In the corporate wellness side of what I do, I work a great deal with shift workers and people that work long hours.  Since it is the season to spend time with the ones that you love…. I am going to write about maintaining relationships, and staying involved in the community as a shift worker or someone that works a lot.  I have been teaching seminars on the topic of maintaining relationships and community involvement a great deal lately.  It seems to be a topic that workplaces are increasingly finding is an issue for their employees. 

I recently taught three seminars on this topic to shift workers here in Edmonton.  As part of the day I had them write out their biggest challenge in relation to relationships and community involvement.  These are the responses that I received:

-Stand-by wrecks home time

-Managing time is very difficult

-I don’t seem to have time to keep in touch with out of town family and friends… too tired

-Stand- by ruined my life

-Coordination of time for leisure activities!

-I never spend enough time with my friends

-I don’t have time to see friends

-I am anti-social

-I don’t spend enough time relaxing with family and friends

-No time to play sports

-No time for snow cleaning

-Fatigue, time management and grumpiness

-I need to spend more time and give more attention to my spouse

-I never feel like doing anything after work

-Time with extended family

-No time for family and friends

-Try to see friends and family

-No sane time to do activities, no time to be able to share with others and when we do I am too tired or busy

-Feel too tired to do anything

-Spend more quality time with son

-Never have enough time to do things around the house… repairs etc…. also better time management needed

- Less work, more time with family… overtime is issue

-Challenge to do more things at home involving my favorite pastimes

-My co-worker wants my job… this causes stress/pressure, backstabbing, criticism and emotional abuse

-Finding enough time to spend with my family and parents

-Worrying about kids

-Socializing with friends who work later hours than myself

-Trouble scheduling events with family and friends

-Not spending enough time with kids

-Normal family life is a challenge

-Not enough time for sports activities

-Spending time with family

-Working with someone I can’t get along with

-Hours of work

-Getting a doctor’s appointment for meds

-Hard time spending enough time with girlfriend

-Spending more time with my wife

-No interest in socializing and activities

-Spending time with family

-Not enough time in the day for cleaning and family

-Sleep

-Finding time to do things that need to get done

-Being out of sync with everyone you know

 

These are very REAL responses from people due to the fact that they were completely anonymous.  I can not reveal which workplace these came from… but I wanted to share the learning that came out of it. 

 

Working shift work (anything outside of Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm type hours) has a very significant impact on how connected people feel with the people around them.  Working long hours can lead to feelings of isolation, fatigue, moodiness, depression and loneliness among other things.  These types of feeling have a huge effect on people’s lives… and I am so glad that employers are starting to invest in the wellbeing of their employee’s in these ways. 

 

I have been teaching corporate wellness classes and seminars for over 6 years, and I always have many people ask me questions about this.  Some of the key things I have learned on this topic have been:

-          Divorce and relationship break ups are MUCH higher with shift workers and people who work long hours.

-          Shift work, and working a lot, not only impacts the worker, but also families, children and friends.  It is important to involve everyone impacted in efforts to create balance.

-          Working shift work in northern areas (some examples in Alberta are Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Grand Prairie and Lloydminster etc.) can be especially tough due to very short days in the winter and very long days in the summer.  In the winter people will often not see the sunlight at all in a 24 hour period due to work schedules, and in the summer people may have a very difficult time getting to sleep when they need to because of all the sunlight.

-          It can be quite challenging to effectively organize your time at home as a person that is working long hours.  Bills still need to be paid, kids still need to make it to hockey or dance class, groceries still much be purchased and an effort still needs to be made to spend quality time with the important people in your life.  It can be tough.

-          Shift work often impacts fatigue levels, and cause a person to be away from home quite a bit, and this can affect sexual health in a negative way.  This is an important element to relationships and is worth being aware of.

-          STRESS is often harder to manage as a person working shift work, or working a lot!!! Stress can impact a person’s health a great deal and really have an effect on relationships.

-          Couples, or friends, working different shifts can have a very hard time trying to coordinate time together.  This can make maintaining their relationship a challenge.

 

Those are just some of the hit home messages that I have learned along the way.  Don’t despair!  There are so many things that you can do to help maintain relationships and feel less isolated from your community with a busy work schedule!!!!  The first step is realizing it is an issue for you… and starting to think about it and make it a priority! 

 

I can’t dive into all of the tips I have, as I won’t have anything to teach in my seminars if I do.  I do have a story I would like to share though.  It is an important story to me, so I hope you get something out of it.  It outlines the importance of the small things that you can do to make relationships around you a priority.  In true ‘April’ style I am going to use my family again as an example.  I really have learned some of my biggest life lessons from them. 

 

This story is about my dad.  My dad worked shift work for quite a while when I was growing up.  It wasn’t always nights, but definitely always extended hours.  Sometimes when life got crazy and I was running around with school, sports, friends and jobs when I was a bit older… I would often not see my dad a lot. 

 

One summer I had to get up really early for a summer job, and dad and I would get up at the same time.  We would always count down how many more early mornings we had that week by saying “3 more get ups…. 2 more get ups” etc….  After that summer, I started writing dad little notes and putting them beside his lunch box in the evening, after he was in bed, whenever I was at home.  I am kind of a goof so some of them where pretty silly, but most of them said something simple like “Have a wonderful day at work dad!!!” 

 

I was at home a few years ago visiting my parents and my dad called me into the kitchen.  He wanted to show me something.  He told me that over the years he had saved every single note I had ever written to him!  He opened up his lunch box and smiled.  He had so many of those notes jammed into his lunch box that he couldn’t fit his lunch in there anymore!  I bet there were hundreds of them.  He had to take some of the notes out, and put them in a box in his closet, so that he could take his lunch to work.  J  That was a really nice moment between my dad and I, and I can still get me a bit choked up just thinking about it.  It didn’t take any time at all to write those little notes, but it sure brightened his day at work.  All those little efforts ended up adding up to help strengthen the really special relationship we had, and still have to this day. 

 

Your efforts in maintaining relationships don’t have to be huge, just thoughtful.  What small things can you do today to maintain an important relationship to you with your busy work schedule??

 

Over and out. J

 

April Smith

 

Aside from my work as a shift work specialist over the last 5 years, I have learned some of the most important lessons about shift work wellness from the people closest to me.  Unbeknownst to my family and friends I have been learning from them.  I haven’t been following them around with a clip board taking notes when they first wake up from night shift, or hiding behind plants taking pictures of them eating snacks before they go to bed.  J  That does sound fun, but I am not sure how that would go!  I have learned some valuable lessons through simple observations though.

My sister works shift work as a nurse here in Edmonton.  I have to say that nurses really are wonderful.  They take care of the rest of us at some time or another, but they often do not take care of themselves.  This holds true for many health care workers.  It is not surprising, as they tend to work quite intensely.  Hospitals are very busy places.  They also deal with a lot of stress.  My sister works very hard and also has a family to look after when she gets home.

I have witnessed some extremely tired moments for her over the years.  This has happened primarily when sleep became a second priority in order to get other things done.  I have also noticed that my sister has not made the time to fit physical activity into her life, or time for herself for that matter.  It is hard to see someone you care about so much look so drained at times.

This story is getting better!

Lately I have noticed… wait for it… this is shocking… she seems to have found a way to make physical activity a priority!!  Now, I have known her for… well her entire life… and she has not been the type to embrace anything that includes ‘working out’. 

In the spring I signed her up for a corporate challenge with the Vitalize Team called ‘The Race Across Africa’.  It is basically counting up all the kilometers travelled by our team of 10 people, to try and make it the entire way across Africa in a 5 month period.  We can run, walk, bike or swim.  In truth, I needed an extra person so I signed her up without asking her!  Sisters have to forgive you right?!?!?  Well, here is the great part… she has turned out to be one of the most motivated people on the team.  I called her the other day and she was out running with some friends!  I have to say that again.  She was out running with some friends!!!  I am so proud of her. 

I think she was ready to make some life changes.  She is looking good, making sleep a priority, getting out and exercising and attempting to eat well.  I think when you make time for one healthy aspect of your life, and experience a new level of feeling good, other changes tend to follow.  I have also noticed that she is happier with her work.  She is actually making plans to go running with co-workers and is just in a better mood in general.  YAY!  People that work shift work can feel great; it just takes a bit more effort and planning.  It really is worth it though.  It can be life changing!  Look at the example of my sister.  She is like the person that I knew before she started working shift work.  J 

This story makes me very happy to be promoting shift work wellness.  It really does make a difference in people’s lives! 

-April Smith-

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