
If you groan when your alarm clock goes off at 6:15am, spare a thought for Today newsreader Sylvia Jeffreys whose work day starts at the crack of dawn.
“Monday to Friday my days start at 3.17am in the morning. It’s so, so early and pitch black but you can get used to it in a sense, or at least you learn to manage it,” she told Kate Waterhouse on A Date With Kate.
The 30 year old’s fitness routine is a large part of that.
“Obviously running makes you feel good, but mentally, for me, exercise is crucial with my hours, when you’re starting at three o’clock in the morning. There is a very genuine link between early starts and shift work and regular hours and depression,” she said.
Watch: Sylvia Jeffreys talks about her early morning wake ups. Post continues after video.
“I’m not saying that I’m suffering depression, but you can have lows, you can feel flat and you can feel a bit irritable and … I would rather stay on top of things by eating well and looking after myself physically and mentally.”
But while the early mornings are enough to scare off most, Jeffreys says it’s not the hardest part of her job.
“It’s dealing with the really sensitive issues that come up on the show. We deal with everything, from crime to feel-good human stories to everything in between,” she said.
“There are stories that really hit you for six, and you can’t really prepare for that and you don’t have a lot of time to think about it or think about how you would respond… so it can be challenging.”