Do you work in shifts?
Even considering myself a health & performance optimization geek, I still chose I will keep doing it for now.
⛔ Decent health advice should be: stop doing it.
But it is frequent and quite contradictory, that healthcare workers compromise their health for the health of others. We know that organizational and legal measures seem to be more effective in mitigating the consequences of shift work.
⛰️We’re all aware of the basics of a healthy lifestyle - sleep, physical activity, nutrition, stress and social/emotional connection. Get those on track first.
More specifically, according to the existing evidence, try to implement these:
1️⃣ Limit night work, specially consecutive shifts
2️⃣ Keep shifts regular and less than 12h
3️⃣ Avoid starting too early
4️⃣ Find your minimum adequate recovery time (particularly nights) and stick to it, minimum 11h
5️⃣ Prefer clockwise rotations (morning→afternoon→night) to counterclockwise
6️⃣ Prefer fast-rotating shifts (1-3 days) or slow-rotating (monthly), avoid weekly and permanent night shifts
7️⃣ Implement more rest breaks, days or holidays
8️⃣ Regularly assess your fitness-to-work
9️⃣ Plan feel-good moments during your shift
This all may be dependent on how strict your employer is, but there’s always some sort leeway.