Going to night shift.

I have a line on a new job. Proper full time, and better pay. The only down side is it's overnights. But even then it's only 1 hour of work and 7 of stay awake, watch netflix.

On the front of getting my body used to it, I know melatonin and blackout curtains. I figure my new sleep cycle will likely be sleep during "bank hours", evenings with my wife, and work over night.

The personal aspect is a mixed bag. My wife hates sleeping alone. But the upside is I will have more time with her awake.

Any further advice on either area?

It's kinda funny. My wife has been gone 3-4 weeks this summer and I've never slept better

My wife and I worked just about polar opposite shifts for almost 18 months. I went to work at 6am, came home around 4pm. She left for work at around 4pm, came home at about 8am.

Took a toll on our marriage. We've been through worse since then, but it wasn't fun.

Midnight is upside down for most people but once you get used to it you'll like it. I stay up after my shift working on projects and around the house, schedule appointments early, there's hardly anybody in the grocery store or Wal-Mart that early, the beer store opens at 8 a.m., I'm always first in. Driving home after work is actually relaxing, I'm not in that white-knuckle crowd racing to work. I get more work done at home on mids than any other shift. Midnight does have it's benefits.

I keep the room dark but also roll up a soft T-shirt over my eyes, just used to it now. Pretty quiet here most times so noise is not an issue. Gotta be in bed by 3 pm and sleep till 9. I found it best to keep a routine. If weekends off I'll try to not alter my sleep pattern that much as keeping daylight hours on the weekend tends to make it tougher to readjust back to midnight hours, it's all a compromise. A lot of folks on our shift sleep when they get home and wake earlier to spend time w/ family. Some just take a nap here and there.

I worked steady daylight for 25 years but once I figured out midnight I had to wonder why I didn't switch earlier. Another benefit of midnight is there are no stuffed shirts running around, less BS and the people actually choose to be here, it's the best crew in the plant. There's actually more production on our shift than any other, go figure. I'm on call for production maintenance/ repair, I've had no-hitter nights for the last seven days, that's a record for me. I keep occupied w/ movies on the weekend, surfing on my phone, crossword puzzles or hang out w/ who I want to. Get plenty of rest too. I'd probably leave this job if not for midnight.

Good luck w/ the new job.

I've worked night shift before. I only ever got into the groove fully one time. The rest of the time, it was a struggle.

Find and set a pattern of work, sleep, other. If you don't train your body to it, it'll never really grasp the pattern and you'll be chronically sleep deprived.

Watch your diet. It's much harder to eat well working night shift. You'll easily put on weight working nights.

Understand (somehow) that since no one else works nights, they won't get it that you do, and will rudely call and knock on your door when you're trying to sleep.

neon4891 wrote: I figure my new sleep cycle will likely be sleep during "bank hours",

If you are a person that needs sleep,this will be rough for you. Studies show night shift people sleep a lot less, usually only 5-6 hours.

On top of that, its not very good for your health. If most of your working life is spent on nights, its something like close to 10 years off your life.

I'd do it for the money, but I also would try to find another job in the meantime. Some people do thrive on nights, but most don't, I know I didn't

I worked overnights for 10 years. It's not bad. The only problem was when I had to turn into a day person for a weekend, the adjustment was pretty tough if it had to be done in a 24 hour period. It worked out pretty well on the homefront as there was almost always someone home at all points of the day so the doggies didn't have to spend very much time in lockup. The only real static came on weekends when the wife wanted to accomplish stuff but I was ZZZZ till 2PM, essentially killing the day for her.

I had a long term project one time that required us to work overnight. We were supposed to work from around 7 pm to 5-6 am. It was misearble. I never got used to the schedule and coulnd't sleep past 10-11 in the morning. My guts were always in an uproar. Seems they never got adapted to the schedule either. It was several years later I found out I had Crohn's. Fortunately, after much begging, the client let us go to a day schedule.

My wife had an aunt and uncle that worked third shift their whole married lives. No children and saved a lot of money. No clue where all this money went when they passed.

I was forced onto midnights for about five months. On my days off, I'd stay up until 6am playing games or watching netflix. At work I'd stay up until six watching netflix.... So yea. Sounds similar. You'll be fine. Just make sure you've got something to do. I didn't black out the windows, but I've been left with the habit of sleeping with a keffiyeh over my eyes.

I never had a problem with night shift. Sleep during the day, no need for blacking out my room. When i'm tired I sleep lol.

I did night shift for 7 years , 12 hour shifts, 4 on 4 off. I loved it. My neighbor is really cool and she would mow according to when I was sleeping. Not that it really bothered me after working 12 hours I could sleep through a hurricane. And I seemed to get along better with my wife seeing her less , lol whatever that tells you.

the worst part of going to night shift will be the lack up GRM forum activity

I worked about a month of night shifts last fall. The worst part for me was living in a motel and trying to sleep and fend off the maids who keep wanting to clean my room and make my bed while I am trying to sleep.

I know that I sleep better alone, and there are no kids to deal with. I have also had multiple family members work nights so I know what it's like on the other side.

Either way, this is all dependent on a domino effect from my friend's wife trying to go active duty up from the national guard. Wait and see.

I've worked nights for 5 years now. 12 hour shifts three days a week... 5 buck shift diff 5 more on weekends. It's really not that bad if you're single, but you run into problems if you start dating someone who works 8 hour dayshift. Dealing with that mess myself. She understands, but I can tell she gets annoyed when I can't just come over during the day.

I have blackout curtains and always sleep with a fan. I live in the country, but it seems that someone got a quad lately and likes to play around my house.

edizzle89 wrote: the worst part of going to night shift will be the lack up GRM forum activity

How true.

fasted58 wrote:

edizzle89 wrote: the worst part of going to night shift will be the lack up GRM forum activity

How true.

I concur.

HiTempguy wrote:

neon4891 wrote: I figure my new sleep cycle will likely be sleep during "bank hours",

If you are a person that needs sleep,this will be rough for you. Studies show night shift people sleep a lot less, usually only 5-6 hours. On top of that, its not very good for your health. If most of your working life is spent on nights, its something like close to 10 years off your life. I'd do it for the money, but I also would try to find another job in the meantime. Some people do thrive on nights, but most don't, I know I didn't

I despise 3rd shift so naturally I've been stuck on it for 3 out of the past 5 years, including most of last year and all of this year... with a day or two of 1st or 2nd shift thrown in once in a while.

Night sleep is restful and replenishing.

Day sleep is absolute E36 M3. I usually only sleep between 4-6 hours and it feels as if I hadn't slept at all. It takes a long time to fall asleep and a long time to wake up.

I would avoid going to 3rd shift if at all possible.

T.J. wrote: I worked about a month of night shifts last fall. The worst part for me was living in a motel and trying to sleep and fend off the maids who keep wanting to clean my room and make my bed while I am trying to sleep.

Dude...you're doing it wrong.

"How about a handie?"

It depends on the job for me. I have never been a morning person and really prefer working 2nd shifts. I have worked overnights a few times. In towing I didn't mind it because the roads are wide open and I had plenty of down time where I could sneak in a nap here and there. I did it close to a year driving the bus and hated it. The schedules are tight so you have to run, you get a lull most nights between bout 1:30 and 4:30 where you are either driving around alone of with 1-2 pieces of debris who cause problems, then at the end of the day when you are tired you get hit with the morning rush. I also had a lot of trouble adjusting my sleep to those shifts and would usually go a day or two without.

Now as a supervisor we don't have many overnight pieces but when I get one I enjoy it. They are usually special assignments like snow duty or managing shuttle buses when the subways of trains are down. The work is different from our normal jobs so I get to think a bit more and late at night there isn't much in the way of traffic, management, or customers to deal with so you get some quiet. Working overnight in a snow storm is probably the most peaceful the city ever gets.

Maybe graveyard will work for you. Maybe it won't. It's individual.

No way to know ahead of time, but some people just can't do overnight. I'm one of them. Going to 6pm-6am weekend shifts sucked. My quality of life, and the quality of work I did suffered. I was also in a supervisor role, and my brain would just shut off sometime between 10 and 11pm.

Being on second shift worked just fine for me. I actually did good work, but it sucked having so little time with the Baroness. I realized I was not going to get myself acclimated to graveyard when I realized I worked all week to get myself on a night schedule, and my body would take 1 night to switch back to days.

The oddest thing I found working overnights is I can't see the sun rise. If It's dark, I go on my meal, and come out to light I'm fine but if the sun comes up while I'm outside I get very tired. I can't explain it but it happens almost every time.

I've never had to work third shift. In theory I like the idea but it isn't an option for my job.

We have a crew at work who has the worst of all worlds though. They get a rotating shift. Two weeks of days, then two of evenings followed by two of nights. I'd lose my ever loving mind!!