Nightshift Workers- Pros and Cons of Working 11 PM- 9AM

[Sofa King]

I'm considering taking a night shift job. I'm looking at either a 2:30 to 11 PM position with odd (varying schedule) days off and every other weekend or taking a night shift position with 10:45 PM- 9:00 AM with 7 days on and 7 days off.

Anyone ever work nights, still working nights? What do you like/dislike about it?

I'm single, no kids.

Either way, at some point if I'm doing well I might be given the opportunity to get a 7-3 time slot.

Night crew gets $1.00 more per hour. Both have full benefits.

[DumbHillbillies]

Con, early death

[AirForceChief]

Worked a nightshift back in law school days (paid better than clerking). Midnight to 0900, if I recall correctly. Best part: softball (beer league) started at 1000 a.m.. Worst part: family completely on a different schedule (I imagine in some cases this would be an additional benefit.).

[Frosty]

I loved working swing shift when I was single. I'm a night owl anyway so it worked well for me. The biggest key is to make sure you get into a regular sleeping habit. I would come home from work and go straight to sleep and then get up early afternoon which gave me all afternoon and the evening free. Dating could be a challenge, though.

The worst shift was the 1 pm to 9 pm shift. That pretty much screwed up the whole day.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Sounds brutal

[Jiu Jitsu Jon]

Did that for a while. Seven days on, twelve hour shifts. Then seven days off. The weeks off were great but the week on I hated life. Gave my metabolism a boost, though. I didn't eat as much because I was asleep when most people were eating. It was ok in that at the time I had no wife or kid. Now, though I think it would destroy my marriage.

[blaise]

I've done both of those shifts. They're ok. They give you a chance to get stuff done during the day. The problem I had with the 2:30 start was that I would sort of spend all day watching the clock until I had to go in.
The night shift was weird because I didn't know the best time to drink during the week. Some guys would go right after work, because we were near Kodak and they did night shifts, so there was a bar open in the morning. But, I don't know, there weren't women there to pick up, so what's the point.

[007]

Get heavy duty tin foil for the windows and expect to have to use something to help you get to sleep and stay asleep.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by Guru

Get heavy duty tin foil for the windows and expect to have to use something to help you get to sleep and stay asleep.

Yeah, it's not a quality sleep. Waking up in the afternoon made me feel like crap. Then if you just sit and watch TV for two or three hours you feel even worse.

[Aries Walker]

I'm also single, also childless, and just coming off of a one-year stint on thirds. My best advice: Avoid it like the plague.

At first it seems like it has certain advantages - no phone calls from customers, the place is nice and quiet, go to the bank during the day if you want - but over time it drags you down. It's not natural for a human being to sleep when it's light outside, so you get more and more tired over time and it weighs on your health.

Also, over the weekend (or whenever your days off are), you have the choice of drastically changing your sleeping schedule back and forth in a short amount of time, or staying on the same schedule and sleeping while the whole world is up, and enjoying the day, and doing things, and having fun.

It ruins your social life, it ruins your health, it ruins your outlook on life, and for about another $25 a week, after taxes? Not worth it at all.

[blaise]

I kind of felt like I was with the misfits when I worked the overnight.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by Sofa King

I'm considering taking a night shift job. I'm looking at either a 2:30 to 11 PM position with odd (varying schedule) days off and every other weekend or taking a night shift position with 10:45 PM- 9:00 AM with 7 days on and 7 days off.

Anyone ever work nights, still working nights? What do you like/dislike about it?

I'm single, no kids.

Either way, at some point if I'm doing well I might be given the opportunity to get a 7-3 time slot.

Night crew gets $1.00 more per hour. Both have full benefits.

Starting in the early 80's from age 18-25 I worked from 11pm -6am as a newspaper pressman. It paid incredibly well, the benefits were great, and aside from missing some nights out with friends, it was pretty damn good. I was single and that is a HUGE advantage. It is very tough on marriages and if you have a steady girlfriend or are trying to meet girls, that's a big negative, We rarely had to work the full shift and if we did go past finishing time, we got overtime at 1 1/2 times pay. Other crazy benefits with girls and drinking during the shift but that's for another time.

[cyborgtable]

I worked the 11-7 shift for 2.5 years and at first I loved it, woke up at 3 had all day to do whatever but then it became work - sleep - work. Even when awake it just felt like I was sleepwalking. Since switching to a more normal 9-5 in the past year I've lost about 20 pounds and just feel healthier

[Chiefnj2]

I did it for a summer job once. The rest of the world doesn't care that you sleep during the day. If you live in a rural setting it probably doesn't matter. If you live in a community with kids, landscapers, garbage trucks, etc., then it might take a while for you to sleep thru the stuff.

[bevischief]

I loved it I was single I worked 10pm to 7am. I loved the dirty looks buying beer at 7am. I don't like being large groups of people and having a 24 hr Walmart to myself. Since most people work during the day the apartments were always quiet.

[BlackHelicopters]

The late shift got to me as I got older. It's a young person's shift.