Shift work and jet lag
The body clock likes regular days. Shift work and travel across time zones ask it to change faster than it can.
Shift work
Working nights, early mornings, or a rotating schedule means sleeping when the body clock is pushing for wakefulness. Sleep during the day is often shorter and lighter, even in a dark room.
The sleep window isn’t built for rotating shifts. It depends on one wake time every day, and a schedule that rotates can’t keep one. If your shifts rotate, work with a clinician who can tailor CBT-I to your schedule.
If you work the same shift every week, some of the tools can still help. The diary works for any schedule, since a night belongs to the time you get up. A few things often help day sleepers.
- Keep the bedroom as dark as you can, with blackout curtains or an eye mask.
- Use earplugs or steady background noise, and ask others in the home to keep it quiet.
- Wear sunglasses on the way home after a night shift, so morning light doesn’t tell the clock it’s daytime.
- Keep a similar sleep time on days off when you can.
- Don’t drive when you feel drowsy after a shift.
If you struggle to stay awake at work or to sleep when you can, a doctor can check for shift work disorder, a recognized problem with its own treatments.
Jet lag
After flying across several time zones, the body clock stays on the old time for a while. It usually shifts about an hour a day, and flying east tends to be harder than flying west.
- Get daylight in the morning at your destination after flying east, and in the late afternoon and evening after flying west.
- Move your meals and sleep to local time as soon as you arrive.
- Keep naps short.
- Go easy on caffeine and alcohol around the flight.
The sleep diary handles travel. Each night is saved in the time zone where you filled it in, so its times stay right. If you’re using the sleep window, a short trip is a reason to keep your home wake time if you can, or to set the window aside and pick it up again when you’re back.
References
- Sack, R. L., Auckley, D., Auger, R. R., Carskadon, M. A., Wright, K. P., Jr., Vitiello, M. V., & Zhdanova, I. V. (2007). Circadian rhythm sleep disorders: Part I, basic principles, shift work and jet lag disorders. Sleep, 30(11), 1460–1483. doi.org/10.1093/sleep/30.11.1460
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine. (2023). International classification of sleep disorders (3rd ed., text rev.). American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Helpful links
Everyday Insight’s tools are for education and personal reflection. They are not therapy or medical care, and they are not for emergencies. In an emergency, call 911. If you are in crisis in the United States, call or text 988.