1. Plan workouts around your shifts

Flexibility is key when it comes to movement and exercise as a shift worker. Your week may not look like having a consistent 6am workout every day, and that is SO okay! It’s essential to tailor your routine to what suits you!
Working out before your shift can help boost your energy and keep you energised throughout your shift, or a gentle yoga flow can help you unwind after a long overnight shift.
Just five minutes of movement can make your mood completely turn around. You can filter our workouts in the ‘movement’ section of the Kic app to find a 5, 10 or 20 minute workout to suit your mood! Even better, schedule them into your Kic planner to get ahead of your week.

2. Prep your meals ahead of your week

Pre-chopping veggies, cooking in bulk or pre-prepared meals – we’ve rounded up all the best ways to get on top of your meal prep so you can get on top of your week. Meal-prepping will save you time and money! Those ad hoc lunches out or take away dinners can cause a real dent in the bank account, so we’re here to help save those pennies. Not only that, it’s a great way to make sure you can still get all the nutrients you need when you’re on the go with working all hours.

Need some meal prep tips? Check out our blog on Meal prep hacks for busy queens!

3. Prioritise sleep and recovery

Sleep is so important for anything and everything we do! So it can be hard to get the rest and recovery you need when you have inconsistent hours. Differing work hours and overnight shifts can disrupt your circadian rhythm (AKA your body’s 24-hour cycle of physical, mental, and behavioural changes). Disrupting this cycle can lead to sleep deprivation and effect the quality of your sleep.

Using things like blackout curtains and white noise machines can help set up your room for an optimal sleep experience. If the mind can’t stop racing when you try to sleep, you might love our Kic sleep meditations! They’ll help you drift off into a blissful sleep before you even realise it. Our soundscapes are also a great option if you don’t have a white noise machine. You can find all these under the ‘mindfulness’ tab in the Kic app.

4. Our community’s tips!

Who better to share advice than our own community who work on shifts! Sophie and Vanessa share how they Kic’ it and manage their weeks when their routine is a bit unpredictable.

Sophie tips:

“I like to exercise the morning before my first night shift and snooze away that PM. And the rest I just leave to my days off. I also find trying new types of exercise (walk/swim/run program/gym classes/Kic) or at least maintaining a good variety helps with my motivation – pick things you like and have some choices to bargain with when you’re unmotivated. Also a good walk in the fresh air is as good as anything when you’re finishing nights! Do give yourself some credit, it’s hard work. Also meal prep is everything. I think try to eat about (or at least) 2 meals worth of nutritious food on night shift. Doesn’t have to be before you go to sleep. Whenever works. But your brain and body need it.”

Vanessa’s tips:

“I’ve never achieved a regular routine because my roster changes weekly.
Best I found was to exercise the day of my first night shift, then I wouldn’t work out again until my run of nights was finished. It’s too hard and unfair on yourself to expect workouts on your sleep days in between shifts.
On 12s, I also wouldn’t workout at all, I’d just exercise on days off first thing in the morning before I lost motivation.
Late shifts, I’d force myself to workout in the morning rather than laying around the house, it helps so much with energy for the shift to just get some movement in!
With food, you just have to meal prep. It’s so much easier to eat whatever, whenever (I’ve had so many Jatz and cheese at 2am) and sometimes you’ve just gotta do what you’ve gotta do, but meal prep makes a big difference.
And be kind to yourself, shift work is so rough on your body. Celebrate the little wins and be kind to yourself when you just need chocolate to get through.“