I’m not a morning person.
I’m not a night person either.
I’m a solid 11-7:30 sleeper.  If I don’t get 8+ hours of sleep my skills (mental, physical, relationship…) go downhill.

Last week we went to an in the dark Christmas lights experience with like 10 million lights:

It was cold.
I made sure we were home by 9pm so I could get my kids in bed on time and I could get to bed on time.

Not everyone is like me, but everyone needs to sleep.

I’ve mentioned in my previous emails and podcast how it’s not healthy for your OFS to work nights if they’re not used to it. But sometimes, you need your OFS to work nights, and some Filipinos prefer working that schedule.

The health risks of shift work are known. They’re at risk for insomnia, hypertension, diabetes, etc. But there are ways to help keep your night shift OFS healthy.

I asked my OFS, Jam, who has been working the night shift for years, for advice. He left the call center industry years ago because he was starting to have health problems. But when he started working for me (and working from home), he was able to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Here are Jam’s suggestions on what you, as an employer, can do to help keep your OFS healthy during the night shift.

– Avoid changing your OFS shift schedule too often. Staying awake at night isn’t the thing that causes serious damage to the body; it’s the rapid changes in sleep schedule. If your OFS has a different sleep schedule every day or week or two weeks, it’s harder for them to fall asleep, get a full 8 hours of rest, and wake up.

– Give them time to adjust to the night shift by giving them at least three days to adjust to a new work schedule. If you need to change their work schedule, keep the changes to a minimum (like once a month).

– Encourage your OFS to take exercise breaks. This helps me stay awake during my shift and gives me the exercise I need since I can’t exercise during the day. I have an elliptical bike at home that I use for at least 10 minutes daily when I’m working.

– If you can afford it, give your OFS health insurance or Philhealth. Medical emergencies are unavoidable. Sometimes it can happen while working, which is scary because we know it will be harder to get to a hospital at night. Having Philhealth or health insurance gives us one less thing to worry about.

If you don’t NEED your OFS to work at night, consider letting them work normal Philippines hours.
If you need them available on your time zone, and that means them working at night, be respectful of the difficulties this can cause.

John