Next time you work at your
desk past dinner time, watch
television at 2 am to unwind
before bed or check your
internet bank account at midnight,
you could be paying a higher price
than you realise for asking your body
to adapt to the demands of a busy
lifestyle. The modern 24/7 ethos
that allows and encourages us to
work, shop and play round the clock
may seem a boon to busy urban
professionals, but new research
suggests that by disrupting our
body's natural 24-hour body clock,
we are storing up serious risks for
our physical and mental health, and
possibly even ruining our relationships.
Far from simply leaving us more
tired and irritable than usual, consistently
working much longer than, or different
hours from, the regular old-fashioned
nine to five can cause long-term sleep
disruption, gastrointestinal disorders
and even cardiovascular disease.
A study at the Centre for
Chronobiology at the University of
Surrey, UK, has revealed that the shift
from regular hours to round-the-clock
flexi-living is creating a time bomb
for our wellbeing. Not only are more
people working regularly at night, but
millions more have extended their
hours at either end of the day. The
cost to health of working out of phase
with our body clocks is incalculable
at present. But we do know that, in
the short term, sleep and stomach
problems, accident rates and social
relationships are all affected. As we
hover on the brink of a recession
and work hours look likely to extend
even further into what used to be
our leisure time, experts are warning
employers that they may even be sued
by employees (or their relatives) who
suffer the worst effects of working
antisocial hours. In Japan, the first
cases of death brought on by overwork
have already been successfully
brought to court and millions were paid
in compensation to relatives.
There is very little you cannot do
now when biologically your body wants
and needs to be resting or sleeping.
It’s easy to think hitting the treadmills
at 1 am is a convenient way to manage
your time, but the reality is our bodies
are still locked into the same biological
cycles, called circadian rhythms, as
our cave-dwelling ancestors, and
our habit of working into the night
three times a week to cope with our
workload could well be starting a
domino-like chain of events leading to
permanent tiredness, memory loss and
even severe depression.
Our body clock works in strict,
preset phases regardless of what we
choose to do at any time of day or
night say mood specialists who treat
people suffering health problems
as a result of upsetting their natural
body clocks through working long or
antisocial hours. Our thyroid, adrenal
and hormonal cycles are all geared
towards a fixed pattern and need us
to stick to a pretty even schedule of
sleeping between about eleven and
seven, being active in the daytime and
resting and relaxing in the evening. If
we fit other activities into our schedule
when we should be sleeping, we will
interrupt our body’s natural rhythms
and should expect ever deepening
mood swings, depression and anxiety.
And if you’ve found yourself being
more forgetful than usual recently take
a tip from the business psychology
guru Tony Buzan, inventor of mindmapping
and author of Headstrong:
“Like many people today, my schedule
can be incredibly busy. I think I am
coping without damaging my health,
but then I will notice I am mislaying my
keys more often, or having difficulty
recalling important things instantly. I
treat that as an amber light that I am
disrupting my body’s rhythms by trying
to do too much, as short-term memory
is one of the first things to suffer when
you are overloading yourself.”
It’s more than your health that can
suffer if you think burning the candle
at both ends, or working, shopping and
organising your life at odd hours, is
good time management. There’s plenty
of evidence to show that working
different times to your partner and not
spending social time with friends leads
to feelings of isolation and depression
and the increased likelihood that the relationship will break up.
And thinking you can get away
with a 24/7 lifestyle while you’re young
and that you’ll be kinder to your body
when you have the time won’t help
either. The most disturbing part of
time-management research was that
once you have sent your body clocks
haywire through repeatedly ignoring
your natural rhythms, you may never
be able to successfully reset them.
The more you do it, the harder it is to
readapt to normal patterns, they say.
Just because you can’t see or hear
your internal body clocks doesn’t mean
they aren’t important. In the long run,
you can’t achieve anything if you’ve
made yourself seriously ill, so use your
leisure time wisely and learn to work
with vour natural rhythms.
NIGHTSHIFT TIPS
Eat low-fat meals:there is plenty
of evidence to show that shiftworkers
who eat meals in the middle of the
night have raised blood-lipid levels
(more fat in the blood). This is a risk
factor for heart disease, so doctors
advise sticking to light, low-fat foods
at night.
Help your system to adapt: if
you regularly work at night, only to
switch back to regular living at the
weekend, your internal body clock
will go haywire. Better to reintroduce
daylight gradually. Don't suddenly
stay up all day. Give yourself a
couple of hours of daylight at a time.
Exercise lightly: insulin resistance
is affected by shiftwork and late-night
living, but exercise helps to counter
the adverse effects. However, if you
do use an all-night gym, don't overdo
it on the treadmill. Intense physical
activity before going to bed will
interfere with your sleep patterns.
Invest in a light box: while there
is no firm evidence that shiftworkers
suffer from depression, their lack of
exposure to daylight (which results
in a drop of the hormone melatonin)
will affect their mood. Spending a
few minutes in front of a light box can
help to redress the balance.
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