Practical Tips for People with Late Night Commitments

[Stormblood]

This advice applies to you if you have legitimate reasons to be up past 11pm, such as:

• Working late night shifts, and overnight shifts;
• Doing the good work for this community;
• Any other legitimate commitment (i.e. being out drinking and clubbing is not a legitimate commitment, and will also need different advice)

Sleep is the most important part of life when it comes to recovery and fulfilling your energy needs. It's even more important than your diet. Working late at night is necessary at times, but will disrupt your natural circadian rhythm, which isn't healthy for you.

Other than the usual tips of avoiding food within 3 hours of sleeping, liquids within 90 minutes of sleeping, no screens/electronics within 1 hour of bed, minimising blue light exposure, and setting up your sleep environment to be dark and cool, here's other things you can do:

• Set up a few minutes before bed to vibrate Berkano (low reps like 10 are perfectly fine), and affirm that your sleep is the most restorative, with excellent deep and REM sleep. These phases of sleep are necessary for functioning at your best, which are important, especially if you serve ToZ;
• If your work shift or community work ends around sunrise or after and you're not at home, wear sunglasses on the commute home. In your pre-bed hours, try to keep lights dim. Invest in red-spectrum night lights if possible. This is because sunlight signals your body that it's time to be awake and productive, which is not ideal when you need to sleep.
• Use blackout curtains or even a sleep mask to simulate darkness and reduce morning/afternoon sunlight in your bedroom.
• A cool shower before bed lowers body temperature and signals your body it’s time to sleep.
• Oddly enough, warm feet (e.g., thin socks) help you fall asleep faster, even in a cool room. So keep your feet warm.
• Avoid stimulants for the last 4-6 hours of shift (you should be doing this even if you don't work at night). Caffeine, nicotine, and other stimulants can linger longer than people expect, especially if you're a poor responder.
• White noise machines, earplugs, or sleep headphones can mask daytime noises.
• Let housemates/family know your sleep hours. Put a sign on your door if needed (“Sleeping. Please Do Not Disturb”).
• Turn off notifications on your phone and consider a “do not disturb” setting during your sleep window.
• Gentle stretching or yoga before sleep can help relax the body after a wired night shift.
• Any slow breathing exercises from our website will slow down your nervous system, and help you get in the right brainwave frequency.

If anybody has any other tips, please feel free to share them.

For those who don't work at night for ToZ but have jobs finishing or starting past 11pm, it is imperative to find a better job. Research shows that night workers die early.

If you work for ToZ, find ways to build a life that supports as much ToZ work as you need to do but during day hours. This can take time of course. and should not stop you from sacrificing your time now, as the Gods will always help bless those who serve with honour. Night work is a necessary sacrifice at times, but don’t ever romanticise it or get stuck in it forever. If you move toward a daytime schedule, that is always the higher road for health, longevity, and spiritual performance.

Here are some studies for night shift workers:

• UK Biobank (2024) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-024-08946-w
• Nurses' Health Study (2015): https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(14)00623-0/abstract
• Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies (2021): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-024-08946-w
• Scandinavian White Collar Study (2019)
• Biological Aging Study (2024): https://academic.oup.com/qjmed/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/qjmed/hcaf091/8107780
• Chronodisruption: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronodisruption

 

[Karnonnos [TG]]

If you have eaten a lot, I suggest doing (not too intense) cardio routine for 30-60 minutes for the upper body before bed as well. Walking also works. Lower body strenuous activities like running or gym work can wake someone up too much.

It sounds paradoxical but it makes one feel less bloated and more tired, especially if you were forced to eat or drink, or ate a ton of carbohydrates. Only issue is that this can induce thirst and prompt someone to drink, but less so at night.

Also, night shifts are not great for health, but bear in mind that a lot of andrapoda are really on a thread health-wise, especially older ones. Zevists who actually meditate have ways 'around this'.

One thing to bear strongly in mind with these studies is that someone working any sort of night shift is more likely to be impulsive, lower inhibition and 'forced' to work these (i.e. they are in debt... which has other insinuations). That can correlate with loss of life expectancy and biological aging too.

 

[raventrissmegistus666]

I have 3-shifts job. For example: first week I’m working 05:00-13:00 (so I wake up at 3), second week is dayshift (13:00-21), and third is night (21:00-05:00). And yes, I feel like I need to do something with it, because I obviously have sleep troubles, and anyway trying to do as much things in my life as I can (sport, reading, hobby etc). And yes, I feel tired most of the times, but finding another job gonna be challenging for me now. I probably won’t find something better for now. (Sorry for my English, I’m trying not to use translator)

 

[Stormblood]

I have 3-shifts job. For example: first week I’m working 05:00-13:00 (so I wake up at 3), second week is dayshift (13:00-21), and third is night (21:00-05:00). And yes, I feel like I need to do something with it, because I obviously have sleep troubles, and anyway trying to do as much things in my life as I can (sport, reading, hobby etc). And yes, I feel tired most of the times, but finding another job gonna be challenging for me now. I probably won’t find something better for now. (Sorry for my English, I’m trying not to use translator)

Getting a good life is not a sprint. It's more like a marathon. It takes time and progress can be slow. Eventually you'll get where you want to be, provided you take appropriate actions over time to get there. All the best

 

[raventrissmegistus666]

Getting a good life is not a sprint. It's more like a marathon. It takes time and progress can be slow. Eventually you'll get where you want to be, provided you take appropriate actions over time to get there. All the best

 

[HPS Lydia]

Other than the usual tips of avoiding food within 3 hours of sleeping

Avoiding a large meal, yes. But my sleep quality has significantly improved since I adopted the habit of eating a small snack of protein and healthy fats right before bed. It stabilizes the blood sugar, keeping the adrenals in check. Many people who wake up from night sweats, restlessness, and nightmares, is because their blood sugar crashes which then activates their adrenals.

 

[CharlesBenetton]

• Oddly enough, warm feet (e.g., thin socks) help you fall asleep faster, even in a cool room. So keep your feet warm.

This is really new to me. I always sleep without socks, and my feet are outside the blanket. That way, I think I sleep more deeply. Thanks for the information!

 

[Stormblood]

Avoiding a large meal, yes. But my sleep quality has significantly improved since I adopted the habit of eating a small snack of protein and healthy fats right before bed. It stabilizes the blood sugar, keeping the adrenals in check. Many people who wake up from night sweats, restlessness, and nightmares, is because their blood sugar crashes which then activates their adrenals.

Interesting. It's been very long since I had any of that.

 

[Stormblood]

This is really new to me. I always sleep without socks, and my feet are outside the blanket. That way, I think I sleep more deeply. Thanks for the information!

It works for many people according to some studies. It doesn't work for me. I sleep naked, and hardly ever use a blanket.

 

[Wotanwarrior]

Avoiding a large meal, yes. But my sleep quality has significantly improved since I adopted the habit of eating a small snack of protein and healthy fats right before bed. It stabilizes the blood sugar, keeping the adrenals in check. Many people who wake up from night sweats, restlessness, and nightmares, is because their blood sugar crashes which then activates their adrenals.

That's exactly what happens to me. If I go to bed with the stomach empty, it's harder for me to fall asleep, especially on days when I do heavy training.

 

[Stormblood]

I guess it doesn't happen to me because I keep my blood sugars low in general. I don't have sugar crashes. I've adapted back to the natural human diet: fat-based, rather than carbs-based.