Tag: health

Your Daily Ups and Downs

You will feel better and function better if you can work and sleep at times of day the body naturally prefers for these activities.

Working the Rails, Balancing Family

If you work an on-call, unpredictable schedule, you frequently go to bed and get up at different times. Even if you work a fixed schedule, you may be on the job in non-daylight hours. Your work schedule may be out of sync with the daily activities of family and friends.

Sleep Myths Debunked

People who frequently short-change themselves on sleep forget how great it feels to be well-rested. They get used to feeling tired all the time and try to convince themselves that they can manage just fine. They often cling to sleep myths.

The Time of Your Life

Your body clock also directs manual dexterity, ups and down in reaction time, and the the rise and fall of body temperature and blood pressure over the day. It sparks hunger pangs before your usual meal times, controls how fast medications work, and directs the timing of hundreds of functions that make your body run smoothly.

How Your Body Clock Interacts with Your Sleep Drive

These two seemingly opposed internal processes—the body clock and the sleep drive—work together to make it possible for people to stay awake for 15 or 16 hours, and then sleep roughly seven to nine hours straight.

When Your Body Clock Resets

Your body clock adjusts to schedule changes. This process moves slowly, however. After switching between day work and night work, for example, most people find it takes several days to feel as alert and sleep as soundly as they usually do.

Be a Clock-Watcher

Learn to tell time on your body clock. Then use body time to organize your day.

Find a Sleep Health Center

Your healthcare provider may suggest that you see a sleep specialist, and refer you to a sleep center in your area.

Meals, Medicines, and Alcoholic Drinks

Learn about how common substances in the shiftwork lifestyle can impact your sleep.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness programs in the workplace, from stress-reducing courses to meditation and yoga, aim to combat burnout and stress while potentially improving sleep quality.

Working the Rails

If you work an on-call, unpredictable schedule, you frequently go to bed and get up at different times. Even if you work a fixed schedule, you may be on the job in non-daylight hours. Your work schedule may be out of sync with the daily activities of family and friends.

Alcohol, Nicotine, Melatonin, and Drugs That Can Affect Your Sleep

Learn about how common substances and drugs can impact your sleep.

Adopt a Healthy Lifestyle

We all have good and bad habits. By focusing on the good, and trying to give up the bad, you can improve your sleep and overall health.

Insomnia

Your healthcare provider may suggest that you see a sleep specialist, and refer you to a sleep center in your area.

Restless Legs Syndrome and Periodic Limb Movements of Sleep

Your healthcare provider may suggest that you see a sleep specialist, and refer you to a sleep center in your area.

Sleep-related Reflux (Heartburn)

Your healthcare provider may suggest that you see a sleep specialist, and refer you to a sleep center in your area.

Health Problems That Mimic Sleep Disorders

When you work on an unpredictable or varying schedule, you may not be able to get as much sleep as you need every day.

Avoid the Danger Zone

Savvy railroaders have devised tactics to cope with their often unpredictable hours. They have figured out how to best get sleep in daylight hours, when sunlight, noise, and other factors make sleep shorter or less restful than it would be at night.

Plan for Family Meals

Arranging your schedule to be able to eat together as a family as often as possible is a good practice.

Why Better Sleep = Better Health

People who frequently short-change themselves on sleep forget how great it feels to be well-rested. They get used to feeling tired all the time and try to convince themselves that they can manage just fine. They often cling to sleep myths.

Why Sleep Matters

Robert Stickgold, PhD, of Harvard, tells how sleep helps you learn facts and remember them.