Any night shift workers on here?

[Shewie]

We do nights at Christmas when it's peak retail trading, just providing on-site support in case of any systems issues.

I hate them, I always have grand plans of getting up and doing stuff in the afternoons but it never happens. I struggle trying to sleep during the day when it's so sporadic, I guess if it was permanent I'd get into the routine better.

 

[rik_uk3]

When do you eat breakfast? In the morning, or when you wake up??

I'd often have 'dinner' in the morning after a night shift, curry or something then bed at around noon or 13:00 then breakfast around 18:00/19:00 before going off for the next night shift.

 

[Barn Owl]

Hated night shifts, had to do 7 in a row with o/t at weekends, awful.
Nothing helped ease them in any way.

 

[Graywolf]

The problem is I think like most things is that we are all different in they way we react to shift rotations , I worked 10 years on shifts , morning , afternoons and nights and hated it then worked 10 years of permanent nights 13 on and 1 off the majority were 10 hrs but weekends were 12 hrs plus . I enjoyed what I did , had a lot of variety worked all over .Used to have a cooked meal a couple of hours after I arrived home about 10/11 , stayed up till about 1300hrs then bed slept till 2000hrs/2100hrs had breakfast when I rose went to work , always had something to eat at work ,sandwiches/salad if I took it , or bought something .Though I enjoyed working nights its not ideal if you have children of school age as you never really see them.

 

[Dunx]

Tbh never foumd them that bad. Worst was when i hand night and day shifts ie.... 23.00 - 8.00 then 10.00-16.00 between 2 jobs.... The 4th day like that in a row was the killer one. Only advise us to get into a routine... Keep busy and enjoy the peace/solitude like yoy do when you hit the woods...

 

[redandshane]

Right night 3 of 4 tonight! Last night was what we in the trade call "a good shift" Working with some good people and we plan a takeaway tonight I know for a fact that eating a large amount will increase my tiredness in the early hours of the morning
Didn't sleep so well today so I anticipate a long sleep tomorrow when I finish
Positive thought tomorrow is my last night.As I thought my only real outdoors time while on a stretch of nights is my cycle into work the big advantage is getting some time off once you have put in the hours.

 

[rik_uk3]

I used to enjoy the ten minute walk home from the last hospital I worked in before retirement...looking at all those people dashing about in cars, stressed out going to work while I was on my way home to a curry or stew and a beer or wine

 

[SiWhite]

I used to enjoy the ten minute walk home from the last hospital I worked in before retirement...looking at all those people dashing about in cars, stressed out going to work while I was on my way home to a curry or stew and a beer or wine

it is fairly nice when you are driving home to a warm bed, when all the other workers are driving into their jobs on a Monday morning and dreading their week...

 

[sausage100uk]

i'm staring down the barrel of three nights as of monday, that can be ok they can be a bitch, sometimes i'll sleep fine other days ill be awake at 10 and not get back to sleep. the worst bit I find is the 16:00 onwards bit when you're just waiting around before you go to work. the worst thing for me is working solo.... about 3 ish its hard to maintain your concentration levels and driving at speed is interesting to say the least...

 

[Dirty]

Jeremy Vine yesterday, and the BBC, apparently all night shift workers are doomed to poor health. I'm off to change my genes.

 

[santaman2000]

When do you eat breakfast? In the morning, or when you wake up??

Yes.........

 

[santaman2000]

I volunteered for permanent nights ten years back. I did it to escape contact with management . People thought I was mad, now they wish that they'd done the same!

This is a common occurence.

 

[santaman2000]

During my Air Force career, I often worked the swing shift (16:00-24:00) which was actually quite nice. Occassionally the mid shift (24:00- 07:00) which generally sucked. In both cases I'd go to the chow hall for midnight chow (either before or after the shift as appropriate) which was a hot breakfast with their operating hours being 22:30-01:30.

When I worked at the county jail I worked rotating 12 hour shifts: 06:00-18:00 on one rotation and 18:00-06:00 on the next. The rotation would be:
-Mon/Tue on days
-Wed/Thur off
-Fri/Sat/Sun on nights

then the next week would be:
-Mon/Tue off
-Wed/Thur days
-Fri/Sat/Sun off

It would average out to 42 hours per week in a two week pay period.

Later on patrol as a deputy we worked roatating 10 hour shifts (about three months on each shift before a rotation)

Then at the state prison I worked over 8 years on midnight shift.

As others have said, the toughest stretch is from about 03:00-05:00. Your body never really adapts. Good diet? Proper sleep cycles? Those are piipe dreams. You might enjoy whatever you eat whenever you eat it, but you're unlikely to really get proper nutrition. Statistically night shift workers have more cronic health problems; hypertension, diabetes, etc. The sort generally attributed to poor diet/excercize/sleep habits. Not to mention that the shift plays hell with your social life (which possibly also contributes to poorer health)