Sleep and shift work
One in four Canadians work shift work, while one in five work nights. Alternating day, night, and afternoon shifts are common in health care, transportation services, mining, industrial work, and emergency services. Working at night works against your natural biological clock making it hard to get a good sleep. Most people go back to a normal day schedule and sleep at night on their days off making it hard to keep a regular sleep-wake cycle. This can lead to chronic fatigue and other health problems.
If you work irregular hours, do your best to:
- Avoid frequent rotating shifts.
- Schedule days off in between shifts.
- Limit caffeine to the beginning of your shift. Drinking it later in your shift may make it harder to sleep at bedtime.
- Maintain regular eating patterns and choose nutritious foods (Health Canada).
- Make sure your workplace is brightly lit to promote alertness.
- Avoid bright light on the way home from work if you work night shift. Wear dark, wrap-around sunglasses and a large hat to shield yourself from the morning daylight.
- Keep the same bedtime routine regardless of the time you go to bed.
Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, comfortable, and cool. Black out curtains and a sleep mask can help block out daylight. Turn off phone notifications or use the “do not disturb” feature and let people know you will be sleeping. If you tend to be extremely sleepy after your shift, consider taking public transit, if possible, to avoid driving drowsy.
Helpful Resources
The Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, has developed a free web tutorial to help people cope better with night work.
Sleep Diary for shift workers (Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety, PDF)
Rotational Shiftwork (Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety)
This item was last modified on August 18, 2025