I’m interviewing for a night shift position in a couple days and I’ve always worked 8-4 or 9-5. I’m a little scared of the idea though! I’m worried about seeing my family less because my sleep schedule will be totally different than theirs.
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<span style="color:#323232;"> So, night shift workers of the world, what has your experience been like and how do you manage being present in your family life?
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also weight gain. I worked 6pm-6am for almost 2 years straight and gained 40lbs without changing my eating habits.
started drinking every morning after work too. and days (nights) off were a total clusterfuck. wake up, hit the grocery store before they close, start drinking because wtf else am I gonna do at 11pm alone in my camper with no wifi and spotty cell signal. my experience is probably not the norm lol
So wondering if you mean 2nd or 3rd shift. And for those wondering 1st shift is the "day" shift. Where your start time is ~8 AM and then you end ~3 PM. Then 2nd shift is where you start at ~3 PM and end at 11 PM. And then finally 3rd shift is where you start at ~11 PM and end at 8 AM.
As you can see there is a BIG difference between 2nd and 3rd shift and what someone might call a "night" shift.
Some people got it some people don’t. I cant function on nights. I did graveyard shift as hospital security supervisor (like another poster stated), also did 6 weeks rotation from days to nights as a deputy in county jail (living hell!) for a year.
Basically as others said. Black out curtains, melotin or sleep aid, sound machine, blue light filtering sunglasses, and consistent schedule is key. Also be careful of health because you will want to eat and drink coffee out of boredom or fighting sleep off.
I have delayed sleep phase disorder so I'm one of the ones who got it. Nights are amazing, I function so much better and feel so much more energetic.
But it's tough on your career. You will never move up working nights, because the faces the bosses see are there during the day. Sucks but that's how it is.
The good: No traffic, get to know yourself better since you have a lot of time for reflection, discover way more media (podcasts, books, games, movies) because you’re always doing the night owl thing, always have an excuse to get out of social events during the day time, easy to go to doctor appointments during the day before work, feels like you have a ton of free time, usually meet interesting people on the night shift (see bad part of this below), get to dress down, don’t have to see a high level boss usually, things feel more profound late at night - you’ll have a much deeper appreciation for all that media I described (try some music or an audiobook at night - better yet, try writing. I always feel things deeper at night), get to see the moon all the time which I absolutely love more than anything, etc.
The bad: sleep schedule will be like being a teenager again, there will be days where the sun is shining and you can hear lawnmowers which will make you sleep like garbage, you’ll probably eat like shit, seeing friends and family is hard, friends and family will not understand that you need to sleep during the day - trust me, you’ll meet the outcasts of society on night shift along with all those interesting people I mentioned and some of them will be weird or off-putting, you’ll feel super lonely at times but it’ll be kind of nice somehow (???), you’ll have too much time alone with your thoughts, you’ll be doing shit during the day but have work hanging over your head for hours whereas normal people work and have free time after work to look forward to, driving home tired in the early morning is like having a hangover somehow, etc.
Personally, I’m glad I’m not doing it these days. After COVID, stores aren’t open 24/7 anymore. Night shopping on days off was the best and not being able to get stuff at night now sucks.
Blackout curtains, melatonin, whatever you can to control your sleep and block out noise and light are a must. The ice cream man can be your enemy. Stock up on emergency 5 hour energies, I like to have soylent in reserve too because sometimes food and shit won't be available.
I won't lie, night shift strained many of my relationships. It took quite a bit from me. But it can give back too. Things like audiobooks and videogames replaced drinking at bars with friends. Have solo hobbies prepared.
There's a temptation to become diurnal on weekends that will work against you.
Also, you have to be firm about your schedule with people. They don't consider night shifts in their plans, so you want to make sure you let people know often what can or can't work with your sleep cycle.
I worked midnight to 8am as a security supervisor at a hospital. It was nice in some ways and awful in other ways. Honestly, all the ways it was awful occurred outside of the actual shift itself. It was harder to hang out with friends, I was always tired, I had to try to get tired and sleep while it was sunny out (blackout curtains and sunglasses on the drive home ftw), and the world was waking up while I was going to bed. It was hard on my relationship with my wife.
The shift itself was pretty great actually. The hospital was quieter at night. As a supervisor, I did have some issues with my guards falling asleep at desks or trying to hide and take naps. Two people got fired over it. But most of them were pretty good. One guy fell asleep while driving the patrol vehicle and crashed it into a gate. That was embarrassing for everyone and he ultimately lost his job (he didn’t admit to falling asleep, but we all suspected it - he was working two jobs and was perpetually tired). The best thing about the job was sneaking up onto the roof early in the morning on my patrols and watching the sun rise.
My current schedule is two swings, two days, and then either a third day or a graveyard. Weekly overtime can be any of those three shifts, and not necessarily the same per week. I’ve been doing it for sixteen years. Arguably, you get used to it, but consistency is key. Having a kid wasn’t too bad at first, but now that they’re school age, it makes it pretty difficult to be as present as I’d like to be. So, I get by with a lot of coffee. I had a respectable drinking habit for a long time, which I thought helped somewhat, but it really didn’t. Regular exercise helps a ton if you can swing it. Blackout curtains and ear plugs or a noise machine are huge. I also use an eye mask too. Best of luck, nights aren’t for everyone.
Night shift is the fucking best if you have ADHD. You have no traffic at all on your commute to and from work, you just show up and do your job (no useless phone calls or emails to distract you), you eat lunch at like fuckin 1am so there’s no crowd, you get done with your work and just clock out (no stupid-ass meetings), and when you get home you just crash and sleep for as long as you want. Wake up at like noon, and you’ve got the whole afternoon to run errands or fuck off, and then casually go back to work that night.
Exactly this. Only important thing is to stick to your sleeprythm also on your days off. So stay up all through the night even when you are not at work!!
I grew up with a dad that regularly worked nights, and I worked nights for a few years when I first moved out. It will definitely mess with family plans, especially if you have young kids. Holidays and get togethers often mean getting less sleep so you can get up and travel or cook on a day shift schedule. Invest in a white noise machine or app if you aren’t a deep sleeper, and get a sleeping mask or blackout curtains.
Depending on what time you get off anything before early afternoon is now in the middle of the night for you. All your errands have to be run within the first hour or two after waking up, unless you want to try doing it at ass o’clock in the morning after working all night.
Despite the problems I honestly did enjoy working night shift, I’m a night owl anyway and night shifts are usually quieter. It also helps if you live in a large city with more 24 hour stores.
I did two, two week stents while living out of a hotel....I will never do it again if I have to do it out of a hotel. But 6pm to 2 am etc out of my own place I'd consider.
It's just hard at first forcing yourself to sleep. Blackout curtains help. Or a sleep mask.
It is nearly impossible when you are not living on your own and able to keep circadian rhythm. It also just sucks IMO. I wouldn’t do it again unless I was paid 3+ times as much as a day shift.
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