Welcome to A Healthy Shift | The Shift Work Podcast, the podcast helping shift workers thrive while changing how organisations think about people working in 24/7 environments.
Hosted by Roger Sutherland, Australia's Night Shift & Sleep Specialist, this is where evidence meets lived experience.
After more than 40 years of working rotating shifts with Victoria Police, followed by years studying nutrition, circadian biology, chrononutrition, sleep, human performance and women's health, Roger is on a mission to challenge the belief that fatigue, poor sleep, burnout and declining health are simply part of working shifts.
Because they don't have to be.
Whether you're a nurse, paramedic, police officer, firefighter, doctor, aged care worker, manufacturing employee, FIFO worker, miner, pilot, flight attendant, truck driver, dispatcher, or anyone working outside the traditional 9-to-5, this podcast will give you practical, evidence-based strategies to help you sleep better, improve your energy, optimise your health and perform at your best.
If you're a leader, manager, People & Culture professional, WHS specialist, or responsible for leading a 24/7 workforce, you'll discover a different way of thinking about shift work—one that focuses on building shift work capability from within through education, leadership and practical systems that create healthier people, stronger teams and higher-performing organisations.
Each episode explores topics including:
• Shift work • Night shift • Sleep after night shift • Circadian rhythm • Fatigue management • Shift worker health • Nutrition for shift workers • Chrononutrition • Recovery and resilience • Women's health and shift work • Leadership in 24/7 organisations • Human performance • Workplace wellbeing • Fatigue risk management • Building healthier, safer and higher-performing workplaces
This isn't another podcast offering generic health tips.
It's a podcast about changing the future of shift work.
Because healthier people create stronger teams.
Stronger teams build better organisations.
And it all starts by understanding how to work with biology, not against it.
Ever feel like your shift work schedule leaves you with no time or motivation for self-care? Let's take a step back and confront the hard truths about who we're actually hurting with these statements.
I'm Roger Sutherland, a certified nutritionist and veteran law enforcement officer, and I'm here to challenge these excuses and inspire you to embrace better health, no matter how demanding your job is. We'll explore the reality of shift work, learning from the real-life examples of people who have thrived amidst the challenges, and understanding how motivation is more about discipline and consistency than an in-the-moment feeling.
Hear firsthand accounts of shift workers who've found joy in exercise, discovered the benefits of nutritious meals, and reaped the rewards of small daily habits. I'll break down the barriers that may be hindering your progress, and unveil the strategies that can guide you towards healthier practices. It’s not about a complete life overhaul, but about taking those small yet significant steps in the right direction.
Listen in to empower yourself and turn around your health narrative, one shift at a time.
Roger Sutherland is Australia's Night Shift & Sleep Specialist and the founder of A Healthy Shift.
After more than 40 years working rotating shifts with Victoria Police, Roger now helps organisations reduce fatigue risk, improve staff wellbeing and build healthier, safer and higher-performing 24/7 workplaces through evidence-based education, circadian biology and the Shift Work Champions™ Framework.
Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.
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Speaker 1
Two of the most common phrases that I hear all the time from clients or shift workers or people who are messaging me is I just don't have the motivation or I don't have time . In today's episode , I'm going to discuss what I hear when you say that and what you can actually do about it . Shift work can be brutal , but it doesn't have to be . Welcome to a healthy shift . My name is Roger Sutherland , certified nutritionist , veteran law enforcement officer and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades . Through this podcast , I aim to educate shift workers using evidence-based methods to not only survive the rigors of shift work but thrive . My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and well-being so they have more energy to do the things they love . Enjoy today's show . Welcome to a healthy shift podcast . I am your host , roger Sutherland , and , as always , I get great pleasure in Personally welcoming you to this episode of the show and I thank you for tuning in today's episode . Embracing change , finding motivation and time . As a shift worker , it's hard , isn't it ? One of the things that I hear all the time from people who I either coach , or people on Social media , or people messaging me , people that I talk to is I just don't have the motivation , I don't have the time and this is something that I hear all the time and I totally get it . But we need to take a good hard look at ourselves in the mirror and say it to that person . Stand in front of the mirror and look at that person and say I don't have the motivation and I don't have the time to look after you , because that person is the one person that you are hurting . You're not hurting me , you're not hurting anybody else , you're only hurting yourself . And when it comes to it , you don't have the motivation to do what and you don't have the time to do what . Because , in fairness and let's be brutally honest here , you've got plenty of time to pick up your phone and scroll social media . You've got plenty of time to finish a series on Netflix and you've got time to pick up your phone , open the app and order Uber Eats . So what , literally , is the problem here ? Now , shift work is really really hard . Right , I get it . It's mentally and it's physically demanding and it literally sucks the life out of us , and there is no argument at all . But ask yourself if you're making it harder because you are not helping yourself . Are you literally being true to you , to that person , the person that you're looking at in the mirror Now , jenny at the office .
Speaker 1
She goes to the gym five times a week . She meal prepped , she's always got nice containers of delicious and nutritious food and she looks fantastic . So why is this ? Well , there's some pretty obvious reasons , isn't there ? What is it that she's doing that maybe you're not . Have you ever actually Explored that ? And have you explored how does Jenny do it ?
Speaker 1
So firstly , let's get this fair and square on the table . Would you rather go to the gym or stay in bed ? Bed , would you rather stay in bed or would you rather go for a walk ? Bed . Would you rather a home-cooked meal or Uber eats ? You're the one that's cooking . Yep , uber , it's much easier .
Speaker 1
No one wants to shop , cook clean iron . No one wants to do any of that . Do you look forward to cleaning the toilet and the shower ? No , you never , ever , ever , get to enjoy that . You don't ever want to do it , but it just has to get done , doesn't it ? Do you make your bed every morning ? Has that fallen away ? You've created the habit of not doing that now , too , right , it's the same as having to move your body in a way that you enjoy . How often do you literally just grab your phone , sit on the couch or sit on the chair and just scroll and , all of a sudden , an hour's gone ? Well , we need to move our body . The health benefits are just enormously important to us , particularly as shift workers , and we underestimate this because , as shift workers , we are literally causing our body so much grief and we need to tell it literally where it's at in time and space by doing all of the right things by it . Now , the good thing is , you benefit from movement . Are you going to enjoy it every day ? No , but there will be days when you thoroughly enjoy it and , as time goes by , you will enjoy it more and more .
Speaker 1
Now , what am I talking about ? Bodybuilding ? Am I talking about resistance training ? Am I talking about yoga ? Am I talking about doing Pilates ? Am I talking about going for a run or going for a walk ? Am I talking about Jiu Jitsu ? I'm talking about all of that . I'm not saying that you've got to do all of that , but what I am saying is find something that you really enjoy , that you can do , and you can do consistently , because you need to , because this sedentary lifestyle that you've got and this lack of motivation or lack of time to do what you should be doing is actually causing you health problems and it's going to get worse and worse and worse . Somewhere you have to break into the cycle of turning that around and making a difference for the reward that it actually brings you .
Speaker 1
Now I can name at least two bodybuilders that have competed in ICN which is I compete , naturally that have gone all the way and won Pro Cards while working 24-7 shift work Not while on leave or long service leave or they took a year off in the middle of working 24-7 shift work and there's a shout out to Bree and to Shona , if you're both listening . I also know of a few CrossFit champions who have also competed while doing 24-7 shift work , and CrossFit is brutal . Were these girls motivated to train every single day ? They will tell you outright no , but they were consistent and they got it done and they achieved exactly what their goal was in their own sport . It's what they wanted to do and what they enjoyed .
Speaker 1
Now , 24-7 shift work has turned up to train three or four times a week , as well as perform shift work , run their households and socialize and yes , there are those with children and partners , or there are those also with children and with their partners too , and you know them because you work with them . They're the people that you mock because you think they're freaks , but all they're doing is they're motivated . They started small and they started working in that area and people get jealous of them because they're achieving . They look good , they look healthy , they always have delicious and nutritious food and you can think , oh no , that's just not for me . That's an excuse , and I'm going to call you out on it because that's literally what it is . It's just an excuse . They cook because they enjoy delicious and nutritious food . They train because they enjoy how it makes them feel . They make their bed because it's a discipline and it's nice to come home to . They mow their lawn because , even though it was an absolute pain in the , you know where it looks ice when it's done and it's rewarding to come home to and look at it .
Speaker 1
Yours are literally just excuses . Now you can say you're not motivated , but you are motivated to do whatever it is that you're doing . You're motivated to scroll your phone . You're motivated to sit on the couch . You're motivated to order Uber . You're motivated to do whatever it is that you're doing , that you're not doing to take the step in the right direction . But that is what you personally have to question yourself . What you need to do is you need to ask yourself why am I like this ? Why am I shift work ? Well , hang on a second . There's other people that are doing shift work that are actually really motivated and train three times a week or four times a week , or they run or they walk and they look fantastic and they eat healthily . So you've got a question why it is you're not doing that ? Because yours are literally just excuses and you are starting to believe them yourself . Now be disciplined and take a step in the right direction , because that discipline then means that you will take an action and that action will then lead to motivation of where you would like to be motivated , in the direction that you want to be motivated in Now . That will improve how you feel , how you look , how you perform and it guaranteed it will actually improve your mental health .
Speaker 1
Now , when you get your roster for the coming two weeks or month , or whatever it is that your roster is in advance for , look at opportunities where you can move your body and commit yourself to them . Start really slowly , one percent daily , and then build on that . Get yourself out every day and walk around the block . See how that feels , check in with yourself , get up and do it early , because you are going to then trigger your circadian rhythm into that movement . And I've spoken numerous times on this podcast around the Z-Gevers , or Time Cudes , that our circadian rhythm needs to reset every day to get us feeling a lot better . We need light , we need nutrient , timing and we need movement , and the earlier in the day that you can get there , then the better you're going to feel and the more you're going to want to do it .
Speaker 1
So ask yourself if you're self-sacrificing , self-sabotaging because if you're self-sabotaging , then you've only got yourself to blame and you don't want to be the person that's blaming yourself for it . Look in the mirror and be accountable to that person . And if you've got children , you need to be looking at the kids and asking the kids if you want to be the person that's sitting in the chair that can't move , the person that's overweight , unhealthy , with cardiovascular disease or metabolic syndrome . And I'm not trying to frighten you , but this is what shift work does and this is why me being here as a coach to help shift workers , motivate shift workers into wanting to move for their health , so that they are there to run around with their children instead of just going . Oh , that's what shift work does , because that's what the researchers told us in the past . So therefore , that must be how it is . But that's only be through lack of education and we have more education now that can help us to help you , to make you feel so much better and to help you to navigate shift work .
Speaker 1
So look for ways to achieve instead of making excuses to not achieve . Excuses come so easily because they are literally just an easy way out . Now , I know that's brutal and that's on the soap box . That's good old Rog , but I want you to be brutally honest with yourself . Are you making excuses or are you actually taking steps in the right direction ? And when I say , stand in front of the mirror , take a good look at yourself . I'm not looking for you to pick on yourself . I'm just looking for you to say and be accountable to that person and please remember , be patient and kind to yourself as you navigate the challenges of shift work and prioritise your mental health and well-being . And , as always , I want to thank you for tuning in to a healthy shift . I hope you found this episode helpful and it's motivated you and inspiring and , if you did , please share it and until next time , keep moving forward and make yourself a healthy shift . I'll catch you on the next one .
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