The Core Factors of Sleep as a Night Shift Worker or Night Owl

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and the first factor that we'll talk
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about that regulates our sleep is our
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circadian rhythm or our body's clock now
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our body's clock is primarily regulated
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by the light that we see so our body
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perceives sources of light to mean that
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it's daylight and that's not just
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sunlight it's also our devices such as
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our cell phones and our television
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screens these stimuli essentially reduce
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the release of a hormone called
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melatonin and that hormone melatonin is
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a hormone that prepares our body for
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sleep so it's quite important to avoid
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these sources of light through our
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screens such as our cell phones about 2
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to three hours before we're getting
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ready to go to sleep additionally a
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consistent sleep schedule is essential
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for regulating our body's clock these
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hormones such as melatonin are released
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in cycles throughout the day and so they
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need time to prepare so that we can
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prepare ourselves for sleep so going to
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bed at the same time will essentially
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confirm that your body releases the
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sleep hormones at the correct time to
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prepare us for sleep now next is sleep
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pressure so we've all felt this I'm sure
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sleep pressure is the sensation that we
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feel at the end of the day maybe we're
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having a long conversation with our
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colleagues or listening to a night
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owling lesson let's say for instance and
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we begin to feel a general groggginess
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and part of the reason for this
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groggginess is because there's a
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neurochemical that's released in our
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brain called adenosine and this really
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is the sleep neurochemical that we feel
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in a state of being tiredness and this
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is actually the neurochemical that
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caffeine is blocking that helps us stay
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awake when we consume caffeine
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it's another factor to consider when
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we're talking about sleep pressure is
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our amount of social and physical
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activity that we're experiencing so
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let's say we're talking to colleagues
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too much or we're at a social event
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that's beginning to exhaust us maybe
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we're exercising for a long period of
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time we actually also because of these
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factors begin to experience sleep
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pressure and feel the need to want to
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progress towards sleep
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so continuing forward here with just a
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few more aspects of sleep overall and
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the first aspect of sleep overall to be
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considered here is our sleep environment
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the environment we sleep in is essential
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to our quality of sleep and the first
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factor of our sleep environment to be
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considered is the darkness of the room
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so our body as I mentioned previously
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perceives light to be a reason to be
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awake now not just sunlight but also our
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devices and so having a blackout curtain
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over our window or even unplugging our
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electronic devices that emit light can
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help our body prepare for sleep
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additionally dropping the temperature in
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the room to facilitate a drop in body
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temperature is an effective way to
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improve our sleep quality reducing the
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noise level overall in the home whether
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that's through having a white noise
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device that is emitting a cool even
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sound or even a fan that's running in
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the room so that we're not being woken
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up by the changes in our soundsscape and
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then as we all know comfortable bedding
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is an essential part of sleeping
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restfully having comfortable sheets and
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comfortable pillows can really help us
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relax and progress into sleep
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now next our lifestyle and habits are
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also factors to be considered for
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restful sleep avoidance of caffeine and
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alcohol anywhere from 8 to 10 hours
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prior to going to sleep can help our
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body get rid of those substances so that
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we can feel the restful effects of the
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initiation of sleep through adenosine
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exercise is also something that helps us
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feel that sleep pressure that I
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mentioned in the previous slide that
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we're actually tired and ready to
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progress into stage one sleep and onward
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our eating habits are also something to
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be considered when we're sleeping so if
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we have a large meal prior to going to
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sleep that large meal actually takes
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energy to digest and that digestion
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increases our body temperature and that
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increase in body temperature can
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interfere with progression into later
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stages of sleep and then as well our
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ability to manage our stress maybe
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through meditation or through breathing
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factors right before we're about to go
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to sleep can help us really begin that
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stage one sleep where our heart rate
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drops and our uh breathing rate drops
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and we can progress forward into the
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later
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stages now lastly here health and
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genetics are also a factor to be
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considered with sleep so if we're
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experiencing sleep issues such as
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insomnia or sleep apnea or even mental
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health issues such as anxiety and
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depression we should be working with our
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physicians our doctors to help optimize
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our general health in those areas
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overall and that optimization in those
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areas can help facilitate our ability to
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have restful sleep additionally as we
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age our sleep quality decreases through
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just general aging factors and so that's
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something to be considered as we
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progress in time overall and it's
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something that can be optimized through
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optimizing the factors we've talked
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about here previously and then
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additionally recent research has shown
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that there is a genetic underpinning for
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people being night owls or early birds
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and so this is also something to be
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considered we all know ourselves whether
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we function best in the morning or in
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the evening and considering that in our
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body is preparation for sleep