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Dealing With Shifting Your Workload

Prerna Salla
Disturbed sleep patterns may pose as a humongous problem for those who aren't used to it. Lack of sleep can cause irritation, fatigue, and can lead to health problems in the long run.
Adequate amount of sleep is crucial in today's day and age. Disturbed sleep can cause havoc in your daily routine, especially if your work takes a higher priority.
Working in shifts has its benefits as well as its demerits. Your body clock is likely to get most affected.

Working in Shifts and its Side-Effects
Similar to jet lag, working in shifts not only gives you the pleasure of working in a silence zone, but also attaches rewards in the form of dark circles and irritable behavior.
Despite your best efforts to make your night shift more pleasant, it is difficult for your body to get accustomed to the new schedule. Your fatigued self can cause severe problems in the long run. Of course you get used to the particular lifestyle, but in the old age you tend to find yourself running after your health.
Most call centers recruit the young and energetic college grads for a reason. Since this is a lucrative profession, it's good for students who want to make an extra buck. At times what may seem really difficult, gets seemingly better because of the fat paycheck attached to it.
So when you work in shifts, you find yourself hunting for something that will keep you up. You resort to gulping down coffee to keep you awake and working. This affects your body in more ways than one.
You'll notice that party goers and people who spend each night in the pub tend to go to the best beauty parlors, in order to look fresh. For those who work in shifts this is far beyond thought.
Most people have this tendency to take up medication of some sort to help them through the problem. If you really can't help but work in shifts, here's what you can do to live through this situation.

Getting Back on Track
Avoid a job that makes you work in shifts. If you can't, make sure that you eat your meals on time. At least you can avoid huge acidic pangs that run through your body.
Try to convince your body that this is how a normal day is. For most people, the most difficult thing is to train the mind. If you've got that in order, then the problems stay in control.
Drink lots of water. Generally as the eating patterns change at night, and you tend to eat a lot of junk food, and avoid liquids. Try drinking a lot of juices instead of fried snacks. At least you won't get your body dehydrated.
Take short breaks, and try desk exercises; it will keep your mind and body fresh and alert.
If you can take a power nap in between, you can protect your eyes from getting irritated. There is an exercise for relaxing your eyes. Simply place your palms on your eyes and count ten. Wait and repeat. This exercise makes your eyes less tired, and does not induce the feeling of being fatigued!
As far as possible, make a sincere effort to get rid of the shift routine. All the best!