Shiftworkers need to plan special time with their spouses, schedule time for sex too

Maintaining a sexual relationship can be particularly challenging for couples who work on different shifts or where one partner works a shiftwork schedule while the other works a traditional day job. Add to that child care issues, individual circadian sleep profiles, and personal preferences about sex to begin or end a day -- it all adds up to a big hurdle. Spend time with your partner discussing this issue and scheduling mutually compatible times. Sex on a schedule may sound a little clinical, but how's the alternative been working out for you? Couples coping with fertility issues have dealt with this for a long time so it can be done. This is just an extension of a more general National Shiftwork Information Center tip to set up a date with your spouse or significant other on a regular basis. Plan a special time -- it doesn't have to be dinner and a movie. It might be brunch. It might be going for a bike ride in the early afternoon. It might be fishing. You name it. But schedule that time. If sex is part of that time, all the better.