Thread: Shift work

Yea, know what you mean by sunshine helping. Here for about 3 months in winter it is dark when you go in to work and when you come home when on 12hr 7 to 7 shifts. Day shift or night shift did not matter, it was dark. Felt like a mole emerging from the ground on days off.

When I started it was worse. We were on 8hr shifts alright but 7 days in a row/2 days off, then 7 4-12s in a row/2 days off, then 7 midnights/3 days off, repeat. You never had 3 days really because you lost 1/2 a day the first day sleeping. What a grind that was and we had to fight the old guys who were dead set against trying 12hr shifts 4 on 4 off. Ah the good old days, how I miss them, NOT. I swear shift work took a couple of years off my life expectancy.

Bob

I worked shift work about from march 1969 to jan 1973 since construction until 1982. From 1982 until 2013 I was a heavy equipment mechanic and repair welder for scrap comp and steel mill. went to work before daylight and got home way after dark for 31 years. a lot of 16 hr days and 6-7 day work weeks. I've been retired since 2013 and the odd thing is I MISS IT.

Originally Posted by BobH

Yea, know what you mean by sunshine helping. Here for about 3 months in winter it is dark when you go in to work and when you come home when on 12hr 7 to 7 shifts. Day shift or night shift did not matter, it was dark. Felt like a mole emerging from the ground on days off.

When I started it was worse. We were on 8hr shifts alright but 7 days in a row/2 days off, then 7 4-12s in a row/2 days off, then 7 midnights/3 days off, repeat. You never had 3 days really because you lost 1/2 a day the first day sleeping. What a grind that was and we had to fight the old guys who were dead set against trying 12hr shifts 4 on 4 off. Ah the good old days, how I miss them, NOT. I swear shift work took a couple of years off my life expectancy.

Bob

It has be proven to shorten your life expectancy and also to slow you brain function to that of someone 7 years older than you.
But it pays better than any 9-5 mon-fri job I could get so not much else for it.
To be honest I don't know if I could a normal working week anymore

Originally Posted by Bigirishkev

It has be proven to shorten your life expectancy and also to slow you brain function to that of someone 7 years older than you.

Yup, I resemble that person for sure.

Bob

I'm currently vacation/sick leave relief, so "hours will vary daily and weekly". I'm a night owl, so the only time it's difficult is when I've got to clock in about 2:30am. Goin in at 9pm or 5 am isn't nearly as tough, for whatever reason.

I've never had a life anyway, and no children, so my solution is simple. Hard reset of sleep schedule. When my next shift is different, I work backwards from the time I clock in. For example, if I go from 9am to 7pm sanitation to 2:45a-10:45a production with a day off in between (they aren't complete A-holes, +union agreement).

Now the math.
2:45a - 1hr 30min = 1:15am wake up time.
1:15am - 8hrs sleep (yea, right!) = 5~ish pm bedtime.
So, clocked out @7pm for sanitation, already passed bedtime 5pm. This means a nap of NO MORE than 3 and a half hours shortly after getting home from work, then staying up until the designated bedtime for next shift.

It works.

I'm tired as hell, have no energy for chores after about 18-20hrs of being awake, and it also becomes dangerous to drive at about that benchmark. That means many of my days off are a wash. I stay up by means of things that keep my brain active, but don't require much energy at all. Primarily: I play Battlefield on Xbox 360. Tv isn't interactive enough; I'll pass out.

It's a hell of a lot better than the 3 part time jobs I had before this one, where everybody wants you on the weekend. Friday morning through Sunday night was a 36hr workday, for roughly minimum wage.

Now, I'm required to get at least 8 or 12hrs between shifts. And with pay over $18/hr, I'll plunge toilets all day every day. With a smile, if they ask me to... but they have to ask for that.

Originally Posted by Crawler

I'm currently vacation/sick leave relief, so "hours will vary daily and weekly". I'm a night owl, so the only time it's difficult is when I've got to clock in about 2:30am. Goin in at 9pm or 5 am isn't nearly as tough, for whatever reason.

I've never had a life anyway, and no children, so my solution is simple. Hard reset of sleep schedule. When my next shift is different, I work backwards from the time I clock in. For example, if I go from 9am to 7pm sanitation to 2:45a-10:45a production with a day off in between (they aren't complete A-holes, +union agreement).

Now the math.
2:45a - 1hr 30min = 1:15am wake up time.
1:15am - 8hrs sleep (yea, right!) = 5~ish pm bedtime.
So, clocked out @7pm for sanitation, already passed bedtime 5pm. This means a nap of NO MORE than 3 and a half hours shortly after getting home from work, then staying up until the designated bedtime for next shift.

It works.

I'm tired as hell, have no energy for chores after about 18-20hrs of being awake, and it also becomes dangerous to drive at about that benchmark. That means many of my days off are a wash. I stay up by means of things that keep my brain active, but don't require much energy at all. Primarily: I play Battlefield on Xbox 360. Tv isn't interactive enough; I'll pass out.

It's a hell of a lot better than the 3 part time jobs I had before this one, where everybody wants you on the weekend. Friday morning through Sunday night was a 36hr workday, for roughly minimum wage.

Now, I'm required to get at least 8 or 12hrs between shifts. And with pay over $18/hr, I'll plunge toilets all day every day. With a smile, if they ask me to... but they have to ask for that.

I'm in the middle of nightshift right now so the maths involved in that are too much for me lol
Thankfully my shifts are 12hrs 8 until 8

All way to familiar with shift work, been doing it for 26 years, 12 hours shifts, 4 on 4 off, 3 on 3 off, nights and days. I like it, i am used to it, never had a problem sleeping during the day, but met many that do.

Its all about finding a routine that works for you.

Originally Posted by Martin103

All way to familiar with shift work, been doing it for 26 years, 12 hours shifts, 4 on 4 off, 3 on 3 off, nights and days. I like it, i am used to it, never had a problem sleeping during the day, but met many that do.

Its all about finding a routine that works for you.

I've never had a problem sleeping during the day myself.
The problem is when you finish the last night of nightshift you have 3 choices
1: take a full sleep (6-8 hours) but you won't be able to sleep that night and your sleep pattern is screwed up.
2: take 3-4 hours sleep, you should be able to sleep that night but you'll feel awful all day.
3: Stay up all day, really hard to do for the first few days but eventually you body gives up telling you to sleep.

I used to do 3 all the time because every time I attempted 2 I'd do 3 lol
I'm mostly doing 2 at the minute because my wife is off on maternity leave and we'd fall out if I was up all day, plus she's there to make sure I don't sleep in.
Don't think there's any good way to do it. Just have to tough it out

Originally Posted by Bigirishkev

I've never had a problem sleeping during the day myself.
The problem is when you finish the last night of nightshift you have 3 choices
1: take a full sleep (6-8 hours) but you won't be able to sleep that night and your sleep pattern is screwed up.
2: take 3-4 hours sleep, you should be able to sleep that night but you'll feel awful all day.
3: Stay up all day, really hard to do for the first few days but eventually you body gives up telling you to sleep.

I used to do 3 all the time because every time I attempted 2 I'd do 3 lol
I'm mostly doing 2 at the minute because my wife is off on maternity leave and we'd fall out if I was up all day, plus she's there to make sure I don't sleep in.
Don't think there's any good way to do it. Just have to tough it out

I don't know about other folks but when I was working and got off and had to go to sleep fast rest good and get up and get after it again . Well there's nothing like a little brown pill. ambin. better living through chemistry.

Originally Posted by rhensley

I don't know about other folks but when I was working and got off and had to go to sleep fast rest good and get up and get after it again . Well there's nothing like a little brown pill. ambin. better living through chemistry.

Never taken a sleeping pill in my life, not that I'm against them, but the doctors here rarely prescribe anything like that unless it's a last resort.