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AdventureElephants's avatar

Have you ever worked the graveyard shift?

Asked by AdventureElephants (1412points) January 14th, 2016 from iPhone

What were your hours? How many days a week? How did you figure out when to eat to line up with normal breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedules on a different timeline? Did you sleep right when you got off or sleep until right when you went in? Did your sleep pattern change on your days off?

Did it affect your health? Any other graveyard shift issues?

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12 Answers

msh's avatar

If you are on such a schedule, what business you need to conduct with the 9–5 world decides your patterns.
Do you ever stay up late on the weekends or perhaps sleep in a bit ‘being lazy’? Same patterns, different time of the day. Or would that be night?

jca's avatar

Thankfully, never. At this point in my life, I don’t think I could do it. I’m usually horizontal by 10 pm although not necessarily sleeping. I wake up with the sun or a little after. Old habits die hard.

elbanditoroso's avatar

Yes, one summer in college. Hated it. Worked 11pm-8am. Got back to the dorm and slept, woke up around 3pm, had some meal, saw friends, went to work.

It was grueling.

ibstubro's avatar

When I started working in a factory I had to work either second or third shift in a lab, alone. 2nd being 2:30–11:00. 3rd being 10:30–7.

The average people on 2nd shift were younger, and a lot more friendly than those on third. I’d also never been able to sleep during daylight, so I chose 2nd shift.

Well, they hired a kid to work 3rd shift. He was fairly newly married and he was a hunter, so he wanted to be out in the woods before daylight. He begged and begged and occasionally I’d swap shifts for a few days. Finally, his wife had some issue and he really needed to change to 2nd shift. Reluctantly, I agreed. I was pretty much going home, watching nothing on the tube for a couple hours (I also can go home and to sleep) and getting up in time to eat, get ready, and go to work.

You know what? I loved it!
2nd shift was young and friendly? Yup. Constant drama and dating.
I was sleeping about 2 am to 10am, so not only was I sleeping during the day, but I was always tired and had zero life.
3rd shift I’d get off in the morning and go to the store if I needed anything. Even Walmart is deserted at that hour. I’d run the streets, go to lunch, get whatever needed done, done, then lay down 1–2 in the afternoon. I was so tired by then I slept like a log. I’d get up about 5, eat breakfast, shower and do to work. I had more waking hours than I ever had.

The only reason I gave it up was I got a new supervisor that was an ass.

My only caveat is that I was single at the time.

dammitjanetfromvegas's avatar

I worked the front desk at a motel when I was 20. Hours were 11pm-7am, 4–5 nights per week. I ate cereal when I got home then slept for most of the day. I think I had a snack when I woke up and a meal before I left for work.

I was young and a nightowl so the hours worked for me.

AdventureElephants's avatar

@ibstubro You only slept from 1pm to 5pm? How many days a week did you manage that?

AdventureElephants's avatar

It seems there should be a way to avoid sleeping your free time away… I mean, if you just mentally shift your clock. If you go in at 11, maybe you sleep from 3 to 10pm, for example. That would only work out if your friends were early birds, too…

Seek's avatar

I worked swing shift retail for a few months.

The sleep deprivation wasn’t the worst part of the job.

Cruiser's avatar

When I had a contracting business I landed a job repairing the parking garage of a Federal Building and the only time I could do the work was after 6 PM till 3:30 am. I had to work 3 weeks stints. I was a young buck back then and the worst part was trying to find people to hang out with from 4 am to 8 am when I finally had to go to sleep.

ibstubro's avatar

Opps, Sorry, @AdventureElephants.
Should have said 1 or 2 until about 8.
6 to 7 hours a day, 5+ days a week. If the line ran, I was there, so sometimes 7 days a week.
Being single, I thrived on it.

You’re always free for lunch on weekdays, and until 2 on weekends if they’re in your schedule.

It took me forever to write the first response because dinner happened in the middle of it.

si3tech's avatar

I worked in a Veterans Hospital where the rule was that all rotated shifts. UNLESS you took a permanent “off tour”. Off tours being 1500 to 2300 hours or 2300 hours to 0700. After working “nights” a few times it was worth it to me to take permanent 1500 hours to 2300 hours. I did not “adjust” to night shift at all.

faye's avatar

I’m a nightowl and worked midnights for years as a nurse.I finally wasn’t sleeping and changed to evenings 3:30 to midnight. We had day shifts as about half our shifts either way. Evenings are wonderful! you get to sleep in, you can watch a movie when you get home, do any business you need to on the way to work. Days is the worst shift- bright-eyed and busy-tailed at 7 am- blech! People say well the youcan go out at night. How?! I had to be in bed at 8:30 to slow down and get to sleep.

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