Shift work sleep disorder occurs when you have a rather peculiar job that does not exactly have the same hours over a long period of time. When your working hours change on a weekly or even daily basis, it becomes hard to retain a normal sleep schedule. Many people who have working hours that change from time to time have a hard time getting sleep because their bodies need to adjust to their new working conditions.
It’s unfortunate that shift work sleep disorder is actually a rather common disorder because there is nothing to enjoy about this at all. Many people who have this disorder end up being tired for a majority of the day because their bodies do not know what to expect. Their bodies could be used to sleeping in the morning and then their new working hours could change it so they have to sleep more in the afternoon.
Your body has a hard time getting the rest that it needs when you aren’t sleeping at the same time every night, so you need to try and make sure that you keep a proper schedule if you are able to do so.
Some jobs require people to change their sleeping hours from time to time, and that means that their bodies will be thrown off of their normal cycles.
The best way to get rid of this sleeping disorder is to get a new job, but sometimes that is simply not an option in a tough economy.
Dealing with your shift work sleep disorder
The most important thing that you can do when it comes to your shift work sleep disorder is to make your sleep cycle your main priority throughout the day. You need to start a new schedule when your hours change, and it’s important to stick to that schedule as closely as possible. It can be rather hard at first, but your body will eventually get used to getting up for work at a certain hour of the day.
You will probably have a strong desire to take a nap during the day when you are switching work schedules, but you need to make sure that you don’t look at napping as a solution. Napping will only cause more problems for your sleep schedule, so you will want to avoid that at all costs. There is really no quick way to change your schedule overnight, so you will have to slowly move your sleeping schedule into a time slot that works for your new job.
Don’t stress out over your sleep
The worst thing that you can do when it comes to setting a new sleep schedule is to stress out about the troubles you are having with sleep. Shift work sleep disorder is definitely a problem that no one wants to deal with, but you still need to make sure that you keep calm during the transition process. Stress will only make your problems worse in the long run.
