When you work a 24/7 roster which encompasses some pretty ruthless hours, shift work burnout is going to be inevitable.

Considering sleep deprivation is often unavoidable and many employees have to work harder in today’s economic environment – burnout is becoming increasingly common amongst employees around the world.

But can you reduce the effects of shift work burnout?

You bet. And it all begins by watching out for the symptoms.

These may include things like headaches, stomach aches, high blood pressure, back and neck pain and even skin rashes. They are basically warning signs that your body is not at its optimum. In fact when you suffer from shift work burnout you can become more susceptible to viruses and other infections.

You may even begin to feel disillusioned at work and loose enthusiasm to do things. These are all warning signs. Some people may even develop a negative attitude and become quite cynical which can lead to varying degrees of depression.

Basically you begin to question what you are doing and why – which can lead to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.

You may even feel so frustrated and dissatisfied in your job that you begin to take more days off than usual and begin looking for a new job so that you can resign.

And you know when things are getting particularly bad when it begins to affect your personal life. This may be a change in personality which at its worst, leads to aggressive behaviour towards your friends and family.

Not a good sign.

So there is no denying that shift workers are prone to burnout as sleep deprivation can be one of the major contributing factors.

There are however some things which you can do to help reduce the effects of this burnout:

Ten Tips to Help Reduce Shift Work Burnout:

1. Use an imaginary bubble to help separate yourself from what’s going on around you. Try to detach yourself and become less emotionally involved with things that are happening in the workplace.

2. Find ways to relax and recharge. Listen to some music, meditate or practice yoga to help clear out the mental clutter.

3. Don’t try and be a martyr – you are not a machine. Despite what society seems to dictate these days, you don’t always have to appear strong.

4. Have realistic expectations. Shift work is tough – it really is, so you have to accept that feelings of burnout is actually normal. In fact it’s inevitable, so it’s important that you start taking care of yourself.

5. Try not to become too involved and take work problems home with you. Once you leave work turn off that imaginary switch in your head.

6. Seek help – talk to family and friends. Just admitting that you are experiencing burnout can make you feel better.

7. Cut out the overtime. Working exceedingly long hours in the fastest way to accelerate shift work burnout.

8. Allow yourself time to enjoy yourself and have a good laugh – guilt free. Treat yourself to some nice things for a change.

9. Be less intense at work – don’t take it seriously. Be carefree and have some fun.

10. Book yourself in for a check up. Just like your car needs servicing regularly – so does your body.

So it’s important to realise that you can never eliminate shift work burnout. It will come and go throughout your career for as long as you continue to work irregular hours.

However in order to reduce the debilitating effects, you must learn to recognize the symptoms (and don’t ignore them) so that you can begin to apply some simple strategies to help manage these feelings the best way you can.

Surviving the rigours of night shift along with early and late shifts is a battle fought by many shift workers around the world. In fact walking around in a zombie-like state is often regarded as being “the norm” when you have to work 24/7.

Having spent 17 years of my own life revolving around an alarm clock which would pierce the silence of my bedroom at the most inhospitable of hour, sleep deprivation became not only a way of life – but it was my life.

And along with sleep deprivation comes a multitude of other issues – weight gain, depression, loneliness and even a feeling of helplessness.

All in all not a particularly good way to live.

But after 17 years of working shift work and desperately trying to find a way to stay healthy yet keep sane at the same time – I came to the realisation that surviving the perils of shift work and keeping your head above water can be done if you apply what I like to call ‘The Five Fundamentals of Shift Work’.

1. Be organised – if you’re not organised then you’re going to be struggling from day one. When you work a 24/7 roster there is no routine. Every day and every week is different so make things easier for yourself by getting organised the day before – it will save you a lot of heartache in the long-run. And when you apply these habits on a daily basis they will also help remove a lot of unwanted stress in your life which is definitely a good thing.

2. Make time for your friends and family – this is incredibly important. If you’re not careful you can end up leading a lonely life when you work 24/7 so it’s really important to find the time for friends and family. It can be a bit tricky around an erratic schedule but it can be done. Studies have shown people who live the longest have good social networks so make the effort to reconnect with your friends and loved ones.

3. Drink loads of water - water is hands down one of the easiest ways to help reduce the effects of chronic fatigue and the best part is it’s free! As Dr Batmanghelidj outlines in his book ‘Your Body’s Many Cries For Water: You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty. Don’t Treat Thirst with Medication’ , most of the population today suffers from tiredness because of dehydration which can be fixed quite easily by drinking more water every day.

4. Fuel your body up with nutrition – you cannot expect to feel energised if your diet consists of predominantly fast food. Your body needs nutritious food to keep it going (even more so when you’re running on next to no sleep) so only eat food which is going to energise you – not take it away. And that’s exactly what take away food does – it takes it away, sapping your energy as your body struggles to digest the toxic over processed food.

5. Surrender to sleep – if you’re tired then listen to your body. Nothing can replace sleep but a 20 minutes nap can make the world of difference as it allows your mind and body to switch off completely and re-energize. Just like you recharge your batteries when they get low, give your body a bit of a mini-boost by allowing it the time to recharge as well. It will thank you for even the smallest amount of sleep-time.

So don’t spend your life gasping for breathe and drowning amongst the erratic hours of shift work. Apply the Five Shift Work Fundamentals above and not only will you be able to keep your head above water despite having to work irregular hours, but you’ll also begin to feel much healthier and happier in your shift working job as well.