Speaker 1: 1:12

Today's episode is very, very common for a lot of shift workers. It comes out of a recent consult that I actually had with a client, but it really highlighted and flagged with me what there is that we need to be doing when we've had an extended period of overtime, so we've worked like a shift and then we've got overtime or we've done a double shift in one particular day. Hello nurses, hello shift workers. What do we do coming out of that? How do we cope with it? And I'm going to cover all of that in today's episode.

Speaker 1: 1:51

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 rigours of shift work but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and wellbeing so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show and welcome back to a Healthy Shift Podcast.

Speaker 1: 2:30

I'm your host, roger Sutherland, and if you're a shift worker, you know exactly what it feels like to be running on empty after a long shift. Maybe you are literally in that state right now 16 hours in, and your brain feels like it's full of mud, and yet the job still demands more from you. Does this sound familiar? Well, today we're going to talk about what happens to your body and mind after all of those hours awake and why functioning feels impossible. But, most importantly, what I want to do is have a chat with you about strategies, about how we can push through this without burning ourselves out. So let's get into it. To start off with, I want to tell you a little story, if I may, in relation to a client that I have at the moment. Now, I consulted with this client recently and the client told me that they got three not one, not two, but three double shifts in a row. Now this client predominantly works day shift, but due to staffing issues, as we know hello, all the emergency services and frontline health owing to staff issues, he had been required to work double shifts, three shifts in a row. Now these shifts are 16 hours. He generally starts at seven o'clock in the morning and he was finishing at 11 pm at night, starts at seven o'clock in the morning and he was finishing at 11 pm at night. Now, when I consulted with him. I consulted with him on a Monday. Now he had worked those 16-hour shifts on Wednesday, thursday and Friday night and he had the weekend off. And when I consulted with him on the Monday, he told me how ordinary he was feeling, how tired, and I said I'm not surprised.

Speaker 1: 4:18

Let's go over what you actually did over the weekend. How did the weekend look for you? And his answer to that was well, I had a sleep in on Saturday. It was great, I was able to catch up on my sleep. I had a sleep in on Sunday, which was good. I was able to catch up on my sleep. But, geez, I really struggled to get to work today.

Speaker 1: 4:39

And this is one thing that I wanted to address in this podcast today, which is really, really important, and it's come out of this console because the advice that I gave him, I'm literally going to give to you right now for free, in this podcast so that you can better understand the optimal way to go about this. I'm going to put a really, really big covenant on this one and there's no holds barred here, and I'm not pulling any punches at all. I want to be very clear with you you cannot catch up on sleep. All right, I'm going to be very clear. Do not think that that lie-in helps you to catch up on sleep. You might be short of sleep from before, but when you have that lie-in you actually do yourself more damage.

Speaker 1: 5:25

So let's get into the reality of fatigue. And why that 16 hours of being awake feels so brutal? Because when you've been awake for 16 hours or more, your body is in a seriously compromised state. Now study shows that being awake for that long impairs your cognitive function to a level which is comparable to having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05%, which is just on or just under the legal driving limit in so many places around the world on or just under the legal driving limit in so many places around the world, and would be five times the legal limit, or 0.05 more than what you should be if you are a probationary driver here in Victoria. What does this mean? This means a slower reaction time. It means reduced decision making abilities and a serious struggle to concentrate.

Speaker 1: 6:14

And yet shift workers are often just expected by management to just power on through, and this is not good enough, because what they're doing? If you turned up to work having consumed alcohol and you were 0.05 and tested 0.05, they would sack you on the spot, and yet they are expecting you to work in a cognitive state which is likened to being exactly the same point. So let that sink in just for a minute. Because, physically, your body is running very, very low on glycogen stores and this makes you feel very sluggish. Now glycogen is stored glucose in your muscles and bloodstream and also in your liver. Now your circadian rhythm is completely thrown out, which means that your brain is absolutely screaming for sleep, even when the world around you is just carrying on as if everything's perfectly normal. You can feel dizzy, you can feel forgetful and you might even be incredibly irritable and very, very short-tempered, really short-tempered, with a very short wig how does that sound? Shift workers, I get it. I know exactly what this is like.

Speaker 1: 7:29

So how can we push through without burning out, because sometimes it's unavoidable. So what is there that we can actually do? And there's a number of tips that I will give right now to help you right. And it's not reaching for those monster energy drinks or those energy drinks and slamming them down, because they are actually causing you more problems. So what can you do when you're deep in the trenches of absolutely exhausted? You can't see out, and let's just go over some practical strategies that can help you.

Speaker 1: 8:04

First of all, we have to fuel up smartly. What your body is looking for and what your body does need is energy, but it is not the kind that comes from those sugar-laden energy drinks or vending machine snacks. And guys, sugar-free energy drinks yeah, same deal. We don't want the caffeine. It's actually dulling that dopamine that we get and it's causing massive problems with us all, right. So instead, what we need is we want to be going for high-protein and healthy fat options.

Speaker 1: 8:38

Nuts, things like nuts and seeds fantastic, a bit of trail mix you can carry that with you all the time. Greek yogurt or even just hard-boiled eggs Now, these will give you sustained energy, rather than that spice. Carry that with you all the time. Greek yogurt or even just hard-boiled eggs Now, these will give you sustained energy, rather than that spike and crash that we get when we hit the vending machine and we grab a chocolate bar or a packet of chips, because that's exactly what's going to happen Now. Not only are these calorically dense, they're energy dense for you and they're going to cause you to spike in energy and then crash, and then you're going to be back at the machine looking for more again, and this is common in shift workers, and what we need to avoid.

Speaker 1: 9:16

That's the first point. The second point, and a very, very important point, is hydration. Now, dehydration can make fatigue feel even worse. It's a really good. Symptom of dehydration is fatigue. So make sure that you are sipping on your water consistently all the time, not just big glugs every now and again. Keep sipping on it consistently and keep that water going through us.

Speaker 1: 9:42

Now, if you need to pick me up, a bit of green tea or a small coffee can help, but don't overdo it. If we can have about 200 milligrams of caffeine over a period of hours, then that can help us to, just with a little bit of caffeine to keep us going. But we don't want to be slamming down energy drinks at 200 milligrams of caffeine two or three times in a shift. Not good. Do not overdo it, because too much caffeine will absolutely mess with that sleep later and you might think oh no, I have no trouble going to sleep. Of course you don't, because your body is so exhausted. But once that adenosine is flushed away and all that caffeine running through your system, it's going to wake you up and then you're going to really struggle to go back to sleep.

Speaker 1: 10:26

Now, another one which does sound completely counterintuitive is point number three, and that is to get moving. I know it's the last thing that you feel like doing, but just a short burst of movement can help your body to know oh, we've got to be awake and we have to keep going. So get yourself up, get yourself out and take yourself for a quick walk. Even a stretch or just some deep breathing exercises can help improve your circulation and can absolutely shake off some of that brain fog that you will be feeling. Micro breaks do make a big difference If you can take a short break, even just closing your eyes for a few minutes or practicing mindfulness can help to reset your system and keep you going. That's the number four.

Speaker 1: 11:11

Number five, without any doubt, is light exposure. The light exposure is extremely important and once again, this comes down to where are you, what are you doing, what time of the day is it? But the light exposure is extremely important. If you're sitting in a dull, light, low light area, of course, you're going to be really struggling and feeling really really tired. Get outside in the daylight, that will make a big difference.

Speaker 1: 11:38

And the shift worker's superpower is point number six, and this is one of the most important and I've left it until last, and that is the power nap. And this is one of the most important and I've left it until last, and that is the power nap. If you can squeeze in a power nap for around 20 minutes, it can make a massive difference to you. If your employer is expecting you to work 16 hours and it's likened to being 0.05, they can give you 20 minutes to go and have a power nap, and I think this is something that's really important for not only your own health and wellbeing, but for the safety of what you're actually doing. It won't fully replace that deep sleep, but it will give you just enough rest that might just get you through the remainder of your shift. So if you're someone who gets a half hour break, ideally this is the ideal thing to do. Just have a quick nap, even if you just sit in a chair in the quiet time quiet room for a bit. Do that Now. The next one that I want to really cash in on here, which is where I opened with and is the importance of this circadian alignment Now, one of the biggest mistakes, not one of quite possibly the biggest mistake that shift workers make after a long shift is getting into bed and treating yourself to a nice sleep in the following day.

Speaker 1: 12:53

No alarms, I'm not getting up, leave me alone. I'm going to sleep until 9 or 10 o'clock. This further disrupts your circadian rhythm in rhythm. Now, while it is tempting to literally crash for hours, doing so will actually leave you feeling a lot more fatigued, a lot more lethargic, with a hell of a lot more brain fog. You might think that you are catching up on sleep and you might think that in the afternoon, when you feel really ordinary and you feel really tired, that the reason for this is literally because you had a late night, late shift and worked a lot of overtime yesterday. But you've complicated this by compromising your circadian rhythm with that sleeping. I know this is harsh, but this is the truth that what you need to do is you need to maintain this optimal circadian alignment.

Speaker 1: 13:46

Aim to get your main sleep during your normal nighttime hours whenever possible, and if you need to get, not need to, but you need to get up early. And I'm not saying you got to get up at 5 am if you went to bed at 3. But what I am saying is don't sleep in. Remember we sleep in 90-minute cycles. So what you want to do is, if you got home at 3, if you were due off at 11 and you got home at 3, you want to be still getting up at about 7.30, four and a half hours. That's it. We sleep in 90-minute cycles. So count 90-minute cycles and wake up. And get up at that time, get going and, if you need to, you can have a 20-minute nap, have a little kindy nap or a poppy nap a bit later on, because this is what will really help you to get through.

Speaker 1: 14:35

But that circadian alignment. You might think by getting up earlier it's going to make you more tired, but watch this space, it will not. By getting up, you are in line with your normal diurnal circadian rhythm and it's going to make a massive difference to you in how you feel during the day and when you get tired later on. Just have that quick nap 20 minutes to 25 minutes and get going again, because that will make a really big difference. Keep it brief, no more than a short nap, which will avoid throwing off your body's internal clock again, and when you do get up after you've only had that short sleep.

Speaker 1: 15:12

You need to expose yourself to daylight outside ASAP, because this is what's going to signal to the internals in your body it's awake time, it's time to get up, it's time to get going, because many of us literally just crawl straight out of bed, crawl to the couch, grab the remote control and Netflix, because we're exhausted. Where's the daylight? Your body has no idea what time of the day or night, or where it's at in time and space. So get your butt outside. Even if you sit outside for 20, 25 minutes and have your morning coffee in the daylight while you wander around looking at your garden or scrolling your phone or doing whatever you're doing, that daylight is going to make a massive difference to your body's functionality throughout the day.

Speaker 1: 16:01

The next thing that we need to do as well is that strategic meal timing of the next day Breakfast at breakfast time, lunch at lunchtime, dinner at dinnertime. We don't want to be waking up at 10.30, having a big breakfast at 10.30, and then having lunch at three o'clock in the afternoon and then having dinner because we're not tired at eight o'clock at night. That night we are throwing it further out again. All right, our body counts on us eating at that normal breakfast, normal lunch, normal dinner time and just having minor little snacks just to sustain us in between. So keep that in mind Don't eat outside of those normal breakfast, lunch and dinner times.

Speaker 1: 16:39

This is really important, and consistent sleep patterns will help to reinforce your natural rhythm and will prevent long-term exhaustion Fact right. So the long-term fix which is managing your fatigue a lot better. Of course, the real solution isn't just surviving the moment, but it's preventing this level of exhaustion from becoming a regular thing. That means you must prioritize your sleep on your days off. That doesn't mean you sleep your days off. What it does is. It means you're setting up a proper sleep environment and advocating for better scheduling where possible. Remember shift workers. I say control the controllables. So what you need to be doing is getting up early, eating at the normal times, getting early daylight, getting early movement and helping your body to understand where it's at in time and space, and it will perform and function so much better. This is really important. And then get yourself to bed earlier that night and get good, solid nighttime sleep. I get it.

Speaker 1: 17:47

Sometimes we don't have the luxury of choosing when to do overtime, or how overtime is going to hit us or when. But when we can control is how we can actually prepare for it. It's how we recover and how we take care of ourselves outside of this shift work, because if you are constantly running on empty and desynchronizing the circadian rhythm even further, you're not just risking burnout, but you are literally putting your health, your safety and your wellbeing on the line in a very, very big way, and that is something that we really really do need to really start monitoring and getting right. Okay, my fellow shift workers, that is a wrap for today's episode. I know it's hard, overtime is difficult and it's always when we least want it or least expect it, but you can't control that. But what you can control is what you can control outside of it, and this is why I have worked tirelessly now on the shift workers night shift blueprint, and I want everybody to learn the optimal strategy to work around doing night shift. Get in and get out of night shift as quickly as you possibly can. I can't emphasize this enough. You will not want to miss this. This is game changing in other people's words that have actually used my night shift strategy for how we go about it.

Speaker 1: 19:24

I've put together a course. I'm building this course. We're filming it at the moment and it will be released shortly, but you need to be on the VIP list to have access early access to this so that you take advantage of the early release sale price and all of the bonuses that I'm going to be offering, because once the course is actually released, the price of the course will be going up and the only people that will have access to this will be people who are on the VIP list. How do you get on the VIP list? There's two ways you can get on the VIP list. Number one you can go to ahealthyshiftcom and up the top there on the banner, there is a link for you to go straight to the page where you can literally just put your name and your email address in and confirm and you will be actually on the list and I will take you along on the journey for how this course is developing and and it will be out soon and then you'll have access to the pre-release pricing of it. The other way is you can literally just go back and scroll down in the show notes here, and if you look in the show notes, you'll see that there is actually a link to the Shift Workers Night Shift Blueprint. All right, so that's it Now.

Speaker 1: 20:41

If you found this episode helpful or you think that someone else could really benefit from this, be sure to hit follow on a Healthy Shift podcast and share it with your colleagues. Can you do me a favor? Have a listen to it. If it resonates with you or any podcast resonate with you, share it onto your Instagram stories or onto your social media. Tell other people about it. Trust me, they will thank you.

Speaker 1: 21:06

And this is where we can get solid, evidence-based strategies around shift work from a veteran shift worker who's done it, who gets it, who studied it and now is helping you, the shift worker. And if you have any questions or stories or struggles that you want to share, hit me up on social media or send me a message. Let's keep this conversation going because, at the end of the day, you, the shift worker you absolutely deserve to thrive and not just survive. Thanks for tuning in and until next time, take care of yourself out there. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshiftcom. I'll catch you on the next one.