While issues of sleep deprivation can affect anyone with a sleep disorder, regardless of their job hours, he noted that third shift workers typically get five hours of sleep, not the required seven or eight. This chronic sleep deprivation, mainly due to the demands of their schedule, can take a toll in areas of productivity, safety, depression, anxiety, forgetfulness and lack of judgment or concentration. Dr. Walker and the Munson Sleep Disorders Program do have a list of suggestions to help shift workers cope with their nighttime waking and working hours. The sleeping environment is also important, especially for nighttime workers who sleep when most others are awake. Turning off the phone ringer, darkening the bedroom, keeping the temperature cool and having a comfortable bed and pillow are some suggestions Dr. Walker gives for shift workers.
Sleep is the body's reset button.
We sleep a third of our lives away and it is part of our physiology and our psychological make up. For some, the benefits of working all night easily outweigh the lure of more traditional working hours. I choose the night shift over days. It's also better than the afternoon shift, which cuts your days right in the middle. Loren Fox of Traverse City is another night shift veteran who would not trade his nocturnal hours for a day time shift.