[276] - You might be tired but

Text me what you thought of the show 😊

In this episode, I explore one of the most common challenges shift workers face—chronic fatigue. While irregular hours are often blamed, there are several overlooked factors that play a major role in how tired we feel. The good news is many of these factors are within our control. With a few practical adjustments, it’s absolutely possible to feel more energised, even with a demanding shift schedule.

Here’s what I cover in this episode:

• Why chronic fatigue may be linked to undiagnosed sleep disorders and when to consult a healthcare professional
• How artificial and blue light exposure interferes with melatonin production, disrupting both sleep onset and sleep quality
• The long-lasting effects of caffeine—its half-life is up to six hours, and it can affect your sleep for much longer
• The “12 o’clock rule”—how avoiding caffeine after midday or midnight can significantly improve your sleep
• The benefits of natural daylight exposure for mood and circadian rhythm regulation, even on overcast days
• How screen time before bed interferes with dopamine and sleep—and why a "digital sunset" two hours before bed can make a big difference
• How dehydration often presents as fatigue, and how to monitor your hydration levels by checking urine color
• The essential roles that movement and proper nutrition play in sustaining your energy across long shifts

If you're feeling constantly drained, you’re not alone—but you’re also not stuck. Small, intentional changes can have a powerful impact.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe so you never miss an update. I’d also really appreciate it if you left a rating and review on the app you’re listening on. To learn more about me or explore ways to work together, visit ahealthyshift.com.

Support the show

----------------------------

ANNOUNCING

"The Shift Workers Collective"

https://join.ahealthyshift.com/the-shift-workers-collective

Click the link to learn all about it
-----------------------------

YOU CAN FIND ME AT

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

• Shift Work Health and Wellbeing Seminars
• One2One Coaching

_____________________

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.

_______________________

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
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 and welcomeback to another episode of A
Healthy Shift.
This is the podcast that isdedicated to helping you, the

(00:51):
shift worker, to thrive, nomatter when you work.
Now I'm your host, rogerSutherland, and today I want to
tackle a topic that hits prettyclose to home, for well, I'm not
even going to say almost everyshift worker, I'm going to say
every single shift worker, andthat is the issue of fatigue.
We've all said it, We've allfelt it I'm so tired.

(01:15):
But what if I told you that,while feeling tired is
absolutely valid, there might bemore to it than just the hours
that you keep.
So today, what I want to do isshine the spotlight on some of
the more common reasons why youmight be feeling perpetually
drained and, more importantly,what there is that you can do

(01:37):
about it.
So let's call this episode Sure, you're Tired, but there you go
.
So that's it now.
The first one that I want totalk about is I want to
underscore this entire episodewith some research that's come
out that shows that a lot ofshift workers may actually be

(01:59):
suffering from sleep disorderswhich are going undiagnosed.
Now, this is a real problem,because a lot of shift workers,
what they actually do is justput everything down and just put
an umbrella over the top of itof.
I'm a shift worker and I dowant to say this to you If you
are chronically fatigued all thetime and you are waking tired,

(02:23):
when you seem to have beengetting seven to eight hours
sleep or something like that,it's really good for you to go
and have a conversation withyour practicing physician and
discuss it, because shiftworkers have and end up with, a
number of biological issues thatare really important to address
, and one of those issues arethe sleep disorders that go with

(02:46):
it.
And you can't.
He might say, oh well, you'rejust a shift worker, so that's
it.
But we need to look at this alot deeper, because research is
clear and it's showing that alot of shift workers, as a
reflection of society, a lot ofshift workers do actually suffer
from sleep disorders.
Society, a lot of shift workersdo actually suffer from sleep

(03:07):
disorders.
Now, with us gaining additionalweight and things like that,
sleep apnea is certainly aproblem for a shift worker and
there's a whole range of issues.
So go and have a conversation.
If you're listening to thispodcast and you get to the end
of it and you think, no, no, I'mreally good with all of this,
but you are still waking tired,then there could be a legitimate
reason.

(03:28):
Go and do your research.
Don't just write it off toshift work, because that could
be highly dangerous just initself.
Now, the first topic I want tocover is your first excuse I
didn't sleep well, okay.
So let's start with the obvious, which is often overlooked
culprit, and that is your sleepquality.

(03:49):
Now you might think well, I'm ashift worker, of course my
sleep isn't great.
Now, while the challenge of thisis actually real, it is
actually worth asking yourselfwhy not?
Why isn't it good?
What specifically is disruptingyour sleep?
And, more important, becauseyour sleep is disrupted?

(04:11):
This could generally be tracedback to melatonin production,
because melatonin is our hormone, which is secreted as a result
of darkness, which helps ourbody to sleep.
Now, melatonin, as you know, isour sleep hormone.
It is naturally produced in thedarkness and it signals to our

(04:32):
body that it is dark outside andit is time to actually wind
down and shut down all of thoseorgans.
But for us shift workers, thisnatural rhythm is constantly
being challenged, isn't it?
So what you're doing is you knowyou've got to ask yourself the
question have you gone from andI'll look at you nurses to start

(04:53):
off with have you worked anafternoon shift where you've
been exposed to brightartificial light right up until
about 10 or 11 o'clock at nightin your artificially lit
workplace, and then you're justgoing straight home, jumping
into bed.
Are you exposing yourself tobright lights, especially that
blue light?
Now, a lot of us think of bluelight as the light that comes

(05:15):
from our phone or our device,but blue light is literally in
those new LED overhead lightsthat you're exposing yourself to
.
Led overhead lights, thatyou're exposing yourself to
fluorescent tubes, lights likethat, absolutely laced with blue
light, which severely disruptsour melatonin production and our
circadian rhythm.
So what we should be doing isreally trying to block this as

(05:41):
much as we can, because thesethings can significantly
suppress the melatoninproduction, which makes it
incredibly difficult for us tonot only fall asleep but to stay
asleep, more importantly, evenwhen your body so desperately
needs it.
So the thing is here a lot ofus, we get into bed and we are

(06:01):
absolutely exhausted and we dropoff pretty quickly, and that is
sleep pressure.
Now, I've done podcasts on thisbefore and it's very different.
Sleep pressure is very, verydifferent from the ability to
stay asleep, because sleeppressure builds over the course
of the day, right With thebuildup of adenosine on the

(06:22):
brain, which builds that sleeppressure or that sleep homeostat
, so that we end up going tosleep.
But then, once that is releasedfrom the brain, once we sleep,
then we tend to wake up becausethere's nothing to keep us
asleep anymore, and this isbecause of our disrupted
melatonin production.
So when you say I didn't sleepgreat, ask yourself

(07:02):
no-transcript, and I've spokenabout it over and over again in
a number of podcasts, but thisone here is really important.
The next one I drink too muchcoffee.
Now, our beloved lifeblood formany shift workers, caffeine.
Now, it's easy to fall into thetrap of using caffeine as a

(07:25):
crutch to get through a shift orto get us to wake up after a
poor night's sleep.
And while a cup or two ofcoffee can be fine, relying on
excessive amounts of caffeinecan really severely backfire on
us.
Here's the truth, and I wantyou to remember this.
Tattoo this on your brain theless coffee we drink, the less

(07:48):
we actually need it, because weactually start getting much
better quality sleep.
Now I've had clients thatvoluntarily just stopped
drinking coffee, not becauseI've told them to, but they've
just stopped drinking caffeineand they cannot believe the
difference that it's actuallymade to their life.
Yes, I know we all absolutelylove the taste of it, but do we,

(08:11):
is it a habit?
Do we really need it?
It's kind of like alcohol,isn't it?
We don't really need it, but wejust do it.
Now we think that we needcaffeine because we're so tired.
What about if we weren'tdrinking caffeine and we were
sleeping a lot better?
Because caffeine has a very,very long half-life up to six
hours and research clearly showsthat caffeine impacts on

(08:35):
subsequent sleep for up tonearly nine hours.
After just 107 milligrams, whichis just a little more than one
pod of a Nespresso in 250 mil ofwater.
That's not much caffeine.
And if you think about theamount of caffeine that you're
drinking in those energy drinks,is it any wonder that you're

(08:55):
not getting quality sleep whenyou try and sleep?
This is important to understand.
So I put a golden rule in placeand I know this is one that's
really difficult for a lot ofshift workers but if you use 12
o'clock and I'm talking midnightand 12 midday if you use 12
o'clock as your cutoff point forcaffeine, you will find that

(09:18):
your sleep quality will improveout of sight.
Now you don't have to drinkcaffeine or coffee.
You don't have to.
We do have to be mindful of allthe different foods that
caffeine comes in as well, likechocolate, and also those energy
drinks that we drink.
Coca-cola has 40 milligrams ofcaffeine per can in it as well.
Yes, including even the dietdrinks.

(09:41):
Any cola has caffeine in it.
Be very careful of all of thiscaffeine that you're putting
into your system all the time.
Remember, just a little overone Nespresso pod impacts on
your sleep for up to nine hours.
I think that's really, reallyimportant.
So having that afternoon coffeeto push through your shift

(10:05):
could actually be preventing youfrom getting that restorative
sleep that you need when you doget there and get to sleep.
I know it's a vicious cycleTired, drink coffee, sleep
poorly, wake up more tired,drink more coffee.
And this is the evolvingcircuit that us shift workers
get into.
Try and break into that.

(10:26):
Try and reverse it.
Try and turn it around andwatch the difference that it
makes.
So try to be really mindful ofyour caffeine intake, especially
in the latter half of yourwaking day.
You might be surprised at howmuch better you feel when you're
not constantly chasing thatcaffeine high.
Remember I have the golden rule12 o'clock, whether it's

(10:47):
midnight or midday.
Keep that in mind.
Cut your caffeine and you willfeel so much better.
Okay, here's the next one.
I just feel so blah.
Do you ever just feel flat,like your energy's low, your
mood is down and you just can'tseem to shake that general
feeling of blah?
This often goes beyond justphysical tiredness and can

(11:09):
actually be very, very deeplyconnected to your exposure to
natural light.
Artificial light well,obviously it's very essential
for us for working indoors, forsafety simply does not compare
to natural daylight.
Our bodies are designed torespond to the sun's natural
spectrum of light.

(11:30):
Now this isn't just aboutvitamin d, I can tell you right
now.
It's about regulating ourcircadian rhythm.
It boosts our mood and itactually improves our alertness.
Ask yourself this question howmuch daylight exposure did I
actually get today?
Not from looking out a window,not from sitting in the lounge

(11:50):
with the blinds open outside,because even on an overcast or a
cloudy day, the light outsideis exponentially brighter and
much more beneficial than any ofthose artificial lights that we
use indoors.
Now, if you're consistentlyworking indoors under artificial

(12:13):
light and then going homewithout stepping outside, you
are missing a very, very crucialelement for your actual health
and wellbeing.
So what I ask you to do is totry and incorporate even short
bursts of outdoor light time inyour day wherever possible.
I would highly recommend thatyou get up, get your morning

(12:35):
caffeine or, when you first wakeup, whether it's daytime,
afternoon, morning, whatever getoutside with your caffeine and
get that daylight at theearliest possible opportunity.
It will anchor your circadianrhythm, it helps to avoid that
social jet lag and you will feelso much better.
Now here's another one.
I'm on my phone too much, andlet's just talk about our
constant companion these daysour mobile phones.

(12:56):
Now here's another one.
I'm on my phone too much.
And let's just talk about ourconstant companion these days
our mobile phones.
Now we all know that screen timecan eat into our sleep.
How many times?
How many times do you get intobed and start scrolling and, all
of a sudden, an hour's gone?
But it's not just about thehours that you spend scrolling.
It's about that blue lightthat's emitted from your screen,

(13:16):
which can actually drain yourdopamine.
We are chasing dopamine by whatwe're looking at on our device,
but the device is actuallydraining us of it.
Keep that in mind.
Dopamine is our feel-goodneurotransmitter and it's
associated with pleasure andreward in our system.
While a quick hit from oursocial media notification might

(13:38):
be good in the moment, gettingthose hits and that notification
all the time and that constantexposure to that artificial blue
light, especially close tobedtime, will actually disrupt
our natural dopamine regulation,which leaves us feeling more
depleted and even more lessmotivated.

(14:00):
Now it's a subtle butsignificant drain on your mental
and your emotional energy,contributing to that overall
feeling of being tired.
Consider implementing a digitalsunset.
This is a good idea.
Putting your phone away atleast two hours before you plan
to sleep is life-changing.

(14:20):
It slows your brain down, itstops you from thinking.
It stops you from chasing thatdopamine hit, and you can
actually set your phone toautomatically go on to Do Not
Disturb or lock these apps aswell.
There's so much that you can donow, really important.
Give it a go.
You might find it'll make amassive difference to how much
better you feel during the day.

(14:43):
Another one that I want to talkabout is stress.
Now, this one is almost anabsolute given for all of us.
Yep, you are stressed.
The irregular hours alone, thedisruption to your social life,
the constant push against yournatural biological clock this
all impacts on you and it alladds up.

(15:04):
But let's dig a little bitdeeper into how this stress
actually manifests physicallyand how light plays a role in
this as well.
Again, I want to talk aboutartificial light, both during
the day and after sunset, causeschaos to us biologically.
Now, our body is actuallyhardwired in a normal diurnal

(15:28):
cycle to respond to the naturallight and dark cycle.
We are humans.
We are supposed to be awakeduring the day and asleep at
night.
But when we constantly exposeourselves to artificial light,
especially this blue, rich lightthat our body gets from these
artificial lights and screensthat we're looking to all the

(15:51):
time when our body is expectingdarkness signals a massive
stress to our system.
Now, this can lead to elevatedcortisol levels.
It'll disrupt your hormonebalance and will generally keep
your body in a state of hyperarousal, making it incredibly
difficult to truly rest andrecover, even when you are

(16:12):
actually actively working.
Now, managing stress isn't justabout mindfulness, please.
It's about creating thatenvironment that supports your
body's natural rhythms.
Now, I totally understand thatwhile we do night shift, we
can't be in this cycle.
It's really important, I getthat.
But what we do do is weactually cause ourselves a lot

(16:37):
more drama with ourself-sabotaging when we get to
days off or when we have got theopportunity to get to bed
earlier and get good dark sleepand be up and around in the
light during the day, and theimpact on your mental health is
actually enormous.
On this, okay, let's move on thenext one.

(16:59):
I just feel so tired.
And finally, let's address thatpervasive feeling of just being
utterly exhausted.
Now, while poor sleep, caffeineand light exposure are huge
factors, there's also one otherthat is often overlooked, often
overlooked, and fatigue is asymptom of dehydration.

(17:19):
So how hydrated are you Truly?
I want you to think about itNow this one might seem just far
too simple, but poor hydrationoften presents as fatigue.
Even mild dehydration can leadto reduced energy levels.
It will lead to difficulty inyou concentrating and just a
general feeling of sluggishness.

(17:40):
It'll also severely impact onyour immune system, because our
immune system is working hardand that water is what flushes
the toxins out of our body assoon as possible.
Really important hydration,totally underestimated.
Your body needs water for everysingle metabolic process and if

(18:03):
you're not adequately hydrated,things just don't run as
efficiently as they should be.
So before you reach for anothercup of coffee or an energy
drink, try reaching for a bigglass of water.
It is a simple and very, verypowerful intervention that will
really help a lot and, onceagain, clients that I've worked

(18:25):
with that have increased theirhydration have felt so much
better in so many ways.
And keep in mind Eight cups ofwater, no.
Two litres of water no.
Everyone is completelydifferent.
All right, the simple rule andthe scientific measure for

(18:46):
properly hydrated for you isstraw or clear, coloured urine.
It is that simple, right.
If your urine starts to yellowor become quite coloured, it's
time to drink up, and I alwaysfind as well.
Sipping water throughout theday is a lot better than getting
to the stage where you'rechugging it to try and catch up.

(19:06):
That causes more problems.
So sip your water Now.
Two others that I just want tothrow in as additional
considerations.
Which make a massive differenceto us as a human and our
fatigue levels is nutrition andmovement.
So let's quickly touch on thoseother two critical areas that
directly impact on us.
Ask yourself this question areyou properly fueling your body

(19:32):
with consistent, nutritiousmeals or are you relying on
highly processed, sugary snacksand quick fixes?
And I'll say this what you eatdirectly impacts your blood
sugar, your energy levels andyour overall vitality.
Now, what I also want to say isif you are not incorporating any

(19:54):
form of movement into your day,even just a short walk on a
break or simple stretches cansignificantly boost your energy
and improve your circulation andhelp you to feel more awake and
alive.
You don't have to gear up andgo to the gym to do a gym
session.
If you are between nights oryou're on a bad run of shifts,
just getting out and having awalk in the daylight upon waking

(20:16):
will make an enormousdifference to your life.
It really does.
Okay, so, while tired, or I'mtired or I can't do.
This is a valid feeling.
I hope today I've opened youreyes to just a few layers that
may actually be causing thatstatement of I'm tired.

(20:37):
It's not enough for you to sayI'm tired.
You've got more control overyour energy levels than you
actually think.
It's not about making anyradical changes overnight, but
it's about making some small andconsistent shifts that will
help you enormously.
So let's just back over acouple of them.
Be mindful of your lightexposure, especially around

(20:59):
sleep times.
Re-evaluate your relationshipwith caffeine.
More you have, more you need.
It's that simple.
Prioritize natural lightwhenever you can.
Set boundaries with your phoneand other screens.
Focus on staying well hydratedthrough your shift and your off
time.
Sip, don't chug and don'tforget there's a massive power

(21:23):
in good nutrition and regularmovement.
Now, these are not quick fixes,but they are actually powerful
tools that you can use toreclaim your energy and truly
thrive, even as a shift worker.
You can Trust me, I know thatshift workers can thrive, and
that's it for today's episode ofA Healthy Shift.
Now I would absolutely love tohear your.
You can Trust me, I know thatshift workers can thrive, and
that's it for today's episode ofA Healthy Shift.
Now I would absolutely love tohear your thoughts on today's

(21:45):
topic.
What strategies have you foundmost effective in combating
fatigue?
Head over to ahealthyshiftcomor to my social media and share
your insights, because untilnext time, remember to be kind

(22:08):
to yourself and make thosehealthy shifts and keep thriving
.
I'm Roger Sutherland and I'lltalk to you on the next one.
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
rating and review on the appyou're currently listening on.
If you want to know more aboutme or work with me, you can go

(22:29):
to ahealthyshiftcom.
I'll catch you on the next one.