shiftwork

lufties

Ok, anyone else find shiftwork just awful. I've been doing it on and off for 8 years. It makes me cranky, depressed, can't sleep when I need to. It has destroyed the relationship between my and my girlfriend. I really feel shiftwork is ruining my life. Only other option is take a massive paycut and barely get by.

Panthro

It ain't easy getting the shift.
Also ain't easy being cheesy.
mmmm...cheese...

better call saul

lufties wrote: »

Ok, anyone else find shiftwork just awful. I've been doing it on and off for 8 years. It makes me cranky, depressed, can't sleep when I need to. It has destroyed the relationship between my and my girlfriend. I really feel shiftwork is ruining my life. Only other option is take a massive paycut and barely get by.

It's fcukin ****e op, did night work in bars in my teens ruined my life

The Backwards Man

I've been doing shift work all my life, the thought of working 9-5 would actually make me physically sick. Might as well be in prison.

Pawn

This is stuff for the working class..

HeidiHeidi

I've done shiftwork and 9-5, and I HATED 9-5. Can't say I'm overly fond of shiftwork either, but it's infinitely preferable to me.

jimgoose

Did 12-hour night shifts for a few years as a youngfella. It's alright - you do need to recalibrate yourself a bit.

The Purveyor of Truth

Don't know how people do night shifts, takes me a week to get my sleep pattern back to normal if I just stay awake for one night, can't image what it's like to be doing that regularly. Don't mind alternating between 8 to 4, midday to 8pm and 4pm to midnight shifts though, as once had to do that while working shift work in the airport. Graveyard shift I avoided like the plague.

lufties

Pawn wrote: »

This is stuff for the working class..

Aviation engineering is quite specialized, but I need to get the f##k out of it..I'd advise anyone not to get into aviation..shiftwork in a toxic environment.

Sir Arthur Daley

lufties wrote: »

Aviation engineering is quite specialized, but I need to get the f##k out of it..I'd advise anyone not to get into aviation..shiftwork in a toxic environment.

Your flying it now though are you?

lufties

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I've done shiftwork and 9-5, and I HATED 9-5. Can't say I'm overly fond of shiftwork either, but it's infinitely preferable to me.

I wake at 4pm sometimes, by the time im fully awake, everyone else is winding down. Im left lying awake until 4 in the morn.

Andrewf20

I do it myself and prefer it any day to regular 9 - 5. I do full nighters as well as day shifts. The extra time off is the biggest advantage. Readjusting back to dayshift is a groggy chore in fairness but working 5 days in 7 was horrible when I did it years ago. The weekend is over before it starts.

I suppose you need to be a bit of a night owl for nightshift. On my days off between weeks working night mode, im happy painting or web browsing til the wee hours. Usually go to bed at 4am, get up at 1pm. During the week of night shifts id be in bed for 8am, and then get up at 2pm. I like the fact that I can kip on an extra hour til 3pm if im wrecked. Night work does also conflict with social situations though. Morning weekend breakfast or cycle? Cant do folks, im in work tonight. : (

lufties

Sir Arthur Daley wrote: »

Your flying it now though are you?

Hilarious :rolleyes:

HeidiHeidi

lufties wrote: »

I wake at 4pm sometimes, by the time im fully awake, everyone else is winding down. Im left lying awake until 4 in the morn.

I should've said - if I could make a living from sleeping, I'd be very rich indeed. It's my absolutely favourite activity. So I never had/have any problem sleeping whenever.

It's a talent for which I give thanks daily.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

i work for myself but choose night hours as there's no distractions, can code in peace. yesterday i feel asleep around 9am and got up at 4pm. that's pretty bad though, i'll fix that around soon. the idea of a proper 9-5 depresses the life out of me. hitting all that traffic on my commute, town so busy during the day. it'd be awful

lufties

Andrewf20 wrote: »

I do it myself and prefer it any day to regular 9 - 5. I do full nighters as well as day shifts. The extra time off is the biggest advantage. Readjusting back to dayshift is a groogy chore in fairness but working 5 days in 7 was horrible when I did it years ago. The weekend is over before it starts.

I dont understand people like you, I just had 4 days off on my own..I enjoy my own company but my social life is non existent, my girlfriend has basically dumped me. Most lads I work with tinker around with cars on their days off. Personally I prefer being around people.

HeidiHeidi

It was the never being able to do anything - go to the bank (although that's been fixed by the banks basically shutting their branches down :mad:), visit an office, do shopping other than on a Saturday/Sunday or late-night Thursday (even worse) when everyplace was heaving, that really got to me.

Having odd hours off is very useful sometimes.

Working Friday and Saturday nights, of course, is not - but it's a trade-off I'm happy with!

lufties

georgiecasey wrote: »

i work for myself but choose night hours as there's no distractions, can code in peace. yesterday i feel asleep around 9am and got up at 4pm. that's pretty bad though, i'll fix that around soon. the idea of a proper 9-5 depresses the life out of me. hitting all that traffic on my commute, town so busy during the day. it'd be awful

I know, but 7-3 or 8-4 is perfect..I do 2 days, 2 nights 12 hour shifts. Im like a zombie during this time. On my time off im wrecked and like a briar.

Just finished a 4-12 shift. I work swing shift so its grand. The shift allowance softens the blow

lufties

lufties wrote: »

I know, but 7-3 or 8-4 is perfect..I do 2 days, 2 nights 12 hour shifts. Im like a zombie during this time. On my time off im wrecked and like a briar.

Do you work in a certain factory in Limerick?

lufties

Snotaul Goodman wrote: »

Do you work in a certain factory in Limerick?

No, im an aviation engineer in london.

anncoates

lufties wrote: »

Hilarious :rolleyes:

He's just winging it to be fair.

lufties

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

It was the never being able to do anything - go to the bank (although that's been fixed by the banks basically shutting their branches down :mad:), visit an office, do shopping other than on a Saturday/Sunday or late-night Thursday (even worse) when everyplace was heaving, that really got to me.

Having odd hours off is very useful sometimes.

Working Friday and Saturday nights, of course, is not - but it's a trade-off I'm happy with!

I know, them things are annoying..but christ I just want my sanity back.

Shakespeare's Sister

georgiecasey wrote: »

i work for myself but choose night hours as there's no distractions, can code in peace.

I found that ideal for college coming up to exams, and didn't care about the lack of routine/didn't mind working late hours in part-time jobs - always thought I'd hate 9-5 etc, but once I started working full-time I began to crave structure/routine.
I work 9.30 to 6 Monday to Friday and find it pretty good, as the traffic is starting to subside either way. Occasionally I work 8 to 4.30 if cover is needed, and getting out that early is bliss, but I'd be shattered if working at 8 all the time. So lazy! :pac:

jimgoose

lufties wrote: »

No, im an aviation engineer in london.

An aviation engineer who prefers being around people. Whale oil beef hucked. You're like the opposite of the Jet Propulsion Lab guys who reckoned it was best to have both a wife and a mistress, so when one thought you were with the other you could go to the lab and get some work done.

Andrewf20

lufties wrote: »

I dont understand people like you, I just had 4 days off on my own..I enjoy my own company but my social life is non existent, my girlfriend has basically dumped me. Most lads I work with tinker around with cars on their days off. Personally I prefer being around people.

At my age theres not too much socialising going on anyway vs say 5 years ago. Everybody is settling down with families etc. I meet up with other folks who work shift with me also, so that helps. Im fairly happy with my own company. That helps too alright.

HeidiHeidi

lufties wrote: »

I know, them things are annoying..but christ I just want my sanity back.

In fairness, 4x12hr days would knock it out of you, whatever hours you were doing. How long do you have off after the four days?

Presume you've done all the usual tricks - blackout blinds, earplugs, attempting to try to keep sort of normal hours (although again, with 12-hour days I'm not sure that's possible).

My hours are nothing like as bad, so you have my sympathies. I remember working with a guy who just could not sleep during daylight hours, no matter what he did. By the end of a week of nights, he was like a zombie ghost.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

Shakespeare's Sister wrote: »

I found that ideal for college coming up to exams, and didn't care about the lack of routine/didn't mind working late hours in part-time jobs - always thought I'd hate 9-5 etc, but once I started working full-time I began to crave structure/routine.
I work 9.30 to 6 Monday to Friday and find it pretty good, as the traffic is starting to subside either way. Occasionally I work 8 to 4.30 if cover is needed, and getting out that early is bliss, but I'd be shattered if working at 8 all the time. So lazy! :pac:

ya, it works great for studying and programming where you need nothing except your noggin. obviously wouldn't work if i had to meet clients or something.

Captain Chaos

My standard hours now are 8:00-16:00 and sometimes 8:00-19:00. I'd rather shift work. Used to love working nights 20:00-8:00. I found I had more free time and managed to get by with less sleep while feeling less tired than working a 40 hour 8:00-16:00 week. Also it's much faster getting to and leaving work doing nights so it's win win all round. Can't see any bad side to it myself. Loved working 4 nights a week and having 3 days off and the nights rotated each week so it wasn't always the same.

Pawn

lufties wrote: »

Aviation engineering is quite specialized, but I need to get the f##k out of it..I'd advise anyone not to get into aviation..shiftwork in a toxic environment.

Got an offer once in IT. Turned it down. Meh.

lufties

Andrewf20 wrote: »

At my age theres not too much socialising going on anyway vs say 5 years ago. Everybody is settling down with families etc. I meet up with other folks who work shift with me also, so that helps. Im fairly happy with my own company. That helps too alright.

Fair enough, im 32, none of my friends work shift. I like to socialize rather than tinker around on my own for 4 days..I use yhe gym and do yoga on my time off. I also have a keen interest in electronic music. I don't know anyone at work who has similar interests. Usually they are petrolheads or into motor bikes which I couldn't give a f@#k about.

lufties

lufties wrote: »

No, im an aviation engineer in london.

Oh. A factory here runs a similar shift. Meant to be awful

lufties

Snotaul Goodman wrote: »

Oh. A factory here runs a similar shift. Meant to be awful

Depressing mate, I know.

Andrewf20

Captain Chaos wrote: »

...and managed to get by with less sleep while feeling less tired than working a 40 hour 8:00-16:00 week.

Strangely I find this also. 6hrs kip from 8am - 2pm is grand. Slightly groggy but a shower sorts that. But 6hrs kip at night before getting up for day shift half kills me.

fathead82

I like the night shift,no managers around,everything is nice & relaxed & its great to be driving home to your bed at 8am & seeing everyone on their way to work.Im on nights next week & am looking forward to it

I used to work a shift where i worked 8am to 8pm mon & tues then 8pm to 8am on fri,sat & sun.Then 8am to 8pm wed & thurs.60 hours one week & 24 the following week.I didnt know if it was morning or evening everytime I woke up,terrible shift pattern & very hard on the body.

SeantheMan

lufties wrote: »

Ok, anyone else find shiftwork just awful. I've been doing it on and off for 8 years. It makes me cranky, depressed, can't sleep when I need to. It has destroyed the relationship between my and my girlfriend. I really feel shiftwork is ruining my life. Only other option is take a massive paycut and barely get by.

I did it for 4 years, 12hour shifts, with nightshifts thrown in. 8pm-8am or 8am-8pm depending on the week.

I got tired of my job, sick or missing certain days or having to adjust sleeping patterns etc. So I quit.
Life is short, do something you want to do.
You already hate it, go do something you want to do, take the paycut and be a happier person. There is more to life than money.

I moved to a different country after quitting mine, now on regular hours, best decision of my life

FloatingVoter

It wasn't full-time so it doesn't really count. But working as an extra on nightshoots meant double the money for half the usual hours. Strolling home at 5.30 as day breaks (nicking a newspaper on the way....) heavenly. Especially when the sum total of the nights work involved getting through a naggin of vodka.

flas

I genuienly think work hours are slowly working towards more shift hours in general! I did the 8 to 16:30 for a year and it nearly killed me,I hated it and was so down all the time!good money but ahite living! I have been doing 10 til 18:00 for 3 days and two 18:00 til 03:00 a week for over a year and I love it,so much time between shifts and much happier in general!

Oranage2

Use to to do 12 night shifts for a year and a half, quiting was the best decision I've ever made.

Days off were the worst, you could finish your last shift at 8am and try to stay awake till night time spending the whole day wired, or you could sleep and wake up a 9pm and be awake all the night.

Frito

Did shift work for 10 years before swapping to 8-4:30. Found the early start difficult. Think I've always been more of a night owl anyway.
Working 7x12 hour shifts is hard, particularly night shifts in winter. I always seemed to feel more tired, perhaps lack of daylight.

Bafucin

lufties wrote: »

Aviation engineering is quite specialized, but I need to get the f##k out of it..I'd advise anyone not to get into aviation..shiftwork in a toxic environment.

I am an engineering PHD and with how much time you put into it I am quite annoyed at the conditions we are expected to put up with in some areas.

God help anyone who goes into tech support. I have mates who not only have to do shift work but can be on call at home 24 hrs giving advice to some f*ckwit god knows where.

God help anyone who is an on call engineer. PagerDuty notifications at inopportune times can rip the piss... engineer call outs etc.

If you have a family etc and younger kids I can imagine it would suck. It's difficult to sleep during the day in a house with young children etc.

Im fairly happy with my own company.

Yeah but what about people who aren't?

lufties

Bafucin wrote: »

I am an engineering PHD and with how much time you put into it I am quite annoyed at the conditions we are expected to put up with in some areas.

God help anyone who goes into tech support. I have mates who not only have to do shift work but can be on call at home 24 hrs giving advice to some f*ckwit god knows where.

God help anyone who is an on call engineer. PagerDuty notifications at inopportune times can rip the piss... engineer call outs etc.

If you have a family etc and younger kids I can imagine it would suck. It's difficult to sleep during the day in a house with young children etc.


Yeah but what about people who aren't?

I can resonate with that, I'm not an engineer in the achedemic sense, but work in aircraft maintenance. I always thought it would be rewarding, In fairness I have travelled the world with it but now only feel like I'm half living.

thunderdog

I lived with a few lads doing shift work with pfizer. They would do one week of nights then one week of days consecutively.

Their sleep pattern was always out of sink and they seemed a bit spaced a lot of the time.

I've never done shift work before but surely it would be much better doing a month of nights and a month of days rather than one week nights and one week days? And reason why a mnc would do it this way?

pharmaton

Did 12 hr night shift at weekends good few years back thought it was the best thing ever as ye get to have the entire week off to recover and arse about. (Days one week nights the next)

Did 12 hour shift work on a weekly basis in a different line of work and wanted to die after a couple of months. Might have been sometjing to do with the fact that I got the same money doing weekend shifts as I did doing three or four in a week in the other place and I was living to work rather than other way around.

I'd do it again in an act for the weekenders if I could.

Worked a 12 hour shift once a week until about six months ago. Best thing ever, got loads of work done and usually had some snooze time as well, and all for double rates. An ideal student job. Can't imagine doing it 5 days a week though, that would be a life of torture.

Kiwi in IE

lufties wrote: »

Ok, anyone else find shiftwork just awful. I've been doing it on and off for 8 years. It makes me cranky, depressed, can't sleep when I need to. It has destroyed the relationship between my and my girlfriend. I really feel shiftwork is ruining my life. Only other option is take a massive paycut and barely get by.

Yeah it's not great! OH and I are both nurses. It's a feckin nightmare for childcare (I've never found a creche thats open all night). Luckily I work part time relief so can somewhat minimise the nightshifts. I can do one at a time with a couple of days in between no problem, but If I do any amount of consecutive nights I can't function for a couple of days afterward.

Then when OH does nights I have to stay put of the house with Little Kiwi for long enough for him to get a decent sleep and he does 4 week blocks. That is a total nightmare, I'd rather it were me on the nights. I can get nothing done and drift around between friends and family's houses waiting until I can go home.

beks101

It's kinda about how you manage your life around them.

Since I've started my current job in a 24 hour office that involves a lot of shift work I've found I no longer have any problems with insomnia - if I lie down for more than five minutes I'm out like a light. My body has just been trained to take sleep at any hour - sometimes 10pm, sometimes 10am, sometimes 3am depending on my schedule.

The odd hours can be handy for things like grocery shopping, gym, bank, etc - I'll often go to the gym after a night shift at about 10am and the place will be half empty, which is bliss. I'll be knackered after it too so no problems sleeping.

In the long run night shifts are just not healthy though. Think I read some study once about people who work night shifts over years don't live as long. I definitely feel it too - I'm more likely to get run down or flued up during a week of nights than any other time. Get a week off to recover after it though so in that sense it's worthwhile.

lufties

beks101 wrote: »

It's kinda about how you manage your life around them.

Since I've started my current job in a 24 hour office that involves a lot of shift work I've found I no longer have any problems with insomnia - if I lie down for more than five minutes I'm out like a light. My body has just been trained to take sleep at any hour - sometimes 10pm, sometimes 10am, sometimes 3am depending on my schedule.

The odd hours can be handy for things like grocery shopping, gym, bank, etc - I'll often go to the gym after a night shift at about 10am and the place will be half empty, which is bliss. I'll be knackered after it too so no problems sleeping.

In the long run night shifts are just not healthy though. Think I read some study once about people who work night shifts over years don't live as long. I definitely feel it too - I'm more likely to get run down or flued up during a week of nights than any other time. Get a week off to recover after it though so in that sense it's worthwhile.

I guess its each to their own, it's gone to the stage where I dread alternating shifts which is having a huge impact on my life. In fairness I never get the flu or anything, but my mental health is suffering. Apparently now the people in the know think shiftwork is even worse for you than what was previously thought.

Minera

ive been 12 hr shift working for about 5 years , previous to that the I worked 8am-4pm 4pm-12am and 12am-8am with the odd 8am -2pm or 10-6pm and that was soul destroying id have to work 10 days in a fortnight to get my 80 hrs and my days off were rarely together or at the weekend. Ive just left a job where I worked day on day off (I know) and im starting a 3 and 4. But id never cope with a 9-5 imagine listening to the same crap for 5 days solid........no thanks! My bf and I have worked out a system every 2nd weekend is us time and us time only and we're both happy with that, maybe in a few yearscwhen we have children I'll want a 9-5 but for now im good!

beks101

lufties wrote: »

I guess its each to their own, it's gone to the stage where I dread alternating shifts which is having a huge impact on my life. In fairness I never get the flu or anything, but my mental health is suffering. Apparently now the people in the know think shiftwork is even worse for you than what was previously thought.

Yeah if you can't adapt to it and reconcile it with a lifestyle that works for you, probably time to find something more stable. Whenever I'm on a week of early shifts (in for 6.30am) it feels like my life is a lot more balanced than otherwise - plus it's nice to get up early in the morning and feel like a normal person for a change!

I'm prob lucky too in that my boyfriend works weird hours as well so we have no trouble meeting up at odd hours - we'll often have mornings free together or have a few weekdays off at the same time. Would be rare that we'd both be off at the weekend together - couldn't even tell you the last time we woke up late hungover on a Sunday morning!

Miss Lizzie Jones

I loved working nights. I miss it.