Slashdot Mirror
Shift Work Dulls Brain Performance
davidshenba writes: Scientists warn that working in unusual shifts can prematurely age the brain and dull intellectual ability. Three thousand people in France were given tests of memory, speed of thought and wider cognitive ability. People with more than 10 years of shift work history had the same results as someone six and a half years older. The brain naturally dulls as we age, but the researchers said working antisocial shifts accelerated the process.
I wonder how long until we realize that shift work is a public health issue, like clean water and vaccination and smoking.
Maybe people who weren't as mentally sharp had fewer employment options and ended up in jobs with shift work.
As someone who used to work a graveyard shift, I know my brain felt dulled not because of the shift, but because I got 5 hours of sleep a night. The world does not recognize the need for people who work graveyard to sleep. I swear the garbage trucks came five days a week back then.
Maybe people who couldn't get anything better than "shift work" had duller brains to start with.
Three-and-half years of shift work (interesting, well-paid work for a good employer and decent working conditions) did me physical harm that did not wear off for many years after the experience. I felt listless, short on energy and intitative and thinking power, slightly better while on days, but very bad while on nights. That listlessness was still with me for years afterwards.
During those years, I experienced three different shift patterns. Rotating once a week (day, evening, night) was worst - pretty hellish. Rotating once a month was bearable. I once did 4 months straight on nights - to my surprise, that worked OK (physically). At the end, I was back on weekly rotation and couldn't wait to get out.
Shift work wrecks your social life. Your friends never know where you're at, so they don't include you in their plans, and you don't have the energy yourself to organize anything.
"Cock Up Your Beaver" does not mean what you think. This sig is intended to clog filters and annoy do-gooders
The article, and the actual study which requires a purchase of at least US$30 to view, do not appear to take the nature of the work into account. Shift work doesn't mean factory work or manual labor. Factory work is going to be exhausting no matter what the shift, right? From what I gather, the study is paying attention to the hours worked and not necessarily the work performed.
I spent about 5 years in a mostly nocturnal habit, doing development and sysadmin work remotely from my apartment. I'd wake up around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, shit/shower/shave, spend a couple of hours getting my food and coffee and watching a bit of TV, sit around working on things until around 2 or 3 AM, and then venture off into gaming or Slashdot or Fark or what have you (this was the late 90s and early 2000s) until I went to bed at 8 or 9 AM. Rinse and repeat. I enjoyed this schedule and in fact there's evidence that I thrived on this schedule. Being awake when nobody else is, there are few distractions, I can focus on what needs to be done while the majority of my fellows and users are asleep. Lack of interruption is a treasure.
Then I moved into the enterprise doing development and DBA stuff. Almost 8 years getting up at 6 AM most days, showing up to work tired half the time, having to suck down several cups of coffee prior to being fully awake at all. The story, always the same. Despite any weariness or necessity for caffeine, I still accomplish my best work by far and away prior to lunch, and then attempt to ride the day out until 5:30 hits. The morning is my productive time, after lunch I mostly exist to put out fires, sit in on meetings of lower importance where I'm barely a stakeholder, and plan out the actual work that I'll be doing tomorrow morning. I dislike the schedule because I know that once I get home and the sky grows dark I'll be picking up my second wind and going straight back into a work frame of mind.
My own personal rhythm thrives at night, this has always been true and remains so despite any schedule change you might throw at me. Even with a normal business hours gig in the enterprise, I've still probably done some of my best work from home (after hours but salaried, whatever I accomplish tonight I don't have to fuck with in the office tomorrow) than I've done in the office. I would be, and have been, way more productive if my work schedule was 8:30 PM to 5:30 AM. Was that physically killing me or dulling my mental performance faster than running 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM? It sure doesn't feel like it.
I wonder if I could parlay my penchant for overnights into some sort of International Ops Lead scenario? I'd love to be awake and cranking around the same time that the offshore teams are doing whatever they do/don't.
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
They've always been dull in the brains category.