At the work desk when the world is fast asleep? And asleep when the day has dawned and the world is at work? If so, you are among the millions of shift workers who work an erratic schedule. Today it is not just police officers, fire fighters and health professionals who work the erratic schedule. According to a recent study, over a fifth of employees in industrialized countries now work irregular hours. And the situation is only likely to worsen with the advent of 24-hour call centers and similar service-driven facilities.

Sleep and sleeplessness
Leave alone human beings, even animals and plants need sleep or rest. Most of us are aware of the bio clock embedded in all of us, which regulates the waking and sleeping hours. These clocks also regulate cycles in body temperature, hormones, heart rate, and other body functions. When working at nights, the body clock will still reduce the body temperature; reduce the blood pressure and stop digestion in the early hours of the working. It is difficult to rest the internal bio. clock. That's why shift workers who work all night may find it difficult to sleep during day, even though they are tired.

What Happens when you don’t get enough Sleep
When sleep is deprived, people think and move more slowly, make more mistakes, and have difficulty remembering things. These negative effects lead to lower job productivity and can cause accidents. Lack of sleep is associated with irritability, impatience, anxiety and depression. These problems can upset job and family relationships, spoil social activities and cause unnecessary suffering. Night shift workers also tend to suffer from more permanent health problems such as sleep disorders, gastrointestinal disease, an increased incidence of heart disease and possibly an increase in late onset diabetes.


Advice for Night Workers
There are several steps a shift worker can take to successfully fall asleep and stay asleep.

• Work in bright light, which helps the body to adjust to working unusual hours.
• Exercise, since this helps to keep the body alert.
• Learn about sleep habits and sleep hygiene and
• Have access to caffeine drinks and regular rest breaks.

BED TIME RITUALS

1. Take a warm bath or soak in a hot tub.
2. Lower the room temperature (a cool environment improves sleep)
3. Don't "activate" your brain by balancing a checkbook, reading a thriller, or doing other stressful activities.
4. Avoid caffeine less than five hours before bedtime.
5. Avoid alcohol intake as it disturbs sleep.
6. Eat a light snack before bedtime. Don't go to bed too full or too hungry.
7. Use an answering machine and turn off the doorbell when sleeping during the day.
8. Exercise is also beneficially, do so at least three hours before you plan on going to bed. Otherwise, exercise after you sleep. Because exercise is alerting and raises the body temperature, it should not be done too close to bedtime.
   

How to stay awake at work?

• Take short breaks throughout the shift.
• Talking with co-workers can help keep you alert.
• Try to exercise during breaks. Use the employee lounge, take a walk, shoot hoops, in the parking lot or climb stairs.
• Try to eat three normal meals per day. Eat healthy snacks, avoiding foods that may upset your stomach.
• If you drink a caffeinated beverage (like coffee, tea, , colas), do so early in the shift e.g., before 3.am for the night worker.
• Don't leave the most tedious or boring tasks to the end of your shift when you are likely to feel the drowsiest.
• Exchange ideas with your colleagues on ways to cope with the problems of shift work. Set up a support group at work so that you can support and learn from each other.
  

Risks to Women:
Getting the right amount of sleep is vital, but just as important is the quality of your sleep. Conditions unique to women like the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause can affect how well a woman sleeps. This is because the changing levels of hormones that a woman experiences throughout the month, like estrogen and progesterone, have an impact on sleep.

Stress related problems
Stress is described as any factor that threatens the health of the body or has an adverse effect on its function, such as an injury, illness, disease, or worry. Stress is a very personal thing although we have felt it in different forms. The important thing is to recognize the sources of stress in your life. It may not be easy, but don't despair. Stress need not drain the joy out of a new challenge. The secret is to keep a clear head through the rush of events.

How stress can get out of control:
The effects of long- term stress going out of control can be much more severe. If you do not take action to control it, this can lead to: fatigue and exhaustion, depression, burn out, or breakdown. If you are very tried, or have been under stress for a long period, you may find that a good break helps you to put problems into perspective.
An important way of guarding against depression is getting your attitude right, positive thinking really can help. Talking about problems to a partner or to a respected colleague can often help a lot.

De-stress your life
Stress by its very nature is caused by many things that cannot always be avoided such as work, illness and injury; however, there are ways in which we can reduce the amount of stress in our lives and manage the remainder. Reduce the stress in your life by organizing yourself into a routine. Going to bed and getting up at regular times, giving yourself plenty of time so you don't have to rush about, and not leaving things till last minute are simple ways of removing large amounts of stress from your life. Time management is the key-always seek to achieve a degree of balance between the demand of work and essentials of relaxation and recreation.

One of the best ways to keep job related stress under control is by adopting a stance of purposefulness. Try to organize your work so that you have short- term goals to reach on the way to longer- term ones. Work out what things get you stressed and think about which ones you can change. You can' t change everything, some thing's you've just gotta do so don't beat yourself up over the things you can do nothing about, concentrate on stress limitation and coping finding better ways to cope.

Stress Relief Tips:

• Exercise: Try to do a few minutes of pure relaxation daily. You can use a tape or a book of exercise to help you or just lie down with your eyes closed and control your breathing, 5 minutes a day will make all the difference. Make time to get some exercise at least three times a week. Whether you prefer tennis, a walk, or an hour at the gym, exercise is a great stress reliever that will likely bring you increased energy and more focused concentration. This will help you be even more productive at work.
• When you feel stressed, practice taking long , deep breaths.
  Eat a balanced kind of diet, include a lot of green leafy vegetables, and fruits in your diet and not to forget, drink lot of fluids. Eat frequent small meals to keep your energy level up.
• Avoid caffeine, which is a stimulant.
• Get enough rest. Stress tries you out mentally and physically. Go to bed only when you are ready to sleep, and allow enough time for sleeping so you wake up feeling ready to go.
• Use humor to lighten difficult situations.
• Schedule some time for socializing, contact with other people can be rejuvenating and will remind you of life's bigger picture.

Tips for working in call centres

• Sleep for minimum of eight hours. Don’t watch TV instead
• Since you sleep through the day it is essential to spend 15-20 minutes in the sun every day.
• Eat right food and don't skip any meals.
• Drink lots of water.
• Stretch yourself during working hours.
• Do not smoke.

Tobacco Fact File

• The mind relaxes and the capacity to think increases after giving up this addiction.
• There are more than 4000 known toxins in each cigarette puff.
• Nicotine craving unlike alcoholism lasts only for 6-10 days.
• Blood pressure and other physical problems get normalized within 48-72 hours of complete stoppage of tobacco usage.

To avoid all these stress and health sleep related problems exercise regularly as it will help you!

• Help you lose weight, especially fat weight.
• Improves the functioning of your immune system
• Helps or lower control your blood pressure.
• Lowers total cholesterol.
• Reduce the risk of heart attacks.
• Exercise acts as good stress relievers.
• Increase’s your level of muscular strength.
• Increases your stamina and ability to do continuous work.
• Provide protection against injury.

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