Great Tips to Adjust Sleep Time with Changes to the New Work Schedule
If you have been accustomed to sleeping patterns so far, changing these habits is certainly not easy. Especially if you have to fix a messy sleep pattern to follow a new work schedule. Read the easy tips here!
Tips for changing sleep patterns when changing work hours
Certain types of professions require you to work at a different time than normal habits. For example, health workers in hospitals that have night shifts until morning or flight attendants whose sleep schedules are indeterminate.
Well, what if you are someone who has just changed professions? From those accustomed to working from morning to evening, they now have to go through night shifts, or vice versa.
To stay focused on working, you need to get enough rest. Unfortunately, your body may not be able to adapt that fast to the sleep cycle and new daily routines. Changes in sleep hours can even have an impact on body health.
In one study in the journal Sleep Medicine and Disorders, changes in hours of sleep can drastically affect the rhythm of the heart's work so that it leads to sleep disorders, excessive anxiety, depression, and decreased quality of life.
Therefore, you need to apply certain methods in changing sleep patterns so that they can minimize their health effects.
1. Change sleep patterns gradually
It will be very difficult to get a new sleep pattern, if you change your entire hours of sleep directly. The Sleep Foundation recommends advancing your hours of sleep gradually over several weeks, if your working hours change drastically.
Every day, you need to sleep 15 minutes earlier than usual. How to change this sleep pattern needs to be done so that you can wake up at the end of the desired hours of sleep. For example, you are required to work 6 hours earlier than usual, then you need 24 days to get a new sleep pattern.
It takes a long time, but small changes can make your body more adaptable. If you notice changes in working hours early, then you can apply this method in advance.
2. Take advantage of lights and light sources
Light can affect the work of melatonin, which is a hormone that stimulates drowsiness and helps rest the body's organs.
Take advantage of the lighting from lights and windows that bring in sunlight when you wake up. Meanwhile, try to sleep in a fainter state of lighting.
If you have to change sleep patterns from night to daytime, then you need to make the conditions of the room dark during the day and use maximum lighting at night.
3. Condition the body as comfortable and relaxed as possible
Sometimes you can have difficulty falling asleep when you have to sleep at an earlier time. To make it easier to change sleep patterns, you need to do routines that aim to calm yourself when approaching bedtime.
According to the author of the book The Insomnia Workbook, Stephanie Silberman, one hour before bedtime avoid doing tiring or disturbing activities, including using electronic devices that trigger the brain to continue to actively work. You also need to avoid consuming caffeine within 12 hours before bedtime.
Room temperature can also be adjusted so as to provide a calming atmosphere. The ideal room temperature for sleeping is around 19-21 degrees Celsius. In addition, implementing regular exercise every day can also make it easier for you to sleep.
4. Take more time to rest
Drastic changes in sleep patterns can cause you to experience excessive fatigue in the middle of working hours. Therefore, you need to allocate more rest time for at least 20 minutes until you are truly able to adapt.
However, do not rest your body for too long when trying to change sleep patterns, including extending hours of sleep so that you sleep too long. This can make it more difficult for the body to adapt to a new sleep schedule.
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