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Shift shock hits like a tidal wave when your entire life gets flipped upside down by irregular work hours. That overwhelming feeling when sleep patterns crumble, dietary choices deteriorate, and you find yourself constantly out of sync with everyone you care about isn't just uncomfortable – it's unsustainable.
As someone who's weathered almost four decades of shift work, I've seen countless colleagues fall into the dangerous trap of letting their occupation consume their entire identity. You start by declining social invitations because you're exhausted, then you abandon exercise routines, and before long, you're merely crawling from one shift to the next with no life outside your roster. This podcast episode reveals what I wish someone had told me when I started: you need meaningful activities and connections outside your workplace.
Creating balance requires deliberate strategies. We explore five powerful approaches to combat shift shock, starting with establishing consistent routines even when your shifts constantly change. Your body craves consistency even when the clock doesn't cooperate. We discuss transformative sleep improvements through complete darkness (if you can see your hand held before your face, your room is too light), the critical importance of daily movement, proper nutrition that focuses on fueling rather than just satisfying cravings, and maintaining social connections that ground you in reality.
Don't try to reinvent the wheel – seek guidance from colleagues who genuinely thrive rather than those merely surviving. Their habits weren't built overnight but layered gradually over time. With one in five workers worldwide now engaged in shift work, you're part of a community facing similar challenges. If you're ready for specialized support, consider joining our Shift Workers Collective where we share strategies specifically designed for our unique lifestyle. Start small, stay consistent, and remember: shift work may be unpredictable, but your health and happiness don't have to be.
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ANNOUNCING
"The Shift Workers Collective"
https://join.ahealthyshift.com/the-shift-workers-collective
Click the link to learn all about it
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YOU CAN FIND ME AT
COACHING
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Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.
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Episode Transcript
Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to
be.
Welcome to a healthy shift.
My name is Roger Sutherland,certified nutritionist, veteran
law enforcement officer and 24-7shift worker for almost four
decades.
Through this podcast, I aim toeducate shift workers, using
evidence-based methods, to notonly survive the rigours of
(00:29):
shift work, but thrive.
My goal is to empower shiftworkers to improve their health
and wellbeing so they have moreenergy to do the things they
love.
Enjoy today's show.
Hello and welcome back toanother episode of a Healthy
Shift podcast.
I'm your host, roger Sutherland, and today I want to talk about
(00:51):
a topic that I've not discussedin any way whatsoever, and it's
not a new one, but it'ssomething that I thought today I
might just talk about this.
I want to speak directly tothose of you who've literally
just stepped into shift work, orthose that are looking to step
into shift work, or and to thosewho have been living it for a
(01:14):
while but never really quitefound your own rhythm, and what
we're talking about today issomething that hits really hard
and really fast, and that is thetopic of shift shock.
Try saying that shift shock.
So what is shift shock?
First of all, if you've neverheard of it.
Shift shock is thatoverwhelming feeling when your
(01:38):
body, your mind and yourlifestyle absolutely get flipped
completely upside down.
And if you're a shift worker,you know what this is like.
So if you've gone from a steadyroutine, a nine to five job, or
you've been working somewherewhere it's been really cruisy,
with the weekends off, to nightsawake while the world sleeps,
(02:00):
suddenly you start missingfamily dinners, you're skipping
social catch-ups, you're eatingon the run and you're just
feeling like you're constantlyin this recovery mode, can't do
anything.
And most people don't expectthis.
They think, oh, it'll be allright, it'll just take me a few
weeks to adjust.
But I'm going to tell you thetruth if you don't action, it is
(02:23):
absolutely, definitely going totake hold of you, and it's
going to take hold of you fast.
So how does shift shock actuallygrab you?
Well, shift shock creeps inthrough poor sleep, because we
all get that.
Bad food choices which comefrom the poor sleep.
Emotional fatigue we're gettingdrained shift after shift after
(02:44):
shift and that feeling of beingcompletely out of sync with
everybody else in your life.
You start by saying no to matesbecause you're just too tired.
Sorry, mate, I just can't today.
I'm just coming out of shift,I'm too tired.
You then stop going to the gymand then you start to fall into
(03:04):
this trap of living only foryour next roster or your next
shift, and it isn't long beforeyou start crawling from one
shift to the next and suddenlyyour whole life revolves around
the job and nothing else.
And that, my friends, is reallydangerous.
Now you are more than yourshift and if you're not careful,
(03:27):
shift work will become yourabsolute identity.
And this is exactly whathappened to me very, very early
on.
So what did I wish I knew backthen?
I know, when I was lecturingrecruits at the Police Academy
in the early days and right upuntil probably five or six years
(03:49):
ago, people would ask me what'sthe one thing that you really
wish you'd known before youstarted shift work?
And the answer I would neverhesitate, and that is to have a
work-life balance.
Not the fluffy corporate kind,not.
You've got to have a work-lifebalance.
Go and find it.
I mean real, day-to-day balance.
(04:10):
You've got to have hobbies,you've got to have an interest.
You've got to have somethingoutside of your shift working
job, something that holds you,something you're passionate
about Spending time with peoplewho are not on your roster super
important to get away from work.
You've got to do things thatabsolutely fill your cup outside
(04:33):
of work, whether it's goingsurfing or whether it's painting
, whether you like to cook orjust walking the dog or going
and watching your kid's footymatch and talking to the other
adults there.
It's really important that youdo that.
You actually need that becauseotherwise you fall into this
vortex of thinking that 99% ofsociety are absolute nutjobs,
(04:58):
and this is what actuallyhappens.
You need a reason to get out ofbed on your day off.
It's got to be something andnot just the laundry or to meal
prep for the next shift.
It's got to be something thatdrives you and gets you up and
about.
This is super important becauseif you look at some of the
young people around you in yourshift working job that are
(05:22):
spending all their time on theirsocial media, posting pictures
and doing things all everythingaround their job and
communicating with each otherall the time, or you're in
WhatsApp chat groups goddamnWhatsApp chat groups.
But if you're in these chatgroups, how are you getting away
from work?
And this is the question you'vegot to ask yourself.
(05:42):
I understand that sometimesyou've got to have that for
shift swaps, et cetera, butdon't get involved in that chit
chat around work outside of work.
You really do need to put abalance in that, put a boundary
between your work life and yourhome life.
It is incredibly important thatyou do this, because otherwise
(06:06):
you're not giving your brain anysort of rest from your job.
You're living in it all thetime and I can tell you from
someone who can speak fromexperience.
And when that's taken away fromyou and that can happen in an
absolute click very quickly, allof a sudden you've lost
(06:27):
everything at once, and that isthe biggest problem for a lot of
people.
So how do we combat shift shock?
What can we do?
What is there that we can do?
Well, here's five littlestrategies that you can actually
employ to fight off shift shock.
And particularly if you are anewbie in the job, what I highly
(06:48):
recommend everybody does is tocreate a routine.
Even if your shifts arechanging all the time, your
habits should never change.
Anchor your day with the samewake-up routine and the same
sleep hygiene, wind-down process, because your body absolutely
loves consistency, even when theclock doesn't.
(07:11):
So, regardless of the shiftyou're on, you've still got a
proper wake-up routine andthat's not roll over, grab your
phone and lie in bed scrollingfor an hour because I'm
listening to my body.
It's about getting up andgetting on with the day, getting
that light, getting outsideinto the daylight, getting that
movement.
It doesn't have to be to go tothe gym to smash yourself, it's
(07:34):
literally just a routine to getaround, go for a walk, catch up
with a friend, do something,just do something and have
yourself some solid habits thatare in place, things that you
remember to do every single daybecause they just become part of
life.
(07:54):
The other thing that you've gotto do and this is point two is
you've got to prioritize yoursleep.
Now, when I say prioritizesleep and you think, yeah, good
on you, rog, I'm hardly everthere, what about?
We control some of the thingsthat we can control, because I
know and I see a lot of peopleand talk to a lot of shift
workers, obviously, and whatthey do is they come home from
(08:17):
work after their afternoonshifts and the next thing that
they're doing is they'rewatching television until two,
three o'clock in the morning towind down.
Let me tell you that is notwinding down.
Television stimulates, allright.
Looking at your phonestimulates.
What you need to do is you needto toughen up and literally
(08:37):
have a practice in your routineof coming home, whether it's
breath work, whether it's ameditation, whether it's just
sitting in silence just for fiveto 10 minutes to just let it
wash over you and then going tobed.
That's what we need to be doing.
We need to be prioritizingsleep.
(08:58):
One thing that I've learnedrecently and I mean very
recently, over the last week orso is we've actually got to the
stage where we are totallyblacking out our bedroom, and
this has made such a massivedifference to our sleep.
Bedroom door closed, no LEDlights, no clocks, no, nothing.
Nothing in the room that castsany light in any way whatsoever.
(09:21):
The room is literally pitchblack.
The improvement on sleep isphenomenal.
I've got to tell you, and ifyou spend the money to
completely black out your room,the benefit is enormous for you.
So I highly recommend blackoutcurtains, quality earplugs,
(09:44):
phones off or out of the room.
You've got to make sleep acomplete and utter
non-negotiable for yourself andyou've got to protect it like
you would protect the lastdollar in your bank account.
It's super important that youreally do have a sleep hygiene,
a wind down routine.
You've got to get rid of thatblue light at night and get that
(10:06):
sleep focused in pure darkness,and the rule of thumb to apply
is hold your arm out in front ofyour face, turn your hand to
face you and if you can see yourhand, it is too light in the
bedroom.
It is that simple Hold yourhand up and out in front of your
face and if you can see it,it's too light.
So do something about that.
(10:28):
Step number three to combatshift shock is to get up, get
out and get your body moving.
Even just 10 minutes of walkingor even just doing some
stretching and holding yourbreath and doing some breath
work can totally reset yournervous system.
Now you don't need to flogyourself and you don't need to
bash yourself senseless in a gym.
(10:49):
Just get moving.
Those that move succeed.
Get up, get out, walk everysingle day.
It will change your life andyour body will thank you for it.
Getting outside in thatdaylight is something that is
super, super important for youto do.
Daylight is everything.
(11:09):
Number four is nourish your body.
When you go to make what Iwould call a poor food choice,
ask yourself if this is going tofuel you, whether it's
nourishing or whether it's justgoing to give you a spike and a
crash.
Yep, delicious, I understand.
Some foods are incrediblydelicious Carbohydrates and fats
together Super delicious thosechips, the chocolates, lollies,
(11:33):
jenny's cake it is delicious.
But is it going to nourish yourbody properly?
Fuel your body, not just yourcravings.
You ask a hell of a lot of yourbody as a shift worker, so give
it some respect in return.
Prepare some grab-and-go's,some meals that are easy and
something that actually supportsand maintains energy.
(11:55):
And I've always said eatmajority in the morning and then
start to lighten it off duringthe afternoon and go for low GI
foods from three o'clock onwardsto keep your blood sugar stable
and prevent cravings in thatlater shift.
That will make an enormousdifference to you.
Cravings in that later shift.
That will make an enormousdifference to you.
(12:19):
The other thing that's reallyimportant in the last one is to
stay social, and that's not onsocial media, that's literally
going and sitting with a friendand having a coffee, having a
chat and just shooting thebreeze doing whatever you're
doing outside of your job.
Really really important.
Don't drift away from thosefriendships.
Reach out, book that breakfastafter night shift.
I speak about that day whenyou're coming out of night shift
(12:44):
.
One of the most valuable thingsthat I ever did was to commit
and organize to catch up withsomeone on my recovery day
coming out of the night shift,because it forced me up and out
of the house and kept meoccupied and stopped me from
just lounging around on thecouch.
It makes such a big difference.
So book it in beforehand, don'twait and do it on the day,
(13:05):
because then you've got that tolook forward to.
You will look forward to it.
You might drag your sorry buttup and out of bed to go and do
it and hate yourself for it, but, geez, you will really benefit
from it.
The other thing is don't isolateyourself completely from a
party.
If you've got to go to work onnight shift, go and spend a
couple of hours there and justsocialize and then go on.
(13:27):
Yes, it's incredibly hard, butyou're still maintaining your
social connections.
It's something that's reallyimportant that you don't just
alienate and isolate yourselffrom it.
Even just a quick check-in callwith a mate make a phone call
it can really help, because ifthere's one thing that's really,
really important, are therelationships that you have with
(13:47):
friends, partner, family,whatever.
It's really important.
So keep those things in mind.
The one thing that I do wantpeople to be very careful of is
to be careful of taking advicefrom people that are senior to
them, that are working in thoseroles and they don't look right
as far as the information thatthey're actually giving.
(14:10):
Have a look and seek out thepeople who are really thriving.
Ask them what they do, ask themhow they went about it, and you
know the people, the ones thatare up and about.
They look like they're healthy.
They look like they're in goodshape.
It's no good asking people inthe workplace that are tired all
the time, that are reallystruggling, that are taking
(14:30):
medications to sleep, that don'tthink that sleep is something
that's important and startasking them for advice.
Think about it.
Look for the ones that are upand about, and why are they up
and about?
What are they doing?
Ask them questions, workthrough it.
You don't have to do everythingthat they do at once, because
they didn't.
They have been laying andlayering and layering all of
(14:52):
these habits, one on top of theother, until they live the way
that they live now, and this issomething that's really
important.
If people knew what I did everysingle day.
Now there's no way would youkeep up, you would not maintain
it, you wouldn't do it.
But I've been layering all ofthese habits over years until
they just become life, andthat's why I thrive.
(15:13):
Now, the one thing that I wantpeople to really remember is is
this a really, really goodsupport unit, and you're not
alone in this.
Here's the thing this work isreally hard, but you're not
meant to do it alone, and it's abrotherhood and a sisterhood of
other shift workers that you'reactually with.
(15:33):
And I can tell you now thatsociety tells us that one in
five people are now shiftworkers in the world, and those
figures are insane.
And this is the exact reason whyI've built the Shift Workers
Collective, which is a placewhere shift workers like you
come together to learnstrategies that actually work,
(15:55):
to cut out all of the rubbishthat is outside of shift work,
that's not relevant to shiftwork.
Certain supplements that peopletake are great for normal
people no good for shift workers.
Things that shift workers needto do are no good for normal.
We've got to separate all of it, and I've done this with the
Shift Workers Collective.
It's a place where you get tolearn to share wins, to ask
(16:21):
questions, ask questions.
You've got access to me andsupport each other in real time.
We talk all about sleep.
We talk about nutrition, mentalhealth issues, routines, but we
also just talk real life andit's amazing what people do and
how they get up to it.
It's a worldwide collectiveBecause this job might be
(16:41):
incredibly unpredictable, butyour health and your happiness
should never be unpredictable.
We're not just survivinganymore.
What we're doing is we'rebuilding lives that we can
actually thrive in, even on theweirdest of rosters.
So if you're feeling shift shockright now, just know I get it,
I've lived it.
(17:02):
But you don't have to staystuck in it.
Start small, stay consistentand if you're ready for real
support, come and join us in theShift Workers Collective.
You'll find the link in theshow notes.
You'll find a group of peoplewho get it and are us in the
Shift Workers Collective.
You'll find the link in theshow notes.
You'll find a group of peoplewho get it and are here to help
you rise above it.
And thanks for listening to aHealthy Shift Podcast.
Avoid that shift shot.
(17:22):
I'll catch you next time.
Thank you for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure to subscribe so you get
notified whenever a new episodeis released.
It would also be ever sohelpful if you could leave a
(17:43):
rating and review on the appyou're currently listening on.
If you want to know more aboutme or work with me, you can go
to ahealthyshiftcom.
I'll catch you on the next one.
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