Anyone work night shifts here?

Hi Guys

Haven't been around much here often but its always great to come around and see how guys are doing here.

I was wondering if anyone here works on night shift and how do they like it? I have never worked a night shift before ( always been days ) but after losing my job back in 2011 I have been on my severance from my former employer, which was nice because I could work odd jobs and still maintain my current wage. But now I am back to working full time and found a job here in town that pays pretty decent and is pretty stable ( as stable as can be these days I guess ) but it is on the nightshift and 12 hours shifts at that. I will work two on two off and three on three off. I just dont know how I will adjust? I may like it I may hate it. I will find out which one it is come Wednesday night-Thursday morning

Anybody have any tips?

But most importantly,lol I will have to record some f1 races if I'm working. But I should be home in time for the european stretch of the calendar as Im in Canada so races start here at 8am. The first few races of the year will have to be recorded though

I'm hopeless at waking up at all, let alone all this night shift business, so don't ask me! But, when my old man used to work he did night shifts every other week. I can't remember if he had any routines or anything like that (will let you know if I remember), but a very good thing to do is wear earplugs when you go to sleep during the day. And I think that eating meals earlier/later than usual is a good way to change your body clock.

A word of warning - although the money is good, night shifts can drive you a bit mad in the long run! ...as I saw for myself

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2013 01:12AM by flat tyre.

Lol, Yeah I don't want night shift but I do want a job.

I'm going to see how it goes and give it a couple weeks. If the job sucks or the hours are too crappy on me or I just flat out don't like the people,lol I will start the search again. I hate being the new guy but then again who does right?

I do night shifts from time to time (8 days/week). Long story short:

1. Got fat
2. Sleeping disorder on daily basis.
3. Broke-up with my girlfriend (fixed in the meantime)
4. I'm always nervous and I loose my patience during those days + make more mistakes than I usually do.
5. The next day usually passes by and I do nothing but sleep (go out for a drink, pool, etc).

I can go on but I don't want to scare you.

PS: I do something I really enjoy (graphs, stats, reports and s**t like that)

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Worked a night shift at Sainsbury's for 7 months. Only 3 night's a week but 10 hour shifts. I used to get the oddest feeling of being extremely tired at 7am (finish) yet got home into bed and nothing. It sometimes got to 12, midday before I would be able to sleep, and only then would I be woken up at the slightest disturbance and once again take time to sleep.

Im not going to offer much help here, but doing nightshift for that period of time depressed me, linked with having finished a degree, and masters yet still struggling for a career (all change since last july!!).

I will say working with people you like will help.... ALOT. Night shift is not a pretty experience so making sure you have a good bunch around you is always a help. You'll most struggle with the change from night shift mode to normal mode. IMO the key to that is to stay awake after your last shift and go to bed at a normal time (not early!). You'll be dead throughout the day but the next you'll be fine.

If you struggle to sleep during the day, a few shot's of whisky will help. And that is not a joke! Finally, your stomach will not like the tricks you play either. It can be a bit of a shock to the system.

After 2-3 weeks see where you're at. If you can handle it, then the pay increase by working unsocial hours is quite nice, but if I am totally honest, more often than not I've never enjoyed anything less. 80% down to the fact that I did not get along with most the people I worked with, and the rest because leaving for work in the dark, and leaving work in the dark depressed me. 7 months was far, FAR too long for me. But what can you do when you need a job?

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

I loved nightshifts when i worked them! I am a night owl anyway so they sort of suit me.

best thing you can do is make your room pitch black. I have shutter guards on my window and it blocks all noise/light from getting in, so day sleep feels like night sleep.

12 hour shifts are hard work, an extra 4 hours ontop really makes the shift drag on, but once you get into the routine it becomes normal.

having 2 on 2 off sounds good, i had 3 day shifts, 3 nights, 3 off. 3 days, 3 nights, 6 off, repeat. having the mixture of days/ngihts really messes you up, so having all nights sounds pretty good to me.

you are going to have to give it more than a couple of weeks to get used to it, more about a couple of months.

Hey Jeremy, you've certainly had to pull off an all-nighter at uni at some point, right? Well, if you're able to sleep during the day (with the hints suggested above) and don't mind the loneliness of being away from friends because of your schedule, you should be ok. I know that the night is very peaceful and in my case, I can have great boosts of energy and creativity. It might work for you, doesn't hurt to try! I will say I could not adapt to having to sometimes be up at the time, and sometimes not.

The biggest problem with working night shift is that is that it can really screw up your body clock, especially if the routine is anything but routine. And often even if you manage to sleep for a good period during the day you still feel totally exhausted when you get up.

But the extra premium for unsociable hours can be a real bonus.

Sadly DaveEllis stopped posting here because certain other users were spoiling the experience for him, but he would probably be the ultimate expert on working nightshifts if you wanted advice. He's worked them constantly for years. Just going by his posts on here and on Facebook, Twitter etc, he could probably write a book about it, so it's a shame he's not here to add to this discussion.

Personally, although I've never worked a nightshift myself, I'm a total night-owl(a bit like Neil) and I've lived my days during the nights - and vice versa - for ages, so I have an idea what it must feel like to work them. Your body clock does get screwed up, and it's a weird feeling going home or going to sleep when everyone else is getting up and going to work.
Also, because you're sleeping during the day, you don't sleep as well. You keep waking up easily and you wake up sooner than you would if you were sleeping at night. So the quality of sleep you get is not nearly as good. That'll account for the exhausted feeling Jim mentions.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2013 10:39AM by EC83.

I worked night shifts 15 years ago for about 5 years.

15 years on and I still find it really hard to sleep at night and I keep falling asleep in the day.

It destroys your body clock for tbh I dont think you ever recover.

I lost friends due to it as I was never around when they were and they never understood why I slept on a Saturday even though I had no work that night.

I came off my last small stint of nights nearly a week ago and my body clock is still screwed. I'm sleeping too little and short at night and napping through sheer exhaustion in the mid afternoon. I'm trying to shift it along by forcing myself to skip the nap, but if go to put my feet up then I'm soon snoozing for an hour or two which then stops me from getting a decent unbroken sleep throughout the night.

The worst thing for me is that my shift pattern changes regularly so I have to change routines at short notice and it can leave me feeling "jet-lagged".