For example, melatonin is released as it gets dark in the evening to make you feel drowsy, while melatonin is suppressed and cortisol elevated by the morning light to make you feel more awake. Furthermore, another study found that intermittent exposure to bright light is almost as effective as continual exposure. Whatever your reason, this extra job (or jobs) is getting you just a little closer to that goal. Then, I’d get my bedroom nice and cold, close the blackout shades, insert earplugs, and put on my sleep mask. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to live music, attempting to sew, and discovering dive bars and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. It takes at least two days – and perhaps as much as a week – to adjust to a major shift in schedule. Split Shifts and the Law The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay workers for all the hours they actually work, but not for time off if they're allowed to … I used to work a rotating schedule that consisted of two 12-hour day shifts followed by two 12-hour night shifts, then four days off. Then, once you know your to-dos are taken care of, try to separate yourself from your work. An example of a split shift is a restaurant worker whose schedule is to work from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and return at 4:00 p.m. to work the dinner shift. Caffeine is a stimulant. This keeps all your operating hours covered while still giving your employees regular time off. Research has shown that night workers who were exposed to bright light during their shift and wore sunglasses on the way home to suppress light drifted off to sleep quicker and slept for longer after their shift than people who received no bright light exposure. Use caffeine wisely. According to ergonomics4schools.com, fixed shifts require you to work the same amount of hours, starting and stopping at the same times, for a specified period of days. Speaking of better sources of calories… This guide will offer 20 tips you can use to get through long shifts at work. If you work in an area with delivery, order enough food for two meals and a snack. You can also find ways to simplify your cooking routine. Scheduling software like Sling simplifies even the most complicated split shifts, rotating shifts, and night shifts. Ways that you can control your exposure to light include: Keeping your bedroom dark will help to keep your body in sleep mode until it is time for you to wake up and begin your day. Access to the grocery store and adequate facilities to prepare food can be hard for night workers. But if you work multiple jobs, it’s time to re-focus and get back to work—for the rest of the night. and the feat seems nearly impossible. How do you survive working multiple jobs? I’ve been working two jobs for several months now, and while I still don’t have that balance down pat, I have picked up a few strategies that have made my work-packed life a little easier. If your going through a divorce, contact Smedley Law … Stay Fueled You’ll need food to keep you energized through a double. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 16% of full-time salary and wage workers in the U.S. worked non-daytime shifts in 2017 and 2018. Explore All Jobs All Jobs. Tips to Survive Swing Shifts. For example, maybe there’s a meeting or happy hour you want to attend on Wednesday night, so you’ll need to shift the majority of your evening work to Monday and Tuesday. Sleep trackers are devices that monitor how well a person sleeps. Once you see your workload distributed throughout the week, you can also make a smart decision about anything else that pops up—if you have to decline a dinner invitation, you’ll know way ahead of time (saving you those awkward last minute “I’m so sorry, but I have to ditch tonight” phone calls). new ways to better encourage, lead, and motivate her team. Even naps of 20 to 45 minutes in length have proven beneficial for shift workers to counteract fatigue. So when you’re entrenched in the day-to-day of your multiple jobs, it’s important to keep that end goal in mind—and remember that it is, in fact, an end goal. Maybe you’re freelancing to try to break into a new field—or to start your own company. One day, she hopes to publish a memoir, adopt a Great Dane puppy, and find the perfect shade of red lipstick. A split shift is a type of shift-work schedule where a person's work day is split into two or more parts. Think it was tough to make dinner or have a regular workout routine when you had one job? When you’re facing a split, there are way too many unknowns, since your life as you’ve known it is about to shift dramatically. Try these steps to keep your sleep in check and make your environment more favorable for sleep. Weird hours be damned, I’m gonna help get you healthy. If you work shifts, you may find that you experience: A change in appetite; Trouble falling asleep or getting a good night’s sleep But don't worry, because it is possible to get through a long day without keeling over. Her partner, who works for a news channel also works in shifts. And more importantly, I focus on letting my mind relax, instead of worrying about the work I’ve done or still have left to do—which brings us to the next point: Juggling two jobs can have your mind spinning—for one job, you’re worrying about your expense reports and sales deadlines, and for the other, you’re racking your brain about whether you approved your employees’ timecards. Shift work and long working hours have been linked to a number of health issues, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Additionally, look at your professional skills and see if you can apply them to your part-time job options. Exposure to light triggers chemical events in the circadian pacemaker that affects your sleep and wake cycles. I’m not saying ignore your work—but for a few hours, make sure it’s out of sight (and out of mind). Unfortunately, laboring through the night can wreak havoc on your body, weakening your immune system and causing a destructive decrease in energy. If an employee requests the break for their own convenience, then it is not a split shift. Likewise, you must eat! Split shift parenting is not easy on either spouse. When you work multiple jobs, you’ll often hear advice to take at least one full day off during the week. Artificial light can affect your circadian pacemaker in the same way as sunlight, and timed exposure to bright light can help to alter your body’s sleep cycle. High in antioxidants and vitamin C, pomegranates are said to fight viruses…, A person with sleep apnea will repeatedly stop breathing when asleep then gasp when breathing returns. During night shifts, you can try to “trick” your body into an alert state with exposure to bright light, and promote sleep by suppressing light exposure after your shift. Research has suggested that blue light knocks our circadian rhythms off-kilter, which signals to your brain that it is daytime and results in poorer sleep quality. ... Bakeries are known for not only graveyard shifts but also split shifts… Find a hobby that you can fit into your day or at least once in your weekly schedule. When used carefully, your daily dose of coffee can help … Of course any work day is better with snacks, but never are they more necessary than on extra long, extra stressful … The “opposite” of a rotating shift is a fixed schedule. Run, don’t walk, to get something to eat! Additionally, look at your professional skills and see if you can apply them to your part-time job options. What foods to avoid on a 12 hour or night shift. When typical daily rhythm is thrown off balance, so too is metabolism. Well, maybe for everyone else. Put it on your calendar as you would any other appointment, and don’t cancel. If you have a work cell phone or constant access to your work email, leave it at home, upstairs, or anywhere where it won’t constantly alert you about every new email. Currently, the earth’s magnetic field is protecting us from harmful solar radiation and storms, without the magnetic field, the solar storms would destroy the ozone layer which in turn protects us from ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun. Similarly, when you go home after a night shift, the cues from your internal body clock and daytime light exposure tell you to be awake and active. Be careful about how long you nap for in order to ensure that you do not wake up during deep sleep. A regular break for rest or to eat meals does not count as a "split". Shift work means working outside the usual 7 am - 6 pm time period. When the clock strikes 5 PM, it’s quitting time! Repaying some of the sleep debt that you accumulate as quickly as possible will help you to recover sooner. How to Get Through a Long Shift at Work. Types include sleep mats and wearable devices such as wrist trackers. If this is the case, you need to find work that will pay well. For example, a person may work from 05:00 to 09:00, take a break until 14:00 and then return to work until 19:00. Just when you think you have a free night to work on your freelance projects, your other boss calls you to remind you about the charity gala you’re required to attend that same night. Split shift wage applied: $12.00/hour Time between shifts: 2 hours, one of which is an unpaid meal break, the other as split shift pay Offset: $1.00 X 8 hours = $8.00. How to Survive the Graveyard Shift (and Make Lots of Money) By Darwins Money on 27 April 2011 12 comments. Overall, those who work night or rotating shifts seem to have a highe… If your going through a divorce, contact Smedley Law … But in my experience, staying active and filling my body with good fuel plays a big part in keeping me sane and energized. It has links with various health conditions…, The HCG diet combines using a human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormone supplement and restricting calorie intake to 500 per day. Shift Slowly: Any changes to your circadian rhythm should be made gradually, Ibrahim says. If this is your last shift in a block of night shifts, remember that the more days in a row that you have been working through the night, the more sleep debt you will likely have accrued. Get an Adequate Amount of Sleep. Add a second (or third!) Dehydration can cause cramps and headaches, which can make your shift very unpleasant. Weakened magnetic field caused by a pole shift. A teacher can make $20 an hour or more tutoring. When you physically cross “approve employee timecards” and “submit expense reports” off your to-do lists, you’ll be able to rest easy, knowing that your responsibilities are taken care of. Hopefully, once you start exercising, you’ll have more energy and need less caffeine to survive your shifts. Night shifts cause you to battle against your natural rhythms by trying to be alert when you are programmed to be sleeping. CINCINNATI (WKRC) - A breakthrough study on work and sleep might explain a few things for you. The third shift: unavoidable for some, dreaded by many. Planning your meals can help you to stay alert during your working hours and be more relaxed when you need to sleep. As a full-time manager at a tech company, Avery is constantly finding (and writing about!) But if you work multiple jobs, it’s time to re-focus and get back to work—for the rest of the night. Adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep to function at their best. In the long run, you’ll be able to get your work done more efficiently—and fit in some time for the fun stuff, too. Daytime sleep can be lighter, shorter, and of poorer quality than sleep at night due to light, noise, and temperature. Most people take a huge dose of coffee at the start of their shift in order to jump-start their day. According to rotas.co.uk, an example of a fixed shift is a nightshift, wherein you are permanently assigned to work the same hours each night, with no switching over to dayshifts. Shift work and your health. Actionable Steps to Fight Workplace Racism, see your workload distributed throughout the week, take at least one full day off during the week, freelancing to try to break into a new field. There’s no magic cure for this, but to help you get your mind off work when you’re, well, off work, start by keeping running to-do lists of what you need to do at each job—and what you’ve actually done. Shift workers also face potential health problems, researchers have found. And if you have the flexibility and schedule to do that, by all means—take it! Workout routines for a 12 hour or night shift. Ideally, your night shift naps should not exceed 45 minutes. “Working at night interrupts your natural sleep pattern,” says Fran … Managers, shiftworkers, union representatives, federal regulators, corporate policy-makers, and academic experts continue to question and debate how 12-hour shifts compare to 8-hour shifts. To stay motivated, keep a realistic time frame in mind. But, even if you’re sitting at a desk or doing something with a computer 50+ hours a week, it can feel just as draining. If you’re not keeping a close eye on your work schedule (as well as your social calendar), unexpected events can easily pop up and ruin your productivity. For example, if you’re working two separate jobs and can come home for an hour or two during the day, enter the Battlefield on your Xbox. What do doctors, nurses, firefighters, truck drivers, and air traffic controllers all have in common? Waking from a deep sleep is associated with greater sleep inertia, meaning that you will take longer to feel alert and will not feel refreshed. Sling Makes Scheduling Split Shifts Easy If a split shift looks difficult to schedule, don’t worry, it’s not — as long as you use the right tools. But eating heavy food between your shifts is a great way to make your second shift that much more difficult. For example, once you earn a certain amount, you’ll quit at least one of your extra jobs. A split-shift premium is not required if the employee’s base pay (i.e., his hourly wage excluding tips) for the day is equivalent to at least the minimum wage for all hours worked plus an additional hour at minimum wage. Jan Shoenberger, MD shows us simple practical steps on how to get better sleep during night shifts. But for now, remind yourself to look at your jobs as the means to that end—they’re temporary, and as long as you can power through for a little longer, you’ll reach your ultimate goal. We have compiled some tips to help you cope with working into the late and early hours of the day. Access the CIRCADIAN white paper. Allow Yourself to Adjust. Split shift wage is partially offset: $12.00 - $8.00 = $4.00 Compensation due to this employee: 8 hours of regular pay at $13.00 = $104.00 Offset split shift pay = $4.00 Open for business: How industry has adapted to survive the lockdown ... Combilift introduced split shifts to reduce interaction and to meet social distancing requirements. However, if you want to survive a 10-hour workday, you need to find a way to indulge your passions. To help keep your priorities straight (and your sanity intact), take a few moments over the weekend to think through your schedule for the week. Even when you’re not technically working at any job, it’s common for your thoughts to take over and prevent you from actually relaxing—which completely sabotages the little time off you do have. After a night shift, I would get home, watch something on the DVR and have a light breakfast. Working at night involves successfully managing your sleep during the day — that is, to keep sleep debt to a minimum — and your fatigue during the night. See if you can get your caffeine from better sources. If you’re on the verge of losing your mind (or quitting your extra jobs), try these five tips to get back on track. Many of the processes in your body that are active in the daytime slow down at night to prepare you for sleep. Avoid the drinks that don’t give you any nutritional value and are full of sugar and calories. At a time when it’s difficult just to stay awake, you are expected to function at a reasonable level. What do firefighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, paramedics, factory workers, and office cleaning staff have in common? When you start working nights, you are effectively flipping your established … When the clock strikes 5 PM, it’s quitting time! Caffeine is a stimulant. Understand how the swing shift is affecting you and make an attempt to … Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional, Study reveals UV LED lights effectively kill the human coronavirus, Study offers a mental well-being 'tool kit' anyone can use, Study reveals how exercise improves metabolic health, COVID-19 vaccine: Low-income countries lose out to wealthy countries, Fifteen health benefits of pomegranate juice, Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS. Night shift work may also interfere with the body’s ability to repair DNA damage that occurs from normal cellular processes. Rotational shift work — or rotating shift for short — is a scheduling system where employees move through a cycle of working the day shift, the night shift, and any swing shifts that may be necessary. These schedules may consist of fixed hours, rotating or split shifts, or irregular work times. Or, make a triple batch of your favorite dinner recipe on the weekend and eat leftovers throughout the week. You may find that eating healthy can be a challenge. A teacher can make $20 an hour or more tutoring. Drink plenty of water throughout your shift. When used carefully, your daily dose of coffee can help you to remain alert throughout a shift. When an employer requires an employee to work a split shift, the employer must pay the employee a split shift premium, which is one hour’s pay at the state minimum wage, or the local minimum wage if there is one, in addition to the employee’s regular earnings paid for that shift. Or, look for a video workout that’s sensitive of your time constraint (30 Day Shred and Insanity have some half-hour workouts that are easy to squeeze in your day). Also, protein will fuel your muscles throughout the night. However, research suggests taking a different approach to maximize the effects of caffeine for shift workers. You might be trying to pay off student loans or saving up for a down payment on a house. Knowing you have a higher probability of a disruption in circadian rhythm, physical problems, and psychological issues is half the battle. Try to eat something light and healthy, avoiding read meats or pasta. Photo of busy woman courtesy of Shutterstock . Learn about its…, Find out what carbohydrates are, what they do, why we need them, how many carbs we should eat every day, and how to reduce the risk of metabolic…, © 2004-2020 Healthline Media UK Ltd, Brighton, UK, a Red Ventures Company. Hopefully you get asked to work a double before the cafeteria closes. Working at night or irregular shifts can keep you from getting the regular snooze time that most daytime workers take for granted. This is because the human body is designed to sleep at night-time. While a short nap before you start your shift can help to combat fatigue, a nap during your break may be vital for maintaining alertness and remaining vigilant. Crock-pot meals are great—throw a bunch of ingredients in before work and dinner will be ready by the time you get home. But with early mornings, late nights, and way too many responsibilities to keep track of, it’s pretty hard to find a balance between fulfilling your commitments to those jobs and maintaining your sanity. If you don’t want to change careers, then learning how to survive long shifts can make your job easier. Well, maybe for everyone else. Every person is different, so finding the right combination of techniques that suit you best may take time. Circadian rhythms run in 24-hour cycles and are significantly influenced by the natural light and dark cycles. What liquid calories will help your 12 hour or night shift. Thankfully, there is a simple solution to this dilemma: the rotating shift. These include an increased risk of metabolic problems, heart disease, gastrointestinal difficulties, obesity, and certain cancers. As a full-time manager at a tech company, Avery is constantly finding (and writing about!) How do you survive working multiple jobs? Here are Medical News Today‘s coping strategies for working after dark. The statute mandates that a split shift worker must be compensated for their work based on minimum wage pay rates for at least 60 minutes or more for the same day. MNT is the registered trade mark of Healthline Media. Learn more…, The healing powers of pomegranates have been championed for centuries. It takes at least two days – and perhaps as much as a week – to adjust to a major shift in schedule. A minimum wage employee with a split shift schedule must be paid a split shift premium. (After a few too many Taco Bell dinner runs, I realized needed to give myself some quick options at home.) If you sleep for under that amount, you will incur “sleep debt.” The only way to pay back sleep debt is to catch up on sleep you have missed, and this has to occur as soon as possible after it is incurred. Night shift workers are more likely to experience metabolic syndrome and have a 29 percent increased risk of becoming overweight or obese due to poor diet and the disruption of the body clock. If this is the case, you need to find work that will pay well. You can sit down to chart and yes, put your feet up. And when you finally hit the hay at midnight, you only have a few short hours before you wake up at the crack of dawn to start all over again. 5 Hacks for Making It Work When You Have Opposite Shifts as Your Spouse Sometimes it's unavoidable: You work a usual nine to five weekday grind, but your spouse works double shifts … “The Advantages & Disadvantages of 12-Hour Shifts: A Balanced Percpective”. Most split shift parents would love to be on the “Pleasantville” schedule where Dad comes home every night at the same time to a home cooked dinner with mom and the kids. Finding ways to cope can be the difference between living a healthy existence and being subjected to the many health and safety risks that are elevated during night shifts. On the other hand, your mega-packed work schedule may not allow you to take an entire day off—and even if you try, you may not be able to shake that guilty feeling that creeps up when you’re baking cookies and watching a Real Housewives marathon instead of doing something job-related (I’ve been there!). Taking a nap can become an essential element of working safely overnight. These types of shifts are typically utilized in static, non-rotating systems, wherein workers work the same shifts regularly. If you work a different shift from your partner or spouse, it’s critical that you have at least one day off in common each week. Here are some practical tips to help make your workday healthier. Be prepared and take food to work to ensure that you eat properly and stay alert. (After visiting hours, of course.) Let’s face it—you’re probably not working multiple jobs and 100 or more hours per because you’re bored and have nothing better to do with your time. If you work at night or often rotate shifts, you may share that risk. Whether you are an early riser or a night owl, working shifts at night can be challenging. Then, I’d get my bedroom nice and cold, close the blackout shades, insert earplugs, and put on my sleep mask. Or, maybe once you hit the year mark at a part-time, experience-gaining job, you’ll start looking for a full-time gig. Applying some of the above strategies may help you on your way to coping better with working at night and ensuring that you get the right amount of sleep to function properly. Janice D'sa (24) works in a BPO concern and is used to shifts. (1) If you are strictly a night shift nurse and you are having problems adjusting to the schedule, try a couple weeks of grouping all of the shifts together, three in a row.That way you can completely convert to night owl status for half of the week and then have four days to recover back to normalcy (that being if you indeed do work three 12-hr shifts). Working multiple jobs isn’t all that uncommon, whether you’re saving up money, starting your own business, or gaining experience in an unfamiliar industry. In the end, I don’t block out an entire day to myself, but I do try to give myself at least a few hours fully off at some point during the week. That is just not the reality for many of us and until you can make that happen, you have to make the best of it. Some people can work at night with no problem at all, while others experience sleep deprivation and fatigue. Due to our modern 24-hour society, nearly 15 million people in the United States work full-time night shifts, evening shifts, rotational shifts, or other such irregular schedules. Sixteedn hours without food will – at best – make you one Hangry Bartender. And while I can’t commit to a comprehensive workout every day, I have found that I can at least do something. You may be working two part-time jobs instead of a full-time job. When you’re facing a split, there are way too many unknowns, since your life as you’ve known it is about to shift dramatically. Workers that consumed smaller — equivalent to quarters of cups of coffee — and more frequent doses of caffeine throughout their day experienced enhance wakefulness, performed better on cognitive tests, and had fewer accidental naps than those who had had no caffeine. After a night shift, I would get home, watch something on the DVR and have a light breakfast. Sleep is comprised of different stages, which complete in cycles of between 90 and 100 minutes. The only exception to this rule is when a worker’s housing is at the same location where he or she works. Some evidence suggests that the effects of caffeine kick in after around 20 minutes, and that a small dose of caffeine before a nap can counter the sleep inertia you may experience after you awake. Caffeine use should be stopped around 6 hours before bedtime to ensure that the stimulant does not affect your sleep. That burger and fries probably looks and smells amazing. What is more, almost 19 percent of adult workers work for 48 hours or more every week, and more than 7 percent work for 60 hours or more each week. That means: You won’t be working this many jobs forever. Night shift is quieter -- you have more autonomy to plan your shift, your breaks, and the times you cover your colleagues for breaks. You may be working two part-time jobs instead of a full-time job. One sleep cycle runs from light sleep to deep sleep. Here are some tips. However, improper use can cause gastrointestinal upsets and muscle shakes. The suppression of melatonin — which is the hormone responsible for regulating the internal body clock — may play a role. Fuel up on complex carbs, which will release energy slowly over a long period of time, versus quick sugar bursts that won't last too long. When work takes over, the other things necessary for a healthy, balanced life often become afterthoughts. In a rotating schedule, employees work the day shift for one or two weeks and then switch to working the night shift for one or two weeks. Twelve-hour shifts are still one of the most frequently debated topics in shift work management. All rights reserved. Beware of exposure to blue light emitted from digital devices, such as your smartphone, tablet, or television, before you go to bed after a night shift. A nap taken midway through the day has been shown to boost and restore brainpower. Shift Slowly: Any changes to your circadian rhythm should be made gradually, Ibrahim says.