Tag Archives: shift work sleeping tips

Posted on

Can't Sleep Through The Night? A Shift Worker's Biggest Mistake!

If you’re a shift worker who is struggling to sleep through the night, then you’re probably walking around in a zombie like state of extreme exhaustion.

Of course there are many reasons why this may be so, but have you ever looked closely at your eating habits?

Because if you can’t sleep through the night, a shift worker’s biggest mistake can often be from consuming an excessively large meal before going to bed.

Eating a big meal is going to interfere with your sleeping mechanisms as a large meal requires a lot of energy for it to be digested properly.

In fact the absorption of possible stimulating agents in the diet plus the release of hormones in the intestines after the heavy meal can keep you awake for the greater part of the night. It can also alter the quality of the sleep that you have which is certainly not good news if you’re a sleep-deprived shift worker.

Some shift workers may even experience vivid dreams following a heavy meal at bedtime and are more likely to wake up feeling hung over and heavy.

So if you can’t sleep through the night, the best solution is to eat a very light snack of salad as the last meal of the day.

If you feel you must have something before going to bed try:

1. A glass of water
2. A vegetable juice or
3. A herbal tea

As any of these three drinks are probably the best and safest snack to have at this time of the day (or night) – depending on your roster.

In this way, not only are you giving your body and brain a rest, but your gastrointestinal tract is given a rest as well allowing for a more restful night’s sleep.

Posted on

Is Constant Worrying Stopping You From Getting A Good Night's Sleep?

Today I’d like to write about something that one of my subscribers mentioned that was causing her a lot of grief. Why? Because I think her situation affects a vast majority of the population – whether you work shift work or not.

Now this lady mentioned that she can’t sleep because she’s constantly worrying.

And if this is something that you can relate to, then read on.

You see I know exactly what she’s going through. I spent many, many years constantly worrying about family matters and a realm of other things – that I had absolutely no control over.

Crazy, but true.

It caused me so much grief, added to my fatigue, disrupted my sleep patterns and even made me physically sick.

And it wasn’t until I stopped worrying and started to change my thoughts, that my life started to change for the better.

Now if you’re familiar with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. If not – then that’s OK.

Because the good news is that you can quite simply, change your life by changing your thoughts.

Sound a bit “out there” for you. Well just stick with me here.

According to teacher and professional speaker Jean Barlow – “90% of what you worry about never happens”.

But interestingly enough – so much of us worry about ‘this and that’ – stuff that we have absolutely no control over, but it ends up having an enormous impact on our overall health and well-being.

So try taking some advice from self-development guru Dale Carnegie:

“If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep”.

So from this day forward, I want you to start changing your thoughts. Get rid of all of the negative, self-destructing and irrelevant thoughts from your head – because they are not helping you one iota.

By clearing your mind of things that you have no control over and cannot change, you will begin to notice that you sleep much more soundly and wake up feeling more refreshed.

And that my friend, has got to be good news if you’re a shift worker!

Posted on

Seven Simple Tips To Help You Fall Asleep!

As a shift worker, finding a way to get a good night’s sleep can sometimes feel like you’re searching for a needle in a haystack – without any success at all!

But it’s important to remember that sleep is as much a mental process as it is a physical one.

No matter what time of the day or night, you need to create a slowing-down period before you go to bed. Let your mind experience a degree of silence and stillness as you prepare for sleep.

This way, you’re helping your mind to unwind and switch off from work. We all know what’s it’s like to try and sleep after night shift, particularly when your head is still spinning from a hectic and stressful time at work.

So what are some simple tips to help you fall asleep?

1. This might sound a bit child-like, but drinking a glass of warm milk before you go to bed is helpful in inducing sleep. The calcium in the milk is calming, and if you add a teaspoon of honey – this can be very soothing.

2. Don’t eat a heavy meal or have any stimulants (including caffeine, cigarettes and alcohol) for at least three hours before retiring.

3. Do walk for 30 minutes each day, preferably during the morning.

4. Don’t watch any television, especially violent or action-oriented programs just before you retire to bed. Instead, learn how to practice meditation so that you can enter into a quiet state of mind.

5. Don’t exercise, unless it’s an easy walk, after 6pm. (Particularly if you have an early start the next day!)

6. Keep an inspirational book or a novel in your bedside table so that it’s handy for some light bedtime reading.

7. Don’t worry about NOT sleeping, or lie awake becoming more and more frustrated. Often simply getting out of bed and walking to the kitchen to get yourself a glass of warm water or camomile tea, or to the bathroom to clean your teeth, helps you to drift into sleep.

So the next time you’re struggling to get a good night’s rest, try these seven simple tips to help you fall asleep! It doesn’t matter if you’re on day shift or night shift, either way if you begin to apply them to your sleeping ritual – you’ll begin to notice that your fight to achieve a perfect night’s sleep, might actually become a thing of the past.