What Happens to Your Body If You Continuously Work at Night

When you are young, everything seems possible.

People in their 20s can work, study, and party all night long without feeling sick the next day. They are still young and strong to withstand multiple sleepless nights. I was like this too.

I used to combine my studies with night shifts, working as a client manager for a US company. I was eager to improve my business communication and English speaking skills. I’ve gained a lot of experience, but I’ve also sacrificed my health to make it all happen.

If you ever consider working at night, this is what will happen to you in time.

Drowsy and Weak All-Day

According to the “Why we sleep” book by Mattew Walker, sleep is vital for humans. New neuron connections are formed at night, enabling us to learn and process what happened during the day.

“Sleep is the price we have to pay to be able to learn new things.” —says neuroscientist Chiara Cirelli

At first, I could perfectly combine my studies with part-time work, but my body gave up shortly. My biological rhythm was broken. I felt weak and tired the whole day.

You might not notice the adverse effects of sleep deprivation right away, but you will eventually feel them.

Changes Will Occur to Your Digestive System

At night, body temperature lowers, and all internal processes become slower, including digestion. If you eat before going to bed, you’re not giving the digestive system time to rest. Those who sleep less tend to show more preference for high carbohydrate foods (sweets, salty food, and starchy foods).

The same happened to me. I ate snacks and sweets to boost brain activity, which resulted in a weight loss later. It is so easy to gain extra weight, yet more challenging to lose it.

Workout Causes Tiredness

Due to continuous sleep deprivation, the body cannot fully recover from past stress, physical activities, and injuries. I remember being too lazy to go outside and work out. Without a proper day-night regime, I became dull and indifferent to everyday things.

Facial Skin Will Start Changing

Minor body changes are impossible to notice right away. In time, my facial skin became pale with dark circles under the eyes. As a result, I had to apply make-up to tune the face color.

The skin is the human’s largest organ, yet it is the last to get vital vitamins. Our body allocates most of the energy to the life-essential organs, while the skin gets what’s left. Make-up is not a permanent solution to a problem! It masks the defects, but the roots of the problem stay unresolved.

I Was In My 20s When I Felt Like a Middle-Aged Man

It’s been more than 5 years since I quit working at night. However, I still have some side effects. The digestion disorder did not go away with time. Besides, I no longer can be as active at night as I used to be.

The human body is designed to sleep at night! It cannot function without proper sleep. You don't become more productive by shortcutting your sleep; this productivity is just an illusion!

Here is what Jeff Bezos says about sleep deprivation:

“4 extra productive hours in a day is 33% more time to make decisions. In other words, if you were going to make, say, 100 decisions, you could make 33 more. So, 133 decisions in total.

But is that really worth it if the quality of those decisions might be lower because you’re tired or grouchy or any number of things? Probably not.

You need to be thinking two or three years in advance, and if you are, then why do you need to make a hundred decisions today?”

A clear mind is vital for those who work in creative fields, make strategic decisions, and shape humans’ lives. Take care of your body, health, and mood from a young age to live a long and happy life.