Does the kind of job you do affect your sleep cycle? If yes, it is probably among the many shift jobs in different occupations. The circadian rhythm that coordinates your internal clock can easily collide in its flow with your work schedules and make you unable to enjoy quality sleep. This condition is known as shift work disorder because you are forced to sleep when alert and work when you are dozy. If you have a consistent groggy mood, fatigue, insomnia, poor concentration, and stomach problems, these could be signs and symptoms of your shift work getting to you. Below are some jobs that have inevitable shifts and alter your sleep patterns.
New Parent
This is the most precious job in the world. As much as it comes with its beauty, it also has enough hurdles. For both parents, it has a wreck on your sleep quality and quantity. This is due to the various uncertain shifts you must follow with a newborn that wakes up every few hours. The parents experience sleep deprivation, and the lack of refreshing, deep sleep can lead to various risky conditions, such as postnatal depression and insomnia. Despite all these, when the baby is at 20 weeks, they can sleep through the night. Then, your sleep patterns can be restored.
Nursing
Being a hospital nurse, I know it’s a culture to be on shift work. Due to the job’s demands, it is respectful but not prestigious. The continuous care they offer to patients ends up in long hours. Depriving them of their much-needed sleep. This alteration of their sleep pattern can affect this job line, especially since their concentration is low for the last four hours of their 12-hour shift, and many blunders happen in such a state. This is risky and raises concerns about public safety and health.
Policeman
Law enforcement is a necessary job to protect and serve the public. Be that as it may, the duties are carried out day and night in shifts. This work routine shifts the sleep pattern, which makes the police officer suffer from various sleep-deprived conditions. Adapting to a specific schedule is challenging because the job is carried out when the need arises, either on holiday or during odd hours. Hence, their shifts are allocated according to work, and setting a sleep routine becomes impossible, knowing you can wake up at night.
Trucker
Truck drivers cannot work shifts as they travel in pairs to deliver goods to different places. This shift has changed their sleep pattern completely due to the job demand, as they meet delivery schedules and avoid traffic. The history of accidents by truck drivers has been well covered, mostly due to poor sleep quality and quantity. The demand for the job causes this drowsy driving and has a high record of work-related deaths.
Cable news reporter
Anytime there is breaking news, someone behind the scenes has insufficient sleep to deliver it to you. This is because cable reporters work long hours, different shifts, and have irregular sleep patterns. This job has a group of people under it going through the same change, including producers and camera operators working through the 24-hour cable news. Irregular shifts have become common in this industry. With the increasing competition in news delivery, everyone wants to remain relevant and on par.
Factory workers
Manufacturing companies, to maximize productivity, rely on shift work. It also helps them to avoid downtime and meet various targets. However, these workers endure sleeping at most 6 hours during workdays. Forcing them to oversleep during weekends. This leads to poor sleep patterns because they are both sleep-deprived and oversleeping, which is unhealthy for their sleep cycle. Fatigued, sleepy, and inattentive workers have brought up several workplace injuries. This adjustment in sleep patterns also leads to sleep-related illnesses such as depression, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Senior managers
Have you always wondered why most senior managers are always in a cranky mood? They have limited sleep, which affects most people’s attitudes. Bosses have a lot in their job descriptions, making them work long hours to keep the company running effectively, with a large team to oversee deadlines and other work-related challenges. Force senior managers to work many hours to the extent of caring at home, interrupting their sleep patterns. According to one study, job dissatisfaction and poor sleep mostly go hand in hand, especially with shift jobs.
Pilots
Pilots may have prestigious jobs; however, they suffer some challenges that affect their sleep cycle by flying commercial planes to different countries worldwide. The other time zones, the jet lag, and the irregular shifts of this job lead to a modified night’s sleep of poor quality due to broken cycles. Fortunately, the Federal Aviation Administration has ensured that pilots get an average of eight to nine hours of interrupted sleep for their work, putting a lot of people’s lives at stake.
Many industries and companies are expanding to 24-hour operations to expand and grow their services to people. Hence, shift workers are developing, and most people in different places worldwide work nights, evenings, and other uneven shifts. Other similar jobs are air traffic controllers, network administrators, and medical interns. Due to these shifts at work, ensure you have a perfect environment for sleep, an avocado mattress, and calming teas to gain the deserved rest when you get home. If any shift works with a sleep disorder, especially as a new worker, get a doctor to examine you and advise accordingly, following your past health.
