Sleeping Pattern

[Petrolhead]

Hi Everyone,

I'm mid way through giving up caffeine and my next logical step is to try and sort out a better sleeping pattern.

The trouble I have is that I work shifts.

My first shift is 9:45am - 5:45pm. I normally go to the gym beforehand so I need to be out of the house for 7:30pam approx.

My second shift is 2:00pm - 10:00pm. Again I go to the gym beforehand so I need to be out of the house around 11:45am.

I'm not sure whether to have a set getting up time which would tie in with my earlier shift or whether to try and alternate two different getting up times, my main concern would be getting very sleepy at work on the later shift.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[highvoltage]

Don't alternate your sleeping schedule. You'll most likely end up royally screwed if you try. Shift work sleep disorder Your body's circadian rhythm can't accommodate two different patterns at once, it needs to have a single rhythm.

Your schedule doesn't look all that bad, actually. You'll need to get up at the same time each day, say 7 o'clock. On the days where you have an early shift you'll have a long afternoon/evening. And on the days where you have the late shift, you'll have long mornings to yourself. Then try and get to bed by 11 or so (if that's possible for you, if your commute isn't too long on the days you work late).

Try to get up at the same time every day, and adjust the time you go to bed by how tired you are. You may find yourself going to bed a little earlier on the days you have the early shift than the late shift, but this is okay. Just try and keep your waking times consistent.

[Victor Vikingr]

Looks like 07:00 would be optimal, maybe earlier, depending on how much time you use each morning.

You could check out Powiull sleep, though, but that's still very experimental.

[Petrolhead]

Never heard of Powiull sleep. Will have a search around the internet.

7am is going to be too late for me. I can certainly get dressed and out in 30 minutes, my problem is that if I excercise without giving my breakfast an hour to settle down I get very naeuous and it puts you off your stride.

The 11 pm bedtime is ideal for me as I get home around 10:20pm giving me time to wash up my lunchbox and get washed and changed for bed.

6am will give me a very long morning on the late shift. I guess that's no bad thing though, have to work on productive things to do with that time.

Thanks for the replies so far

[Petrolhead]

Been thinking about this a lot today. I'm going to try 6:30 am wakeup and see how this works for me.

Should give me 8 hours sleep on my late shift and as much as I want on my early shift.

Going to try getting up early tomorrow.