on the things I can control.

1. Try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule. If you can, try to stick to the same sleep schedule on your days off. Consistency helps regulate your body’s internal clock.  If you have a family, this might not be possible if you only work the night shift.  If you work a rotating shift, your sleep schedule changes by the week.  I work rotating shifts, so I have the same home routine each day of the work week.
2. Have a pre-bedtime ritual. What relaxes you?  What makes you want to curl up and go to sleep? Some people meditate and do deep breathing exercises, others have a cup of warm milk or herbal tea.  Warm showers can be very relaxing as a ritual to wash work off of you.  My pre-bedtime rituals for the day and night shift involve brushing my teeth, my skincare ritual, and brushing and winding my hair into a bun.
3. Make your environment conducive to sleep. Think about what makes you sleep like a baby.
4. Avoid the light like a vampire.
5. Limit food and drink.
6. Don’t exercise before bed.
7. Limit caffeine intake hours before you plan on going to bed.
8. Take short naps if you can.
9. Manage stress.
10. Make sure people know your work and sleep schedule so they know not to bother you during the hours you sleep.
11. Make sleep a high priority.
12. Consider sleep aids.

Night shift is like jet lag except you’re not on vacation and you’re stuck in the same time zone

In a previous post, I have discussed the nature of shift work.  A make-or-break factor in surviving, and even thriving while working an unconventional schedule lies in what you do when you’re off duty.  I feel it is important to go into my day-to-day life to help you create a better work/life balance.

My Night Shift Week

In a previous post, I mentioned that I work the DuPont schedule.  My first week of work consists of four 12-hour night shifts from Monday through Thursday.  The day before I start, I get household chores out of the way, so I don’t have to worry about them throughout the work week.  I get housekeeping, laundry, and meal prepping done, the weekend before the night shift.

My sleep cycle will be flipped for a week so I stay awake as late as possible, so I can sleep in as late as possible.  The day I go in for my first night shift for the week, I don’t do any chores.  I’m going to be up all night working so this is my time to relax or do something I like.  Fitness is very important to me. I work out nearly every day, and I highly recommend that you make it a priority too.  Exercise does a lot for your physical and mental health as well as your energy levels when you work an unconventional schedule.  Find a fitness pursuit you like and stick to it.  Mix up your workouts so you don’t get bored and challenge your body.  I get cranky and short-tempered if I miss a workout.

The Night Shift Cycle

A critical factor in thriving while working an unconventional schedule is consistency.  When I get home from a 12-hour night shift, I put my food containers in the dirty tub near the sink, feed the dog, wash up and go to bed.  Before going to bed, I shut off all electronic devices.  Nothing is more annoying than getting an unwanted call, text or alert when you are trying to sleep off a long night shift.

Yes, Self Care Matters!

Upon waking, I wash up, make coffee, and relax.  Relaxing outside in fresh air and natural light can be very invigorating.  After coffee, I work out for 30 -90 minutes.  My workouts make a huge difference in my energy levels and overall attitude, so they are a critical part of my home routine.  After working out, I eat a light meal or blend a protein drink.  I might do a few light chores such as watering plants and loading the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, but I limit household chores to 30 minutes.  This isn’t super critical, but a few minutes of chores done every day spares me from having to catch up on them on my first day off.  You do what works for you.

Go Time!

An hour before I go to work, I start getting ready. I feed my dog, get cleaned up, and pack my meals for the night.  Remember the meal prepping I talked about earlier?  This is where it comes in handy.  I pull a pre-prepped lunch and a dinner out of the fridge and put them in my lunch bag and I add a few snacks for good measure.  I like to pack a caffeinated drink such as a freshly brewed coffee or a healthy energy drink.  At 11:00 pm, an extra dose of caffeine helps me to complete my shift.  I repeat this cycle throughout the week until my day off.

The Awaited Weekend

After working four 12-hour night shifts, I take a break on Friday, my first day off.  I wake up at midday, wash up, and make coffee.  I take a break from working out because I just worked four 12-hour night shifts and I feel I earned a day to relax.  What is important here is to decompress and do something you love, treat yourself.  You earned it. Treating yourself does so much for your mental health.  I’m a foodie, so I make a simple dinner for my family and I enjoy the evening.  Over the weekend, I get caught up on sleep, work out, and get household chores, including meal preps done for the following week.  I go to bed early Sunday night because I need to be at work early Monday morning.

Hell Week

The week of six 12-hour shifts is known as Hell Week.  It consists of three 12-hour day shifts, a big fat 48-hour break, and three 12-hour night shifts.  I like to look at it as two blocks of three shifts.  For the first block, I go to bed early because I wake up very early.  Upon awakening, I get dressed, wash up, feed my dog, and pack my lunch with the meals I pre-prepped over the weekend and go.  When I come home, I put my dirty food containers in the dirty tub, change my clothes, and work out for 30-40 minutes.  After working out, I have dinner, then I feed my dog and get his breakfast ready.  I assemble my breakfast and lunch, if it isn’t already prepped, wash up and relax.  I keep this routine for every day shift I work.

The 48-hour break is a time to get caught up on lost sleep, relax, and prep the body for three-night shifts coming up.  I do light chores and I prep meals for the next few days.  This 48-hour break is a good time to work out and book any appointments. I want to emphasize that the top priority in this short break time is to get caught up on sleep and decompress.  Unless they are very critical, appointments can wait for a better day.

For my three-night shifts, I practice the same night shift cycle I follow for my four-night shifts.

The Awaited Weekend 2.0

I spend my time on my three-day break after Hell Week the same way I spend my weekend after my four-night shifts.  Getting caught up on sleep is the priority.  Flipping sleep cycles is very taxing on the body so it’s important to let the body rest, recover, and decompress.  I take a break from working out on my first day off but resume on my other days off.  I book appointments and do chores that need to be done on those three days off.  Lastly, I meal prep for the final four days of the rotation.

The Final Four

No, it isn’t collegiate basketball, The Final Four is the last four days of rotation.  They are day shift so I manage these four days the same way I manage my three day shifts during Hell Week.  A word of warning, never, ever say “Only four days left!”; because those four days drag as though there is a lag in the space time continuum.

The Payoff

I bet you didn’t know that seven-day weekends exist.  They do when you work the DuPont schedule.  After my final four-day shifts, I get seven days off where I don’t even have to think about work.  Extended breaks such as this are a great time to take off for a mini-vacation or just stay home and sleep in.  It’s important to relax, reset, and get caught up on sleep.  This is a good time to book appointments or get caught up on chores.

Many of us have family duties that require our attention, just understand that this is your time off.  Don’t overextend yourself.  Don’t feel like you have to clean your house from top to bottom and don’t let people lasso you into doing things for them.  Being off doesn’t obligate you to be available for everyone else.  “No” is a complete sentence, you are not obligated to work for free.  Being stretched in many different directions on your time off will stress you out, and you will be mentally exhausted when you return to work.  A stressed-out and mentally exhausted shift worker can be a major workplace liability, so don’t do it.  You work an unconventional schedule, and you have earned the right to enjoy yourself while you relax and reset on your days off.

 

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.-Winston Churchill

 

Having worked DuPont schedule since 2014, the unconventional working hours and disrupted sleep cycles are the most challenging facets of rotating shift work for me. I’m not going to lie, switching from night shift to day shift, and back again is brutal.  With some careful planning and commitment, it is very possible to maintain a healthy work/life balance.  After all, my reason for starting The Balanced Work Life blog is to show everybody, regardless of their work schedule, how to have a positive work/life balance and a fulfilling life.

Organize and Plan Ahead for Better Productivity

I know it sounds a little pedantic, but having everything set up and prepped ahead of time saves a lot of aggravation and it prevents you from forgetting anything you need.  I like to be able to wake up, grab my clothes I laid out, wash up, make coffee, grab my meals I prepped ahead of time and pack them away in my lunchbox, feed my dog and go.  Not forgetting something and not arriving to work aggravated makes for a much better shift worker.

Create a Consistent Sleep Schedule for Optimal Health and Wellness

Establishing a regular sleep routine benefits everyone of all ages, but shift workers benefit the most.  Start with having a regular bedtime. If you work rotating shift like I do, you need to have a consistent sleep routine for the days you work night shift, the days you work the day shift and your days off.  I make sure I go to bed early at the same time because productive sleep is critical.  When I am sleeping off night shift, I like to fool the body into thinking it is nighttime by isolating myself from the world around me.  I like to use a low dose of melatonin, wear a sleep mask and earplugs and go to bed as soon as I get home.  I don’t eat anything, I don’t drink anything and all electronics are turned off.

Plan Your Meals Ahead of Time for Convenience and Better Health

Meal prep is absolutely critical for the health and wellness of a shift worker. A major problem with shift work is weight gain. Preparing and packing nutritious home cooked meals and snacks for your shifts is the biggest and most important step you can take to avoid weight gain and keep your health.  Shift work entails being awake and working some very unpleasant hours.  You need to be in good health to be able to do that and eating healthy is the key.  As a bonus, you will save a lot of money by meal prepping.  I know we’re all human, but avoid relying on unhealthy, processed, and fast food during your meal breaks. Eating a balanced diet will help you stay energized and focused throughout your shift.

Stay Hydrated

Though shift workers run on caffeine, it is important to drink plenty of water during your shifts to stay hydrated. One ounce of water for every 2 pounds of bodyweight is a good number to go by.  If you do a lot of outdoor work, work in the heat and/or move around a lot when you work, you will need even more water.  Dehydration can lead to fatigue and decreased cognitive function, and that can compromise your ability to do your job effectively.  That may lead to an unsafe work situation for you and those around you.

Exercise for Better Physical and Mental Health

Always make exercise a priority for your health and wellness.  Yes, shift work is exhausting but that is even more reason to exercise.  Incorporate exercise into your daily routine, even if it’s a light workout, just do it.  Physical activity will boost your energy levels and improve your mood. I know if I don’t exercise, I get cranky.  Choose activities you enjoy, but also challenge you. Working out before your shift is a wonderful way to help you stay alert during work hours.  I workout for 30-90 minutes before night shift.  It does so much for my mood and energy levels and helps me get through the night.  When I work day shift, I workout for 30-45 minutes as soon as I get home.  Some workplaces have a gym and encourage employees to workout during their breaks or workout before or after their shift.

Be Mindful of Your Caffeine and Sugar Intake

As I said earlier, shift workers run on caffeine.  I am a coffee fiend, I LOVE coffee.  One of my favorite times of the day is my coffee ritual.  Nearly everybody of every walk of life is dependent on coffee to some extent and a lot of times, coffee is accompanied with sugary treats. The problem is that excessive consumption can lead to energy surges and crashes, contribute to weight gain, and disrupt your sleep if you’re a shift worker. Refrain from caffeine and snacking towards the end of your shift.  If you are working the night shift, you are going to want to go to sleep when you get home.  If you are working the early morning shift, you will need to get dinner and rest when you get home and you don’t want coffee and sweets to spoil your appetite and interfere with sleep.

Take Advantage of Naps

If your workplace allows, take short naps during your breaks to help combat fatigue. A 20-minute power nap makes a huge difference in your alertness.  Some professions that have long, extended shifts include sleep time in the work schedule.  What‘s important, is to avoid accidents and mistakes that can result from worker fatigue.  Drowsy driving is very dangerous, in fact it can be as dangerous as drunk driving because your reactions times and decision making are compromised.  Power naps after your shift ends could make a huge difference in your ability to get yourself home safely.  Remember, you want to get home in the same condition as when you left.

Create a Bedtime Ritual

Wind down after your shift and before bed with pleasant, calming activities like reading, listening to music, meditation, or taking a warm bath or shower. This can signal to your body that it’s time to sleep, even if it’s during the daytime.  My bedtime ritual for both day and night shift is to brush out my hair, pull it up and wash up.  I’m a big believer in good skin care so my beauty rituals are a focal point my bedtime routine.  What matters is that your bedtime ritual is pleasant, calming and puts you in a mindset of having a productive sleep.

Communicate Clearly with Family and Friends

Be very clear what your schedule is to your family and friends so they can respect your work and sleep hours and plan activities accordingly.  Also, don’t be afraid of claiming “me time”.  You work hard, you also work and sleep an odd schedule; you have every right to have time to yourself if you so desire it.  I personally love family time before a weekend night shift, it makes me feel like I have a life outside of work.  Family time doesn’t have to be anything complicated; we just watch a movie or some anime or play video games together.  I also claim my “me time” when I work out.

Be Mindful of Alcohol Consumption

Avoid excessive alcohol consumption.  My employer has an 8 hour rule that you must be clear of alcohol or any medications that impair judgement and reaction times; most workplaces have a similar rule.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying a little alcohol after work to decompress or with a meal; just don’t use shift work as an excuse to drink frequently and/or excessively and avoid alcohol before bedtime.  Alcohol can make you feel relaxed but it interferes with normal sleep cycles and it acts as a diuretic.  The last thing you want is to be awakened because you need to pee.

Avoid Smoking for Better Health and Wellness

Nothing good comes out of smoking and vaping.  You are already stressing and taxing your body’s systems by working shift, don’t make it any worse by smoking, drinking and eating processed foods.  Many companies have employee health and wellness programs and most healthcare plans offer smoking cessation support as does the Employee Assistance Plans.

Listen to Your Body and Mind

When you work shift, self-care is paramount. Pay extra special attention to excessive stress and signs of shift worker burnout. Understand that your days off are your days off to rest and re-charge. Don’t feel compelled to clean your whole house from top to bottom and don’t feel compelled to cook a big fancy meal every night.  Don’t, under any circumstances, let friends or family rope you into doing extra tasks.  “No!” is a complete sentence.  Go to a movie, get a massage, have lunch with friends, spend a day in your pajamas and watch your favorite tv show.  Just take care of yourself.  Take advantage of PTO if you really need to and get away.  Seek support from the employee assistance program or a healthcare professional if needed.

Take Breaks

During your shifts, take advantage of short breaks to stretch, move around, and relax. If it’s safe, and if you can get outside, go for a walk.  Take the stairs instead of the elevator.  Moving around is a great way to reset your focus and give you a little extra pep to get through your shift.  Even better, it can help reduce stress and prevent musculoskeletal issues from prolonged sitting or standing.

Supportive Supplements

Before I go any further, I want to emphasize that I’m not a healthcare provider.  Supplements are very personal and everybody is different.  What works for you, might not be the best for someone else, but it’s very common for shift workers to take melatonin to regulate sleep.  Another supplement popular among shift workers, especially night shift workers,  is vitamin D because of limited exposure to sunlight due to night shifts.

Regular Health Checkups

Because of our unconventional schedule, shift workers have unique healthcare needs.  It’s important to schedule routine check-ups with your healthcare provider to monitor your overall health and address any potential issues early on.  Regular blood work reveals a lot of what is going on in your body and can help track and trend any problems that may arise.  According to the National Institutes of Health, night shift and rotating shift workers run a higher risk for vitamin D and testosterone deficiencies, even among women, so make sure you discuss this with your healthcare provider.

Have a Buddy

I like to call these Ride or Die Homies.  Have a close friend, family member or trustworthy co-worker you can confide in about your shift work challenges. Having a buddy can be an effective accountability partner to help you accomplish personal or work-related goals and a buddy can provide emotional and practical support.

Don’t Work Overtime

True confession, I am guilty of this.  Yes, it is very tempting to work extra hours for overtime pay, but you need to prioritize your physical and mental health.  Try to avoid excessive overtime because excess overtime can lead to burnout.  Lastly, do not let a supervisor bully you into working overtime.  An exhausted shift worker can be a major liability.

Balance isn’t something you find, it’s something you create.- Jana Kingsford

I tailor this blog specifically for people who work an unconventional schedule.  Some of you that work a more conventional schedule, or a stay-at-home parent might be wondering what shift work is.  Let me tell you, we’re the people that keep you safe, healthy and comfortable.

Shift Workers Make the World Go Round

Let me ask you this, have you ever needed to fill your gas tank or go to the store late at night?  Have you ever heard a fire truck rushing to put out a burning building in the wee hours of the morning?  Have you ever had to go to the pharmacy after hours to pick up medicine for a sick child?  What would you do if you, your spouse, or your child have a major medical emergency at 3:00 am?  Chances are you have encountered a shift worker.  We live in a 24/7 world and shift workers make that world run.

Shift work refers to a work schedule that is outside of the traditional 9-to-5 working hours Monday-Friday. Instead of the standard daytime schedule, shift workers are assigned to work unconventional time periods, such as early morning shift, evening shift, or night shifts. This unconventional arrangement allows different industries to provide round-the-clock services or maintain continuous operations in industries that require constant coverage.  These industries are many: healthcare, food service, retail, military, mining, public utilities, meteorology, transportation, manufacturing, sanitation, law enforcement, fire, emergency services, hospitality, and customer service.

So What Hours Do You Work?

Shift work is a work schedule that is usually performed in rotations.  Different groups of workers do the same jobs in different rotations throughout the day with a small turnover period at the beginning and at the end of shift.  Shift work can be categorized into several types of arrangements such as rotating shifts, fixed shifts, and split shift.

I work DuPont schedule; it is a variation of rotating shift.  I work four 12-hour night shifts followed by three days off; three 12 hour day shifts followed by a big fat 48 hours off; three 12 hour night shifts followed by three days off; and four 12 hour day shifts followed by a lovely seven day weekend where nobody has to even think about work.  Trust me, the most coveted day of the rotation is the Sunday right before the seven-day break.  We call that blessed day Super Friday.  The most dangerous place to be, is between anyone I work with and the exit at quitting time on Super Friday.

Pros of Shift Work

I know you’re shaking your head and wondering what could possibly be an advantage of working such an unconventional schedule. Hear me out.  Working 12-hour shifts on a rotating schedule has forced me look at it from a glass half full approach.  As unusual and exhausting as shift work can be, there are many advantages of working such an unconventional schedule.

Higher Earning Potential

Many industries that require shift work offer perks such as a shift differential and overtime rates. Where I live, every hour over 12 hours in day counts as overtime pay and every hour over the conventional 40 hours a week counts as overtime.  Overtime rates in my state count as time and a half.  Time and a half pay compounded with shift differential can add up to a lot of extra money on your paycheck. Some industries factor in hazard pay as well.  I get all three pay bumps when I work night shift.  All of this can lead to a significantly higher earning potential for shift worker.  I was once offered a straight day schedule working four ten-hour shifts.  Though I loved working a 4/10 schedule in the past, I declined this offer because I ran the numbers and saw the money I would be losing.

Better Opportunities

Shift work involving rotating shifts can expose employees to a variety of tasks, responsibilities, and colleagues. This variety can help develop a broad skill set that can be transferred anywhere.  Another reason I like working shift is that it looks good on a resume to future employers.  Working an unconventional schedule shows that you have a work ethic, an ability to self manage, and a degree of tenacity that a future employer may find desirable.

Better Work Life Balance

I know what you’re thinking, “You’re kidding me, right?”.  This could almost be its own blog post. Having worked DuPont schedule for many years, I’m passionate about helping other shift workers find a positive work-life balance.  Here is a list of perks of working an unconventional schedule:

1. You won’t be stuck in rush hour traffic. Because I work rotating shift, my commutes to and from work are outside the usual rush hour times.
2. You won’t have to compete with everyone else when you’re off. This is my favorite perk. You can book hair, massage, dental, medical, or whatever appointments when everyone else is working.  You can run errands, go to the gym without having to battle a crowd. You see a movie and eat out at a cheaper price because you’re not doing it during peak hours.
3. You NEVER, EVER take your work home with you. Not ever!  Many professionals take their work home with them but not shift workers.  Seriously, a lot of working professionals have a home office, but not shift workers. When you’re off, you really are off.
4. You might get less wear and tear on your car and use less fuel. This will vary based on the schedule you work but I work 14 12-hour shifts over a three week rotation.  I would be putting a lot more miles on my car and using a lot more gas if I worked a conventional schedule.
5. You can have more uninterrupted family time when you’re off. Instead of a few hours, you can have days to do things together.
6. You can take vacations outside of the peak season and not have to deal with crowds and you usually get cheaper prices. A manager of mine took his wife and kids on a cruise to Puerto Rico on his seven days off.  His wife was a stay-at-home mother that home schooled the kids.  The kids got a great field trip and the family got to have a great tropical vacation.
7. If you’re an introvert, working an unconventional schedule such as night shift or rotating shift might be a better fit because you’re not around as many people.

Cons of Shift Work

With every benefit, there are tradeoffs.  Here are some major cons to working an unconventional schedule.

Disrupted Circadian Cycle

I’m not going to lie, working rotating shift wrecks havoc on your sleep cycles.  The most significant drawback of rotating shift is the exhaustion from the regular disruption of the body’s natural circadian rhythms. Since the beginning of time, humans awakened with the sun rising and sleeping after the sun sets.  Humans are not meant to be awake and working during the night and we’re certainly not meant to have our sleep cycles flipped around.  As a result, irregular sleep patterns and working during nighttime hours can lead to fatigue, weight gain, worker burnout, sleep disorders, and increased risk of accidents.

Disrupted Social and Family Life

Shift work can cause a serious strain on personal relationships due to conflicting schedules with family and friends. Spending quality time with loved ones, helping children out with homework, taking children to extracurricular activities, and participating in social activities that occur during regular working hours becomes impossible.  Even single, unattached and childless shift workers find themselves feeling isolated and devoid of a life outside of work.

Health Risks

Shift work has been associated with an assortment of health issues such as increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Even worse for those who work rotating shift, the irregular schedule and disruption of the body’s internal clock can cause chronic fatigue, weight gain and it can negatively impact overall health.

Reduced Productivity and Performance

This is no joke.  Shift workers that work night shift and rotating shift frequently suffer from fatigue and sleep deprivation.   This can lead to decreased productivity, impaired concentration, and reduced cognitive abilities. Maintaining focus and making critical decisions, especially during night shifts, can be very difficult at times.  Critical industries employ shift workers; an exhausted and sleep deprived employee can be very dangerous.  Let’s not forget that a physically and mentally exhausted shift worker driving home from night shift can be at a high risk of a car accident.

Lack of Social Support and Resources

Support services, such as childcare, healthcare, and recreational facilities are mostly tailored to conventional 9-5 workers.  Though 24 hour gyms are becoming more widely available, they are not everywhere.  Childcare needs to be privately arranged and will likely cost more because daycare centers operate during conventional hours.  Furthermore, healthcare providers, therapists, hair stylists, and bankers work during conventional hours so the shift worker might need to get creative when scheduling an appointment.

Limited Career Advancement

This varies on the industry, but shift workers could face limited opportunities for career advancement compared to their counterparts who work conventional daytime schedules. There is no question that shift workers are resourceful and dedicated, but factors such as reduced visibility, less interaction with management, and fewer training and job development opportunities occur during non-standard shifts.

 

Night shift workers don’t have a regular bedtime; we have a “suggested sleep duration” that we never meet.