Staying awake during a night shift can be difficult, especially if you are an early riser or transiting to the night shift.
The night shift workers stay at their jobs until after midnight (and often until early mornings), and it’s not uncommon for them to have problems staying awake until the shift is done.
Luckily, as the night shifts have become more common, certain successful tactics have been developed to help people stay alert throughout and adequately manage their duties.
How to Stay Awake on a Night Shift
Staying awake on a night shift is never easy, and the night shift is not suitable for all workers. But if you’re starting a night shift job, here are some tricks that’ll help you keep yourself awake at night until your work is done:
1. Adjust Your Sleeping Schedule
The easiest way to stay awake on a night shift is to ensure you’re well-rested before stepping into your role.
The most surefire way to do this is to adjust your cycle in a way that lets you have the standard 8-hour sleep before you start your shift.
If you’re a natural early riser, you may want to try the “All or Nothing Method” or the “Gradual Method”.
All or Nothing Method
For the “All or Nothing” method, you might want to stay up and pull an all-nighter a few days before you officially start working, not going to sleep at all until the sun hits the horizon.
Gradual Method
For the “Gradual Method”, you can start by shifting the time you go to bed 2 to 3 hours daily.
- Day 1: Sleep at 12.00 am (Friday or 3 days before your night shift)
- Day 2: Sleep at 2.00 am (Saturday or 2 days before your night shift)
- Day 3: Sleep at 5.00 am (Sunday or 1 day before your night shift)
- Day 4: Sleep at 8.00 am (Monday or the Day of your night shift)
Adjusting your sleep schedule is not easy, but unless you align your sleeping cycle with your work schedule, you will experience trouble keeping awake on the job.
2. Block Out Light to Getter Better Rest in Shorter Time
Light is the main factor when you want to adjust your sleeping cycle. Most people just can’t sleep well during the daytime, and light is a big part of that.
Light helps to regulate the circadian rhythm. It regulates the body’s internal clock which signals when to be alert and stay awake and when to relax and allow the body to rest. It affects the production of melatonin, an essential sleep-promoting hormone.
Reduce light exposure
Experienced night shift workers advise investing in blinds, dark curtains that block out the light, and even remodeling your sleeping area, painting it in muted, calming shade so that even if the light manages to bypass the blinds, the walls won’t reflect it and it won’t disrupt your sleep too much.
This way, even if you aren’t able to get a total of 8 hours of sleep before you go to work, the quality of the sleep you manage to get will be higher, and you’ll be better rested.
3. Try to Take a Power Nap Right Before Your Shift
It’s well documented that short naps can provide a burst of energy. If you need to get up a few hours before your shift to get certain other obligations out of the way, find an opportunity to sneak in a short nap before you go to work.
But be careful with how long you nap – while a 15 to 20-minute power nap can be revitalizing, anything over that will leave you tired rather than energized and make it harder to stay up.
4. Exercise Before Work to Get Energy Boost
When people engaged in physical activity in the morning tend to be more energized and alert during the day. Shift the trick to your schedule, and it’ll have the same effect.
Exercise increases levels of serotonin and norepinephrine, neurotransmitters that are known to improve mood and energy levels. Exercise has been shown to increase alertness and energy levels, both of which are beneficial for those working night shifts.
What exercise can you do before your shift?
You don’t need to do any high-intensity exercises; even taking a walk can be enough. If your job is within a 30-minute walking radius, then simply commuting on foot will do the trick. Repeat the walk after you’re done with the shift if you have the energy, and your sleep might also improve.
Other exercises you can do:
- Yoga
- Stretchings
- Slow jogs
- Cycling
- Low-intensity swimming
5. Eat a Lighter Meal Before Going to Work Not to Get Drowsy
Eating heavy, greasy meals or even overeating healthier options is a lane straight to a “food coma.” It’s simple biochemistry: our bodies shunt extra blood towards the gut to help it digest the food and leave us light-headed and tired.
The no worse time to feel light-headed and tired than when you’re supposed to start your shift, and there’s nothing you want more than climbing back into the bed.
To avoid this, keep your meals light and nutrient-dense to stave off hunger without overwhelming the body. To optimize the effect of the meal, nutrients should be adjusted according to your job type. If the job is sedentary, a more protein-heavy meal should help you keep better focus. If the job involves physical activity, a more carb-heavy meal will give you extra energy to burn and help you stay active.
6. Load Up on Nutrient-Dense Snacks
The further your shift, the higher the risk of eating a heavy meal making you sleepy. Many night shift workers have found it beneficial to stick to lighter meals and snacks every couple of hours instead of having a fully loaded lunch in the middle of their shift.
This tactic’s success mainly has to do with keeping the blood sugar levels stable during the shift, instead of having it spike and then drop, as it often happens after a meal.
As long as there’s a good mix of protein, carbs, and healthy fats, you aren’t going to go hungry, and the more nutrient-dense and healthy the snacks, the better the energizing effects too.
Good options include yogurt with nuts and granola, peanut butter and banana on sourdough toast, hummus with vegetables, nuts and cheese with crackers, and other similar combos.
7. Always Keep a Bottle of Water By Your Work Station
While everyone keeps talking about how important it is to get hydrated for health reasons, few highlight the mental effect of being well-hydrated. When thirsty, you get tired faster, have trouble focusing, and get lethargic. And the worst part is that it creeps up on you, so you might not even notice until you’re having trouble keeping your vision straight.
Keeping well-hydrated during your shift will help you focus, think clearly, and react to your surroundings quicker.
The easiest way to keep up with your water intake is simply to keep a large bottle near your workstation. Instead of getting up and gulping down a glass every time you’re thirsty, you can just grab it and take a few sips when you feel slightly parched.
8. Keep Caffeine Intake Moderate
If you’re sensitive to caffeine drinking a cup of coffee can do wonders for your energy levels during the shift. But don’t overdo it.
Drinking excess amounts will surely intervene with your ability to get a good rest after work.
The vicious cycle of excessive caffeine intake
- High caffeine intake during your night shift.
- Being too alert when you should be sleeping leads to not getting enough sleep.
- Feeling constantly tired before and during your shift due to lack of sleep.
- Lead to drinking more and more coffee (caffeine-rich-beverage) to stay alert.
Instead, limit the coffee to only a couple of cups during the first half of your shift (an equivalent to morning and lunch times), and use other tricks to boost your energy levels during the second half if you start feeling drowsy.
9. Keep Your Working Space Brightly Lit
While bright lights can be the bane of existence when you try sleeping during the daytime, they can be a lifesaver during night work.
Keep your workspace as bright as possible to mimic the sunlight to convince your body to stay alert.
If the lights at work are naturally dim and make you sleepy, invest in your own lamp.
10. Plan Your Shift According to Your Energy Levels
The key to keeping alert is staying busy throughout the shift. After all, it’s hard to nap when you’re busy doing something.
Switch between the tasks according to your energy and focus levels. If you’re having trouble focusing on the details, turn to simpler tasks first. If you have routine or easy menial chores that you can do on an auto-pilot, those would be great.
On the other hand, try to get more challenging tasks that require attention out of the way when your energy and alertness are at their peak. If you need to finish a document that requires attention to small details or have a more dangerous menial task (like carting heavy and delicate things around), then that’s the time to do them.
11. Put Some Music On (If You Can Work with Background Noise)
This option won’t work for everyone, but if you’re the type who can concentrate regardless of noise, put some energizing tunes on.
An upbeat tempo can energize you, and it’s hard to fall asleep with loud sounds on, anyway. But if it’ll damage the quality of your work, better try other tactics.
12. Take Breaks
Don’t overwhelm yourself. If you feel tired and see the quality of your work is dropping, pause for a minute and give yourself a breather.
Let your mind rest a bit, grab a snack, and watch a funny Youtube video during your coffee break (if your employer has nothing against it).
The breather will allow your mind to recharge a bit, and you can continue with renewed focus.
13. Use Physical Activity to Stave Off Sleepiness
If you’re getting drowsy, adding physical activities to your breaks can help.
Even if you can’t leave your workstation for more than a few minutes, take a moment to walk around a bit, do a few lunges and squats, or go for a short walk around the building (maybe check in with your colleagues).
14. Use Energizing Scents to Your Advantage
If intense aromas don’t have a distracting effect on you, you can use the sense of smell to your advantage the same way you’d use your sense of hearing.
Just like a specific type of music can keep you energized, certain aromas can also help you keep alert. Fresh and cool smells like mint, citrus, and jasmine have a documented energizing effect. A scented candle, incense sticks, or an oil diffuser can help add the aroma element to your station.
But do be careful with the smells you choose. Warm and sweet scents like lavender, vanilla, rose, and cinnamon has an opposite – relaxing – effect and can make you more sleepy instead of helping you stay awake.
15. Find Someone to Look Out for You
If you have colleagues at work, try to build relationships with them. Even a simple conversation with a messaging app can go a long way to help you stave off sleepiness.
But the real upside is that if you make friends with someone working the same shift, you can ask them to check up on you every once in a while.
Of course, this is a two-way street: you should be ready to look out for them just the same.
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