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    By job ยท 9 tips

    Night and rotating shifts

    The longer you work nights, the higher your cardiovascular risk. If you can't switch off nights, arrange your sleep and light exposure well.

    1 The math

    Don't die slowly

    The longer you work night shifts, the higher your cardiovascular risk; if you can move to another position, do it sooner

    People who work night shifts have about 13% more cardiovascular disease and about 27% more cardiovascular death than people who don't. And it adds up with years: every additional 5 years of night shifts adds about 7% more cardiovascular disease. So count it in years, and if you can move to another position, do it sooner.

    • Moderate value
    • Evidence A
    • Buys life

    2 Sleep

    Don't die slowly

    Catch up on sleep the night after a late night, rather than saving it for the weekend

    People who slept too little and did not make it up the next night had about 15% higher risk of death than people with a regular schedule, and about 42% higher if the shortfall was severe and not made up. People who made it up showed no higher risk. So after a late night, go to bed earlier the next night.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Buys life
    Don't waste your energy

    Get up at the same time every day, weekends included

    The one-fifth of people with the most irregular schedules had body clocks about 2.5 hours later than the one-fifth with the most regular ones. That is like living in jet lag all the time. Students with more regular schedules also had better grades.

    • Moderate value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves time
    Don't die slowly

    Keep naps to half an hour and no more than an hour; if you can only get through the day with a 1- or 2-hour sleep, find out why

    People whose naps are no longer than an hour show no higher risk of death or chronic disease, and their minds are somewhat sharper. For people who nap longer than an hour, the risk of coronary heart disease is about 30% higher, and of diabetes and obesity about 20% higher. So set an alarm and wake yourself after half an hour. If you can only get through each day with a 1- or 2-hour sleep, that is a signal to have your health checked.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Buys life
    • Disputed
    Don't waste your energy

    If you're drowsy in the afternoon, nap for 10 minutes, not half an hour

    When you didn't get enough sleep the night before, a 10-minute nap perks you up on the spot, and part of the effect lasts two and a half hours. A 5-minute nap does almost nothing. A 20-minute nap takes until after 35 minutes to start working. After a 30-minute nap, you wake up in a fog for a while, and in that period you perform worse than if you hadn't slept.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves time
    Don't waste your energy

    Don't have caffeine after 2 p.m.

    Taking 400 mg of caffeine 6 hours before bed, about three or four cups of coffee, cost people more than 1 hour of sleep that night as measured by instruments. Yet their own sleep diaries showed no difference at all. One 250 mL cup of coffee (107 mg) has to be finished more than 8.8 hours before bed so that it doesn't affect sleep. If you go to bed at 11 p.m., 2 p.m. is the line.

    • High value
    • Evidence A
    • Saves time
    Don't die slowly

    Get out in the sun during the day; don't go all day without light

    In a Swedish study, women who deliberately avoid the sun have a life expectancy 0.6 to 2.1 years shorter than those who get the most sun. Non-smokers who avoid the sun live about as long as smokers who get the most sun.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Buys life
    • Disputed
    Don't waste your energy

    If you have long-term insomnia (3 or more nights a week for 3 months or longer), start with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, and don't go straight to taking sleeping pills long term

    After this course of treatment, people fall asleep about 19 minutes faster on average, and spend about 26 minutes less awake in the middle of the night. The effect gradually weakens, but it is still there after 12 months. Online self-help courses work about as well as doing it in person. Sleeping pills help little for people over 60: for every 6 people who take them, 1 has a side effect, and only 1 in 13 sleeps better.

    • Moderate value
    • Evidence A
    • Saves time
    What not to buy

    Don't count on melatonin to cure long-term insomnia; it helps people fall asleep only about 7 minutes sooner on average; start with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia

    In people who sleep badly, melatonin on average gets them to sleep only about 7 minutes sooner than a fake pill, and gives about 8 more minutes of sleep. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine does not recommend it for long-term insomnia. In China it is sold as a health food, and the label says โ€œthis product cannot replace medicine.โ€ For jet lag after flying across 5 or more time zones, though, it does ease the symptoms.

    • Moderate value
    • Evidence A
    • Saves money
    • Disputed

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