Night shift work is common in the call center industry. It has also been associated with a list of health problems including mood and sleep disorders and increased risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. For a night shift agent working in a 24/7 call center, adapting to a new sleep schedule and staying awake and alert all night are the biggest obstacles he or she needs to overcome.

This schedule therefore requires call center agents to make significant adjustments to their daily routine and activities. It’s not only important to observe some practices to stay alert at work but also to avoid the negative health effects of shift work.

Below here are tips that can help you get by with nigh shift:

1. GET ENOUGH SLEEP. This is the most important thing that call center agents don’t usually do. By not getting enough sleep, they go to work very weak and tired. They fall asleep while taking calls. Not only will they be scolded by their supervisors, but they end up not being productive with their day.

2. EAT RIGHT. Always have well balanced meal to give you enough energy to be taking calls the whole shift and be able to stay awake and enthusiastic all night. Usually skipping meals will make you dizzy and nauseated and cause you not to be able to concentrate on your calls and not be able to really understand your customers concerns. Listening attentively and having an upbeat tone to your customers could help a lot in being able to address their concerns properly and getting their attention in your sales pitch.

3. DRINK LOTS OF FLUIDS. Talking all the time on inbound calls can really dry up your throat. To protect the most important aspect in working in a call center, which is you voice, you should take in lots of fluids. Drink lots of water, juice, or iced tea.. Whatever is available or whichever you prefer. Having a spill-proof tumbler is the most common thing you see at every call center agents desk.

4. EXERCISE. Being fit is very crucial in keeping your job. If you are very sickly, you tend to make a lot of absences, which leads to termination, which leads to no money again.

5. FRIENDS. Nothing makes you more lively and excited in going to work every night in the call center than getting together again with coworkers or crushes at work.

6. NOT TOO Many VICES. I guess telling people not to smoke or drink coffee at work would make me a hypocrite since I myself smoke. True, drinking coffee and smoking is a big help in keeping you awake at work, but having too much is a different story.

7. UNWIND. Working is good, but working too much is not. Having fun and going out with friends, keeps you healthy in ways you’re able to balance your life with work and play.

Sources:
– https://www.kalibrr.com/advice/2015/10/10-tips-to-survive-the-graveyard-shift/
– http://www.stopsleep.com.au/the-nature-of-call-centers-and-how-to-stay-awake/
– http://call-center-world.com/247-call-center-tips-night-shift-agents-can-stay-healthy/