00;00;00;10 - 00;00;23;04 Rob Hi. I'm Rob from Psych for Life. Welcome back. Even if you're doing everything right and you're trying to control every variable, there's things that are outside of your control. That impact your sleep negatively. Could be international travel or working late having a night shift. Maybe it's daylight savings time or even your children waking you up and all of this is negatively impacting the quality of your sleep. 00;00;24;06 - 00;00;51;20 Rob This can be really hard on you, but fortunately, there's research about how you can improve and manage these shifts. Our bodies have a natural 24 hour sleep wake cycle called our circadian rhythm. This internal clock, we have regulates our sleep as well as other functions, like our appetite and mood. The cycle depends on light exposure and needs to be synchronized with light, dark cycles to ensure healthy and quality sleep. 00;00;52;11 - 00;01;13;14 Rob For example, if you live in a location where you have Daylight Saving Time, when March comes around, there's more morning darkness and evening light, which can delay our sleep wake cycle. This makes us more tired in the morning and more alert in the evening as a consequence. On average, people get 40 minutes less of sleep on the Monday after you change clocks. 00;01;15;09 - 00;01;47;09 Rob Experts recommend that in the days and weeks before our clocks change, we should prepare ourselves to be less disrupted by this change. We can do this by sticking to a sleep schedule and following general guidelines for getting better sleep such as avoiding caffeine and alcohol before bed or getting exercise earlier in the day. In addition, two to three days before the schedule change you can start to gradually shift your bedtime and wake time by 15 to 20 minutes earlier each day to allow for a smoother transition for your body. 00;01;48;02 - 00;02;13;07 Rob Or you can opt for a short 20 minute nap. The day after the transition to make up for some missed sleep, getting sunlight exposure can also help to regulate your cycle, whether you're traveling for work or for family vacations. We all know that jet lag is a drag, so jet lag occurs when there's a mismatch between our internal clock and our external clock and our body feels the difference. 00;02;14;02 - 00;02;38;18 Rob If you're experiencing jet lag, you may find that you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. You might be sleepy during the day or you can't think. You might just be a jerk and be kind of irritable. So to mitigate these symptoms, here are some tips to deal with jet lag prior to your trip. Get good sleep. Try adjusting your internal clock slowly over a couple of days so that you're ready for your trip. 00;02;39;28 - 00;03;09;25 Rob Also, try to avoid staying up late packing plan in advance and while flying. Drink plenty of fluids but also avoid alcohol and caffeine. And when you land, get some sun. Sunlight exposure actually helps you to adjust your internal clock so maybe go out and do something in the sun like a hike Some people recommend taking melatonin supplements, and while this can be a good adjustment, we recommend talking to a health care provider before starting any sort of supplementation. 00;03;11;24 - 00;03;36;23 Rob The night shift is one of the most grueling things you can do to your body and your sleep schedule. And while it's tough, know that you're not alone. About 60% of the workforce in the United States has to do late night shifts or a full night shift. Here are some tips that you can use to help manage that first While it's tempting to use caffeine to get through those late nights, having energy drinks or a lot of coffee, don't overdo it. 00;03;37;18 - 00;04;00;11 Rob Caffeine takes 8 hours to get out of your system, so try to avoid using caffeine three to 4 hours prior to your bedtime. Second, taking a nap. If you work a job that allows you to have breaks where you're away from, people try to take a 15 minute catnap or power nap. This will help you recharge and give you enough energy to get through your shift while not destroying your sleep schedule. 00;04;01;28 - 00;04;21;24 Rob If you're working a night shift after your shift concludes, try taking a 15 minute nap before you drive home. This will give you energy for the drive will also reducing the risk of accidents while you're driving. Third, try to incorporate exercise prior to going on a night shift. Because that'll give you energy while also helping to keep you healthy. 00;04;23;29 - 00;04;48;27 Rob Fourth plan ahead and pack healthy meals prior to your shift. Remember to pack something high in protein and fiber such as nuts or fruits or a premade protein snack or meal. This will reduce the need to buy unhealthy foods at convenience stores or substitute it with energy drinks instead. You'll find that you feel a lot better and will help with your energy when your shift concludes. 00;04;48;28 - 00;05;07;11 Rob Try having a snack or a small meal to help reduce the need to wake up in the middle of the night from hunger disruption even though your sleep schedule is different from many of the people around you. You still want to be consistent. So plan in advance to have your sleep at a same time. Every night if you can. 00;05;08;10 - 00;05;35;04 Rob If you're sleeping during the daytime blackout, curtains and masks may be helpful as well as earplugs or white noise machines. Remember if you are working in the evening, try to get some sunlight at some point during the day. For example, if you're working an evening shift, you may want to get some sunlight prior to your shift and then go to work Here are the key takeaways for what to do if your schedule gets disrupted. 00;05;35;20 - 00;06;06;28 Rob One Prepare in advance, slowly adjust your schedule up to the change as well as get as much sleep as possible prior to the change to avoid relying on too much caffeine. Three After the switch, consider short naps to help with fatigue. Four Eat healthy protein and fiber rich foods to help with hunger pains when trying to go to sleep five if possible, try to get daylight when you first wake up and six even though your schedule is different. 00;06;07;12 - 00;06;10;14 Rob Try to remain consist and sleep at the same time. 00;06;13;03 - 00;12;30;13 Rob Congratulations you completed the module on sleep to learn skills that build upon this skill. Check out our other modules right here at CYC for life Thanks for joining us. In the next video, we're going to go through a summary of all the tips we've learned in this module. See you there. Thanks for joining us. And the next video we're going to go through how to build a routine and track your progress. 00;12;31;03 - 00;12;31;18 Rob See you there. 00;13;12;16 - 00;13;24;21 Rob So while it may be tempting when you're about to be jet lagged to just stay up and crash and recover on that new time zone, it's actually recommended that you get plenty of sleep in advance and you'll recover a lot quicker.