DEVELOPING A SLEEP PLAN
Sleep Schedules • Wind-Down Routines • Grey Transition Days
Healthy from the Start Resources for Shiftworkers
SLEEP SCHEDULES
For shiftworkers, consistently maintaining the same sleep schedule can be challenging. Developing a flexible sleep schedule that adapts to your roster can help you achieve the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per 24-hour period.
Maintaining sleep regularity – the same bedtime and wake-up time each day - is crucial for quality sleep (91). However, the variable nature of shiftwork often makes this regularity difficult, if not impossible, on some schedules. Despite these challenges, having a structured sleep plan tailored to your shift schedule can be beneficial.
Here’s how you can create an effective sleep schedule:
Identify Ideal Times:
Based on your chronotype, shift hours, and lifestyle, determine the best times to go to bed and wake up, allowing for 7-9 hours of sleep each day.
Incorporate Naps:
Plan strategic naps, especially on days when achieving a continuous 7-9 hour sleep period is difficult, to boost your total sleep time.
For example, when working a day shift, you might plan to have a continuous 8-hour sleep period between 10pm and 6am.
However, when you work your night shift, you might plan a 6-hour sleep period in the morning from 6am until midday, and then a 2-hour nap in the afternoon, from 3pm until 5pm.
By planning your sleep around your roster, you can optimise rest periods and maintain better overall sleep health, even with the demands of shiftwork.
“ I think sometimes, if someone hasn’t done shiftwork themselves, they don’t realise how hard it can be. I spoke to my housemates about needing to be able to sleep during the day, and they helped out by keeping things quiet and managing some of my chores when I’m rostered on. I pick up the slack on my days off, and we’ve found that the balance works really well for us. “
- Sera, 22, young shiftworker.
Working with your friends and family is also an important part of your sleep strategy.
Getting a plan that ensures you can work around other commitments but still get the sleep you need when you need it is a team effort sometimes.
WIND-DOWN ROUTINES
Knowing when you need to go to bed is only one part of the puzzle – being able to switch off and fall asleep is another. This is particularly true for shiftworkers, who are trying to fall asleep at different times from day-to-day. Implementing a consistent bedtime routine (i.e., practising the same wind-down behaviours before bed) can make it easier for you to fall asleep (92,93).
Going to bed at the right time is one thing, but actually being able to fall asleep easily is another. Practising the same relaxing bedtime routine can reduce the time it takes you to fall asleep. Try a warm shower, listening to music, or practising meditation in the 30-60 minutes before sleep.
In the 30-60 minutes prior to your bedtime, start engaging in the same set of relaxing activities that prepare you for sleep.
Some examples of these are provided below, but this is not an exhaustive list (93). Be experimental, and find activities that make you feel calm and relaxed, and can be practised regularly:
• Prepare your sleep environment
o The best sleep environments are cool, dark, and quiet. If you need to prepare your sleep environment (e.g., turning on air conditioning, closing curtains or blinds), do this before you’re ready for bed.
o You can read more about creating the ideal sleep environment here.
• Have a warm bath or shower
o Your body naturally cools down when you sleep, dropping your core body temperature 1-2 degrees. To assist this process, have a warm bath or shower – this will increase blood flow to your hands and feet, and when you get out and dry off, your body temperature will naturally start to decline (94).
• Listen to music
o Relaxing music at bedtime can help you to unwind psychologically, distract a busy mind, slow your heart and breathing rates, and block out unwanted background noise (95,96).
• Practice breathing or meditation exercises
o Relaxation activities, including breathwork and meditation, can regulate stress hormones and slow down brain activity, helping you to drift off to sleep more easily (97-100).
• Jot down thoughts or tasks
o A busy mind before bed can make it difficult to fall asleep. Jotting down any worries you may be experiencing or writing out a to-do list for the following day can be great ways to empty your mind and fall asleep more easily (101).
GREY TRANSITION DAYS
The days where you have to transition between shift types or onto your days off can be challenging. It may be tempting to fill these days with activity, but taking the opportunity to rest will aid the transition to your next shift and help you get the most out of your days off.
Most shiftworkers will have ‘grey’ or transition days, where they’re changing between shift types (e.g., day shift to night shift) or transitioning from a period of work to days off. It can be tempting to use these days as an opportunity to capture back some lost time, perhaps running errands or socialising. While these elements of your life are important, these transition days are a great opportunity to get some rest and aid the transition to your next shift.
There are a lot of different types of rosters, with various types of transition periods and breaks between shifts.
If we consider the transition day between day and night shift, you might try to sleep in for as long as possible in the morning, then have a nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon before starting work. If we’re thinking about the transition to days off, particularly after a night shift, you might have a nap in the morning, be up and active for the afternoon, and then head back to bed nice and early for a 7-9 hour sleep period.
