Sleep and shiftwork

Adjust to a new shift

It may take up to 48 to 72 hours to get used to the new routine, and the re-setting of your body clock. You can start changing your sleeping hours to feel more comfortable when you have to change your shift.

For example

Imagine you’re on the evening shift and in three days you will be on the night shift. Then you’re going to calculate: how many hours you want to change in your sleep rhythm? In this example, every night, we go to sleep 2 hours later. So you sleep the first night from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m., the second night from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., etc. In this way, you extend your sleep rhythm. Therefore, you have less trouble falling asleep at 8 a.m. and have to get up at 4 p.m. when you have the night shift.

Exercise

If you like this idea, try it for yourself. Calculate how many hours you would like to extend your sleep rhythm. For each day, see how many hours you want to go to bed later or earlier depending on your shift. In the worksheet, you can find a template.

Take into account that sleeping a few hours later or earlier, can have an impact on your private life. So we advise you to discuss this with your family.

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