Shift workers: how to get sleep like your life depends on it. Because it does.

Have you ever been driving to a call when it hits you: I'm actually awake right now, I'm out of bed and driving, this isn't some weirdly vivid dream, this is real life and I totally could've crashed and killed us all? Yeah me too. I've been in EMS for 4 years, I know what it is to be tired. This is why sleep matters, and the one most important tool that has actually fixed it for me, for good.

I can't begin to count how many of my peers are running on caffeine and spite, unable to get a good night's (or days) sleep, for way too long. This is for them.

Sleep is one of the most important contributors to health.

To refresh, a FEW of the health detriments of poor sleep include:

• cancer & immune suppression
• cardiovascular disease & obesity
• Alzheimer’s & mood disorders

People who average fewer than 6 hours per night have up to a 20% shorter life expectancy. This is why you should care.

I don't want to scare you, trying to sleep better is stressful enough as is. What matters is that you acknowledge how important sleep is. Let's forget about that health stuff for a second though. Think about how you feel when you are getting good vs bad sleep. Don't you want to feel rested, all the time? You are going to have to put in effort. It won't be easy, but it's worth it in the long run. Your body will thank you.

The most potent tool for getting good sleep is consistency. It's hard in the modern world to protect our time, and it's harder still to actually be consistent. But if you want to sleep better, you must work on it.

The shorter you sleep, the shorter you live

How do I become more consistent?

This is the only thing that has consistently gotten my sleep back on track:

wake up every day at the same time

I will say it again it is that important and is that overlooked: wake up every day at the same time. Forget going to bed at the same time, you've tried that. Did it work well? Anyway, that will start to happen naturally, if you make it like clockwork when you wake up. You didn't sleep that well the night before? Doesn't matter. You will be tired, yes. You've been tired before, you will live. If you get up at the same time every day, your body will eventually figure it out, it will adjust to that schedule because that's how our chronobiology works. The body knows what it's doing, you just need to give it a fighting chance.

You need to place sleep high on your priority list to enact change. If you actually want change, you need to adhere to this.

What if I am a shift worker and can't always control when I wake up?

If you work long shifts that require you to wake up at different times, example you work 48's and a call drops in the middle of the night/morning/whatever: do what you can. These are the hardest shifts to maintain consistency because as a first responder you have to always answer the call. If this is you, outside of work you must protect your sleep consistency like your life depends on it. We can be driving to calls dead tired and unfortunately accidents and bad things happen--your safety is hindered by being tired.

Working or not, do what you can to be as consistent as possible. If you have a consistent enough anchor of a sleep schedule during your off days, you will be able to recover faster and feel better even if you get spun around during your days on. Outside of work there can be exceptions where you stay up late and then do sleep in because it's your dog's birthday or whatever, but 90% of the time, aim for the same wakeup every day including days off, and you will be amazed at the results.

“Sleep is the Swiss army knife of health.”
—Matthew Walker

Shift work disrupts sleep quality and consistency, but it doesn't have to

If you work a consistent shift, even night shift, then you can develop consistency. Unfortunately, it's really hard to do this. I worked night shift 12's for a year, I didn't work with a single person that stayed consistent all week round. I didn't either, honestly. The world doesn't really care that you work nights, and you get too far off of societies schedule if you become full nocturnal. So limit your switches. Be as consistent as you can on your night shift days, and then be as consistent as you can during your days off, it helps.

The way to develop consistency is by developing a routine, and routines take time, so be patient with yourself. This first week of waking up at the same time every day will be hard, but it gets better.

The reason this post is focusing on wake up consistency is because that is the most important tool that has helped me sleep better even when I am bouncing between shifts of various times. The more consistent you are, the better you will sleep. This takes effort, but it's worth it. Fix your sleep, for good.

Comment below if you tried the 7 day wake up challenge, and how you slept the following week!