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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. You've just finished the night shift and you're absolutely exhausted. You get home, you go to bed, and thankfully you fall straight to sleep. You're exhausted. Then suddenly your eyes open and you look at the clock, and you've only been asleep for four hours. Four hours! I can't possibly go to work again tonight. I've only had four hours' sleep. I'm exhausted. And you desperately want to go back to sleep, but your body has other ideas. And now you start thinking, why does this keep happening? Why can't I stay asleep after night shift? Why do I wake up after only three or four hours? And how am I supposed to work another night shift on this amount of sleep? If that sounds familiar, then this episode is for you. Welcome to a healthy shift. My name is Roger Sutherland, and I'm a night shift and sleep specialist and a veteran shift worker of almost

Shift Work Sleep Struggle

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40 years, in fact, over 40 years. And today I'm going to explain why you keep waking up after only a few hours of sleep after night shift. And more importantly, what can you do about it? So why do we wake up after four hours? Let's get straight to the point. There are several reasons you may wake up early after night shift. Number one, your sleep environment. Noise, could it be light? Could it be temperature? Caffeine? Stress? What about your bladder? Your phone. The neighbor deciding that 11 o'clock

The Four Hour Wake Up

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in the morning is the perfect time to start mowing the lawn. All of these things will affect your daytime sleep. But there is something much bigger going on. You're trying to sleep at a time when your biological clock is promoting wakefulness. And this creates severe chaos inside your body. So to understand this, we need to talk about the two systems sleep pressure and your circadian rhythm. And I'm going to keep this really simple. Number one, sleep pressure. The first system is sleep pressure. The longer you stay awake, the greater your pressure to sleep becomes. I used this scenario before, but I want you to think of it like filling a bucket. For every hour you're awake, more water's going into the bucket. You work all night, you're concentrating, you're making decisions, you're looking after people, driving, walking, thinking, dealing with stress. And by the time you get home in the morning, your bucket is chocker block full. Your sleep pressure is high. And that high sleep pressure helps you to fall asleep. In fact, it

Why It Keeps Happening

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just knocks you out. So far, so good. But while you're sleeping, something happens. From the moment you fall asleep, that sleep pressure begins to reduce. And the longer you sleep, the more pressure you actually release. So after about three or four hours, that powerful sleep pressure that helped you fall asleep is no longer as strong. And that's when the second system starts causing you problems. That biological circadian rhythm. Now, your circadian rhythm is your internal biological clock. It helps to regulate when you feel asleep, feel awake, and when you feel sleepy. And it responds strongly to the natural

Sleep Pressure Versus Body Clock

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light and dark cycle. And the problem for you as a night worker is that while you're trying to sleep, your circadian rhythm is moving further into the biological day. That sleep pressure is dropping. But your biological drive for wakefulness is increasing. So there's the opposite. Your sleep pressure's dropping, your biological drive to be awake is increasing. So what's happening outside of your bedroom? The sun's up, the world's awake, people are moving, the body temperature is changing, your hormones and biological processes are following the normal daily rhythm. And your body is receiving signals that say, wake up. But no, I'm on night shift. I desperately need to stay asleep. And that's the problem. You've got two biological systems that are completely pulling in the opposite direction. And this is why you can be absolutely exhausted and still wake up after only a few hours of daytime sleep. It does not mean that you are bad at sleeping or that you're a poor sleeper. And I think this is really important for night shift workers to understand. Many people start believing that there's something wrong with them. They tell me, Rog, I am just a terrible sleeper. And then I look at their situation. They're working rotating shifts, drinking caffeine late into the night, driving home in bright morning light, trying to sleep in a warm bedroom. The phone's beside the bed, the neighbors are making noise, the family's away. And they're trying to sleep at the wrong biological time. You're not giving yourself an easy task. And they all add up. Every single one of them all add percentage to it. That's why sleeping after night shift requires a solid strategy. Because you can't control everything, but you can improve the conditions, and you need to start with your bedroom. The first thing I want you to do is stand in the doorway and look in your room. Because if your biology is already working against you, your daytime sleep, your environment needs to work for you. Start with light. Bedroom needs to be dark. And I don't mean pretty dark. I mean pitch blade. Blackout blinds can help, but an eye mask is even better. Look around your bedroom. Hold your arm out. Can you see your hand at the end of your arm? If you can, it's not dark enough and you need to do something about it. That's where the eye mask helps. Problem solved? Simply, cheaply and simply. Are there gaps around the curtains? Is light coming under the door? Are those electronic devices glowing? Have you got those LED lights from the TV on? Or the phone charging or from charges or things like that? Your body is incredibly sensitive to light. And it sees it all. Then you gotta think about the noise. The rest of the world's awake, and unpredictable noise will disrupt your sleep. When I say unpredictable, I want you to think the ducted heating cutting in and out, the hot water service cutting in and out, the fridge turning on and off. The solution, earplugs. Sleep buds are even better. White noise. Whatever

Build A Sleep Cave

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works for you. The next thing, temperature. Your bedroom needs to be between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius for the perfect sleep. A cooler bedroom creates better conditions for sleep. Your bedroom needs to be a protected environment. Dark, cool, quiet, and comfortable. We're using the Oak Sleep Hub 2 water cool mattress protector controlling our body temperature between 18 and 20 degrees every night, and the difference is phenomenal. And if you go and have a look at my recommended products page on the website, ahealthyshift.com, go to the menu, under resources is recommended products. You'll see the Hub2 there. And the Hub2 is literally just like a mattress topper that sits on there that's water cooled and it controls your body temperature. You don't need an app, you don't need a subscription, all you need is to turn it on. Set the temperature, which is the same temperature every time you turn it on, and it runs at 18 to 20 degrees, controls that temperature and keeps you at that temperature. It is gold. Comfortable mattress, cool bed, eye mask, earbuds. See ya later. It's that simple. So if you work night shift, protecting your bedroom is not a luxury, and it needs to be an investment. You need to invest in good mattress, good bedding. Get the mattress topper that cools you. Block out blinds or an eye mask, earbuds. Spend the money. It's worth it. You're investing in your sleep. It's super important to manage your health and your recovery. So let's move on to caffeine. Because we need to look at that too. And I know what some of you are going to say. Caffeine doesn't affect me. You have a coffee and fall asleep without any problems. That's true. A lot of people can do that. I can do that. But remember, falling asleep's only part of the issue. But you also need to stay asleep and get quality sleep. Because caffeine's got a long half-life. So if you're drinking caffeine, energy drinks, or pre-workout late in your night shift, there's going to be a significant amount of caffeine still in your system when you go to bed. As soon as that sleep pressure's gone, hello, you're awake. You might fall asleep because your sleep pressure's high. But as soon as that sleep pressure reduces over the next few hours, that caffeine becomes the factor in waking you up against your sleep. So don't just ask, how much caffeine am I drinking? Ask, when am I drinking it? Because for a caffeine for a shift worker, caffeine timing really matters. I put a golden rule in place, 12 o'clock. If I'm on day shift or days, no caffeine after 12. If I'm on nights, no caffeine after 12. It's simple. Can't forget it. The other thing you've got to stop doing is stop clock watching. So let's talk about what happens when you do wake up. You open your eyes, what do you do? Pick up your phone, look at the clock. Four hours. And immediately your brain starts screaming. I've only had four hours. And I've still got another night tonight. I need to get back to sleep. If I fall asleep now, I can still get another three hours. Suddenly you're stressed, you're

Caffeine Timing That Backfires

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frustrated. You're trying to force yourself back to sleep. And none of that's helping. Sleep can't be forced. And the more pressure you put on yourself to sleep, the more difficult sleep becomes. So if you wake up, try not to immediately start calculating hours and catastrophizing about the night ahead. Don't look at your phone. Golden rule: just don't look at it. Keep the environment calm, keep it dark. Avoid grabbing your phone and flooding your eyes with light and your brain with information. Give yourself the opportunity to return to sleep. And if sleep isn't happening, lying in bed becoming increasingly angry and frustrated, that ain't gonna help either. The key is reducing the stimulation, not creating more of it. So what about that nap before your next night shift? Now, what happens if you simply cannot get back to sleep? You've had four or five hours, you're awake, and you're working again tonight. Now, this is where becoming a master napper can be really useful because a planned nap can help to reduce some of that sleep pressure and fatigue before you return to work. But again, this needs to be strategic. You need to understand how and when.

Stop Clock Watching

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You don't want to just randomly fall asleep on the couch at the wrong time and wake up feeling terrible five minutes before you need to leave for work. Think ahead. When do you need to leave? When do you start work? How long do you have? Can you create another protected sleep opportunity before the shift? Night shift sleep doesn't always have to happen in one perfect eight-hour block. Polyphasic sleep is really good. Four hours in the morning, three hours later on, jobs done. For some shift workers, that simply isn't realistic to get eight hours. The goal is to look at your total sleep opportunity and build a system around your actual roster. I was a two-sleep night shifter. Always, my whole career. I would come home, sleep for about four or four and a half hours, get up, go and do my day, and then I'd go back for another 90 minutes or three hours in the evening before I went to work. Always. I've always slept in two. I think it's the best way. It helps you to transition out of nights much better because you're getting the daylight during the day. So you're confusing your biological

Plan A Second Sleep

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clock instead of actually phase shifting it to the night. Now, the biggest mistake you can make is expecting your body to sleep perfectly during the day without changing anything else. You've worked all night, you drink caffeine at 4 a.m., you drive home in bright light, you scroll through your phone, eat a large meal, you're sleeping in a in a room that's just not dark enough, which is warm. You leave your phone notifications on, then you wake up after four hours and think, what's wrong with me? The better question is, what data am I giving my body? Because your body is responding to the data that you're giving it and the signals, light, darkness, food, movement, caffeine, temperature, the routine, all of these are percentages that matter. And while you may not be able to completely overcome your biology, you can certainly stop making the problem worse. And what you need is a simple plan. So if you keep waking up after three or four hours of sleep after night shift, here's where I want you to start. First, protect your bedroom. Dark, cool, quiet, comfortable. You've got to make sure that that is the optimal environment. Not just, oh, I'm a bad sleeper, and then I look at your room and it's half daylight, but you're doing your best. That's not good enough. You need to make it a really a sleep cave. Second, I need you to look at your caffeine timing. Not just how much you drink, but when you're drinking it. 12 o'clock, remember. Third, reduce the stimulation before sleep. Create a consistent post-night shift routine. And fourth, if you wake up, don't grab your phone and start clock watching. Give yourself the opportunity to return to sleep. Just relax. Breathe. And fifth, if you're working another night shift, consider when a planned second nap opportunity or sleep might may help you be prepared for the next shift. And that's it. Don't try to change 25 things. Start with the biggest problem and fix that one first. So, why do you wake up after only four hours sleep after night shift? Because your high sleep pressure may help you fall asleep. But as that sleep pressure reduces, your circadian rhythm is moving further into the biological day and is promoting wakefulness. Then you add caffeine, light, noise, temperature, and the challenges of trying to sleep while the rest of the world is awake.

Simple Fixes And Key Takeaways

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Make no bones about it. Daytime sleep is difficult. But understanding why it's difficult gives you something to work with. So if you found this episode helpful and you had searched for why you wake up after four hours of sleep after night shift, or how to stay asleep after night shift, or how to get better daytime sleep, I honestly hope this one has helped you. And if you know another night shift worker who gets home exhausted, falls asleep, and then wakes up after four hours, absolutely furious at the world, send this one to them. They can listen to it while they're in bed, getting frustrated. Make sure you follow a healthy shift wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hit follow, turn on the notification so that you're alerted for when the next episode drops. Because in the next episode, I'm going to answer another question that causes enormous confusion for night shift workers. Should you exercise before or after night shift? Listen again. Should you exercise before or after night shift? I'm Roger Sutherland, and thanks for listening to A Healthy Shift, and I'll talk to you again soon.