Night shift workers

shedweller

iamstop wrote: »

I used to work shift. Days and nights rotating. 2 different jobs, two different schedules, the 2nd was torture, only lasted 6 months on it.
It was like this
M - 8am-8pm
T - 8am-8pm
W - 8pm - 8am (Thats right, 24hours to change over)
T - 8pm - 8am
F- off
S- off
S - off
M- off
T - repeats as the previous Monday and so on.

So you get a weekend once a month or so. Sh1t was redick

I did that shift once. Major pain with the old social life but the time off was ok AND it rotated so everyone had a fair shot. Where i work there's lads on weekend nights, permanently!! I did it for a while and it was no fun. Although the week off suits different people at different stages of their lives. People with young kids benefit mostly as it cuts out a lot of childcare bills. But as they get older they don't like the fact that you are gone when they are off school.

robbie_998

I'm gonna be working nights now next week or the week after and i cant wait



i've being warned to bring ipod and the likes with me cos it'll be proper boring.

gonna be great with no traffic at all at 3AM coming home

and no gob****es to deal with !

getting chinese takeaway for lunch and the likes !

great craic !

stovelid

where do i go from here wrote: »

You talkin' to me?:mad:

That would be the general gist of quoting your post, aye.

Oh_Noes

I did this for a few years and it's just a big bland blob in my memory. Get up at 4pm, eat dinner, watch the news and end up trying not to look at the clock because you have to work again soon. Into work at 9pm to do repetitive tasks until the wee hours. Go home at 5am and eat junkfood before going to bed when everyone else is getting up and it's bright outside.

It depends on the job I suppose but I'd imagine most factory/warehouse nightshift jobs are like this. It's horribly depressing and unrewarding. Plus all your co-workers are all in the same boat; worn down by the misery of this lifestyle. I was literally X-ing the days off my calendar until I could leave, depite the fact that it paid excellent wages.

psychward

The money must be a bit better at least ?

Chris P. Bacon

psychward wrote: »

The money must be a bit better at least ?

I must say i get paid great money for working three shifts.

Where To

stovelid wrote: »

That would be the general gist of quoting your post, aye.

Well, I'm the only one here. Who the fcuk do you think you're talkin to?













All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets. I go all over. I take people to the Bronx, Brooklyn, I take 'em to Harlem. I don't care. Don't make no difference to me. It does to some. Some won't even take spooks. Don't make no difference to me.

:pac:

Chris P. Bacon

Oh_Noes wrote: »

Go home at 5am and eat junkfood before going to bed when everyone else is getting up and it's bright outside.

Thats just stupid,why were you eating junkfood at 5am?,i dont eat anything before i finish but if i did it would only be a bowl of cereal or a blaa and a bit of toast.

saa

iamstop wrote: »

I used to work shift. Days and nights rotating. 2 different jobs, two different schedules, the 2nd was torture, only lasted 6 months on it.
It was like this
M - 8am-8pm
T - 8am-8pm
W - 8pm - 8am (Thats right, 24hours to change over)
T - 8pm - 8am
F- off
S- off
S - off
M- off
T - repeats as the previous Monday and so on.

So you get a weekend once a month or so. Sh1t was redick

What kind of work was it?

Where To

Chris P. Bacon wrote: »

Thats just stupid,why were you eating junkfood at 5am?,i dont eat anything before i finish but if i did it would only be a bowl of cereal or a blaa and a bit of toast.

No bacon?

Oh_Noes

Chris P. Bacon wrote: »

Thats just stupid,why were you eating junkfood at 5am?

Because it's delicious.

Chris P. Bacon

where do i go from here wrote: »

No bacon?

Bacon blaa

try working the 999 lines... jaze. :rolleyes:

constant exhaustion from working through the night, eating during the night, listening to all sorts at night..

sleep became a luxury

chillywilly

Chris P. Bacon wrote: »

Bacon blaa

Waterford man ay?

I'm working a night shift tonight 10pm- 8am. I will probably only sleep from 9-1 tomorrow. I find my stomach feels strange after a night shift an sometimes I feel groggy all day. Pay is good but it does leave you feeling weird alright!

Positives though: pay, no management to annoy you, watching films, eating when I want to and a lie in the next day if I so choose!

stoneill

12 hr shifts rotate from days to nights every 4 weeks.

Sleep pattern is well fecked at the end of a month of nights.
Just don't ask me to make any critical decision when on nights, I neither have the will nor capacity to be able to do so.
If you need me to do stuff - write it down as I will not retain any information.
Do not expect me to remember anything - like collecting kids, doing the washing up, going to shops.
Again I stress, if you want it done then write it down.
Social interaction will be extremely limited, mostly grunts and nods.
Stimulating conversation will not happen.
Any non-critical decision or choices will be made by pointing at the nearest option.
Do not expect me to recognise nuances or subtleties. Black or white at best will be the only options available in any situation. I will be a zombie, best leave me that way.

G.muny

How are they weird? At the moment its hard to find a job and there are people who will work any hours God gives them just to be working at all.

Chris P. Bacon

chillywilly wrote: »

Waterford man ay?

Yep

Positives though: pay, no management to annoy you, watching films, eating when I want to and a lie in the next day if I so choose!

They are the same reasons why i like to work nights too,although i dont watch films

KungPao

I don't think working nights makes you crazy but night-work attracts the crazies.

Oranage2

G.muny wrote: »

How are they weird? At the moment its hard to find a job and there are people who will work any hours God gives them just to be working at all.

I work customer service 9pm to 9am 3 days one week four days the next week.

If I get 5 hours sleep i do be happy although it's getting slightly better now its dark -


During my shift I zone out so much that I'd forget how I spent most of my 12 hours -

Simple things like what time I took my own breaks at I'd have to write down or I'd forget -

If I've to do anything social related on a day I worked I'd be 'spaced out' zombie like -

shedweller

KungPao wrote: »

I don't think working nights makes you crazy but night-work attracts the crazies.

Ya, i work with a few oddballs alright.

dannye92

KungPao wrote: »

I don't think working nights makes you crazy but night-work attracts the crazies.

I work nights on the weekend, most other people here are grand but yeah there is one or 2 crazies...

shedweller

shedweller wrote: »

Ya, i work with a few oddballs alright.

I work alone so no oddballz, unless I look in the mirror! :pac:

wardy2

i work the night shift meself of 12hrs shift for the last month because the onlys hours i could get off the boss.Well the good thing about it we get ''Unsociable Hours Allowance'' of 17 euro extra for each night.

Better tha being on the dole

losthorizon

Dotrel wrote: »

They're a great bunch of lads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrkEDe6Ljqs

Lionel Ritchie Had enough of the Night Shift and left the Commodores

b.harte

I've spent most of the last 15 years shift. currently working rotating 12hr days/nights every two weeks for almost 10 years!!)
Evening shift from 3pm to 11pm 5 days a week, epic party shift, finish early enough to go on a bender and can have a lie in the following morning and there are plenty of pubs / clubs / dens to pass the night away in, loved it, nearly killed me and left my liver and head in bits. I also worked 2 years on constant nights, 5 12hr shift one week, 2 the following week. I was younger then and it was like a long weekend every second week.
The only thing that all of these have in common is the complete lack of ability to commit to sport, family, relationships, and how easy it is to commit to drink / other.
9-5 workers can't handle the moods, the lack of availability and the general difference in body clocks. My wife used to work with me on the same shift, I think this is why our relationship lasted. I had too many great girlfriends over the years and shift work always got in the way, from not having the same days off to making it soooo easy to cheat. (obviously can't blame shift work for my own failings).
We have 2 kids now and I feel as if I never see them, I leave for day shift at about 6:30 and don't get home until after 9 most nights, on night shift I sleep about 5 hours and have to leave early to get to work. This is the biggest issue for us at the minute as it means my wife is left looking after them all of the time. It's affected us in the past, moods being the worst. The only salvation is that as she worked the same shift she knows too well the effects it was.
Long term I'm not fairing too badly, I've stopped drinking completely as it was too easy to satisfy a weeks worth of thirst in a night. I started to watch my diet more and exercise regularly. Trying to fit exercise in around shift work is a pain. I've suffered with my mental health in the past, not knowing if I was coming or going. I'm in a better place at the minute, but by god do I get moody!
The hours themselves aren't too bad, on a bust night the time flies, quiet nights are torture. The summer months aren't bad but winter is just depressing, I have to get up early after nights just to see the sunlight, I try to most days but it's not always possible.
I do fear that long term my health will suffer but like others I don't have the luxury of leaving and there isn't a lot of work out there for me. Also given that I'm up to my eyes in mortgage and other debt I need the shift premium to make ends meet.

As for the social aspect to me? Not so much any more, definitely 10 years ago I was a pig, had no social skills what so ever and didn't think it mattered. I now try to interact with people more, and make a point of answering small talk regardless of where I am in the day/night routine. Small things like saying good morning/afternoon/evening etc help a little.
Something I have noticed is that shift workers tend to have a darker less Ha-Ha sense of humour and drip sarcasm without noticing, but we all do it so it has a neutralising effect.
Forgot to mention dealing with 9-5 managers is a pain in the .... but that's just down to the fact that our lives only intermittently overlap.

Anyway, that's a long enough post from me, I was on nights this week so currently working at about 110% while the wife and kids are asleep.

battser

I work night shift myself. Its sweet. Gives me time to do some internet monitoring most of the time on boards and I get a nice break between shifts. whats not to like?

On the first night of shift I eat dinner then go to work. Eat fruit and maybe some popcorn around half way then have my brekki at 6. go to bed at 10 then get up at 5 or 6 and have my dinner and do it all again! Doesn't **** up my eating habits or anything at all.
Off midweek so I can play golf and have the odd w@nk without being disturbed, I guess I am fairly normal so

Captain Chaos

parrai wrote: »

There is nothing 'weird' about night shift workers...nothing in the sense of just being naturally weird anyway.

Think about it, they are working against the body's natural timeclock. This is going to (over the longrun) have an effect on their mental health, in terms of interacting with people who get proper sleep. Proper sleep is really important for your brain, as daylight 'feeds' the brain, which in turn puts you in 'good form', like exercise for example.

if you are overweight, this has an physical/mental effect on someone, whether they realise it, or not. Same with sleep deprivation. And really, this is what night work is. It is impossible to get a proper sleep during the day, even if you sleep 10 hours, it's not the quality of sleep one gets at night.

They are going to be 'narkey', off form, probably unhealthy in diet, and a host of other problems, that are not apparent to some that works days, and gets proper sleep at night.

What a load of waffle.

I am naturally more alert and active at night. I can sleep just fine during the day thanks very much. I like being asleep when everyone is at work and all the kids are at school, proper peace. Not having to listen to teenagers and drunks walking up and down a street all night while you try and sleep.

If I could all I would ever work is night duty. Far more time to do stuff during the day that you would normally time off work for.

parrai

Captain Chaos wrote: »

What a load of waffle.

I am naturally more alert and active at night. I can sleep just fine during the day thanks very much. I like being asleep when everyone is at work and all the kids are at school, proper peace. Not having to listen to teenagers and drunks walking up and down a street all night while you try and sleep.

If I could all I would ever work is night duty. Far more time to do stuff during the day that you would normally time off work for.

Glad that works for ya

shedweller

Captain Chaos wrote: »

What a load of waffle.

I am naturally more alert and active at night. I can sleep just fine during the day thanks very much. I like being asleep when everyone is at work and all the kids are at school, proper peace. Not having to listen to teenagers and drunks walking up and down a street all night while you try and sleep.

If I could all I would ever work is night duty. Far more time to do stuff during the day that you would normally time off work for.

I have to agree. Everyone is different.Where i work there are some that love nights for the reasons you gave above. Mind you, they live around the corner so have about an hour extra sleep than i get. Minus the stupid early waking that i do.:(

4zn76tysfajdxp

stoneill wrote: »

12 hr shifts rotate from days to nights every 4 weeks.

I had to do this as well in my last job for a year and a half. It wasn't so bad at first. Less supervisors and managers meant a more relaxed atmosphere and more cigarette breaks. But, by the end of my time there, adjusting to a different sleeping pattern every month or every two weeks became too difficult. When I quit, I did so two weeks earlier than planned so that I would leave at the end of a day-shift cycle and wouldn't have to work another night shift.

Fromthetrees

I hated doing night shifts, it just turns you into a drone and I'm dopey enough as it is, if I had to I guess I would do them again but not through choice, I'm not a morning person but the feeling of waking up early when it's just so nice and bright is one of life's natural sweeties.

2 stroke

I've worked nights in 3 jobs. I always found changing shift similar to jetlag, which could leave my slightly antisocial. However one summer that I worked permanent nightshift with free weekends, my social life was never better. I could party all night and not worry about work the next morning.