The world of business process outsourcing or BPO is full of people willing to work on schedules that are considered out of the ordinary. A lot of them are from the Philippines who are servicing customers from the US. The huge gap in distance means that people will most likely be asked to work at night to serve the business hours of the clients.

Working in the night shift is not new. Security guards and truckers can attest to that. When it comes to offshore business process outsourcing, the services provided are clerical tasks like answering customer service queries via the phone. This kind of job is typically done during the day, but the BPO world has thousands of representatives picking up phones at night. If you are embarking on this career and are being asked to work these hours, here are some things you need to know to help you adjust to it.

Sleep Consistency

You now should accept the fact that you have to switch your world upside down. This means that you will need to overhaul your sleeping cycle and hope that your circadian rhythm would adapt and normalize in a few weeks. There are no conclusive reports that sleeping at night is bad. But if you do not get enough of it, you are compromising your health. So how can you accomplish such a daunting task?

If you want to get consistent sleep during the day, find your comfort. Some people have no problem with bright sunlight peering through their curtains. But if it helps, you can opt to put up thick drapes to simulate the nighttime. The room temperature is more important. Lower numbers should make you sleep better, so you better invest in an air conditioner if you do not have one yet.

Night Fuel

The first few weeks of being in the night shift can be tough. There would be times when you will struggle to keep yourself awake only to realize that you have not even gotten past half of your shift yet. To keep yourself up, you can have a good old cup of coffee. Having four cups a day should be safe. You should be able to spread that throughout your whole shift. If that is not your thing, you can have some soda when the going gets tough. The caffeine in those drinks should help pull yourself out of a sleepy trance.

In case you are not allowed to drink either due to health reasons, another way to keep your eyes open is having a chat with your office mate. Keeping your brain stimulated with an interesting conversation will also keep you awake.

Alarms Are Your Friends

A sleepy person is like a rock on top of a cliff. It has potential energy but it needs an external stimulusto get it rolling. That stimulus will come in the form of an alarm. Now, you will be thankful for something that you are used to being annoyed with because it ruined your sleep. Now, the alarm clock will be your friend because it helps you keep on your toes. That could prevent you from sleeping through the night and missing your shift. Without them, there is a chance that you could be searching for a new job now.

It is tough at first, but you will eventually enjoy working at night. You will appreciate the fact that you do not have to brave the rush of people going to work in the morning, as traveling to the office at night is a more relaxing affair. Just try your best to keep yourself awake and have the right amount of sleep hours every day, and you should be all set.