The last rays of the Indian Summer in the UK today means that every editor should roll up their trouser legs, take their edit cardies off and soak up some precious vitamin D.
The days will soon start getting shorter and editors will only emerge from their dark dens into the dark evening to catch a few hours of sleep behind their blackout blinds then crawl into the darkness once more.
Whilst working nights on TOWIE, I remember leaving my shifts at 9.30am, blinking at the harshness of the brief encounter with sunlight and entering the underground to The Tube with relief. Darkness was my familiar friend. Once home, the mission to sleep began. Blackout blinds, a large Baileys and some valerian. Then, because I repeatedly lost my place in the book, I would read the same lines in H G Wells’ The Time Machine.
I would wake up after nightfall to start another shift, having dreamt of clammy white hands and feeling increasingly like a Morlock.
White sallow skin, bulging eyes, poor communication skills. I was very tired, it was probably due to the erratic sleep, but could have been one of the early signs of vitamin D deficiency.
Even if you’re lucky enough to have an edit suite with a window, it’s not the same as getting some fresh air. The government Health and Safety Executive recommend
5-10 minutes screen break every hour. “Hilarious” I hear you cry as you wipe the guffawed sushi the runner got you off your keyboard
(or maybe you’re one of those that doesn’t bother wiping). Anyway, if you’re in Soho, go outside and get your own sushi. It will give you a break, some precious vitamin D and will give the runner a chance to get some decent Friday treats in.
Take a break before it goes dark, admittedly the 5-10 mins every hour if you don’t smoke would probably mean that you would never work again and would be whispered about as a job’s worth freak. You could always pretend to be a smoker and go for a breathing break. During the heat wave this summer my producer and I left our baking hot 34C suite for a breathing break to sit on a roasting hot pavement because we were actually melting. We had to remove ourselves rapidly when we started to meld into the bitumen.
It’s easier if you’re a home worker. You’re likely to have more access to a window, it won’t be frowned upon when you go out for a breathing break.
You could even take your 5 mins every hour, imagine that? You could take the dog for a walk, dig the vegetable plot over for the winter… The trick here of course is not get too distracted or you’ll end up working until midnight. Digging the garden over is a weekend job.
On a serious note, Vitamin D deficiency is quite common in editors. In fact one of our lovely editors Bill Ogden was revealed as being vitamin D deficient during a blood test. It can lead to skin conditions, fatigue and in more severe cases a very nasty condition called Osteomalacia, which is a softening of the bones. The symptoms include aching muscles, joints and bones.
So stock yourself up for the winter today. Take breaks outside when you can.
If you really must live the life of a Morlock, consider speaking to your doctor about taking supplements.
