Working third shift

[Bufkin]

How many here have done it or are currently doing it? I'm on my 2nd week at the hospital. The pay is great, but the schedule is absolutely brutal. I find myself getting home at 10 AM, sleeping for a couple of hours, and then not being able to fall asleep again until right before work. What's the secret to making it work?

[KCrockaholic]

If you're single it should be pretty easy I would think. If you have kids, etc, then it could be rough. I'm the night owl type, yet I have an early morning job which means I'm a zombie until 10am. Hard to relate, but I know my dad had a job at an over night hospital for a while.

[Bowser]

Yeah, third shift blows. The problem for me when I'm on it is that I always flippity flop my weekends back to normal, then I pay for it on Monday.

The secret to making it work for me is blacking out the windows in the bedroom, earplugs, a fan on high, and Tylenol PM.

[KCrockaholic]

Yep. Buy some heavy duty blinds. I have some red tinted ones I use and it blocks out the sun wonderfully. I could sleep all day if I wanted to.

[Shaid]

I worked a 10pm-7am shift for a while when I was younger. The part the sucked was my apt didn't have AC so I basically left the windows open all night while I was gone to cool it down and closed them when I got home so it would stay cool when I slept. Didn't work out too badly as the apt stayed cool most of the day. I didn't have hardly anything worth stealing back then either so the risk was minimal. You absolutely need to block out the sun if you want any chance of decent sleep.

[Psyko Tek]

How many here have done it or are currently doing it? I'm on my 2nd week at the hospital. The pay is great, but the schedule is absolutely brutal. I find myself getting home at 10 AM, sleeping for a couple of hours, and then not being able to fall asleep again until right before work. What's the secret to making it work?

drinking heavily and crying softly

I did 12 hour over nights for 5 years, went completely vampire
just stayed on nights
constantly
then I knocked up a girl with kids
had to go to days
first advice is the best I got

[TimBone]

I worked overnight at a brake factory when I was 19. No responsibilities outside of the job, though. So, I just slept all day.

My job here as an air traffic controller is a little more tricky. We do this shit where we work two 3pm-11pm shifts, then two 7am-3pm shifts, and then we finish the week with a 11pm-7am shift. It's gonna put me in an early grave.

Edit: I should add that it was that way for about 8 years. Most of the last year and a half, I've worked straight 3pm-11pm shifts, which I've loved. But the last three months, I've alternated between that and going back to the fucked schedule for a couple weeks of the month. It sucks.

Btw, Bowser had good advice.

[rico]

I began working 3rd shift a little over a year ago. I am on break right now. I am a night owl type, but 3rd shift really sucks. It doesn't matter if you slept 12 hours during the day or 2 hours....you are ALWAYS tired and all you want to do is lay around on the couch. It is tough to get things done. It is also tough to keep up with tasks that are generally done during the day...like appointments and what not. I get my haircut less...I don't shave as much as I used to... I feel like shit until about an hour after coming in to work...

And I don't even have the option of moving to 1st shift because my dad is the first shift foreman...

[Over Yonder]

How many here have done it or are currently doing it? I'm on my 2nd week at the hospital. The pay is great, but the schedule is absolutely brutal. I find myself getting home at 10 AM, sleeping for a couple of hours, and then not being able to fall asleep again until right before work. What's the secret to making it work?

Let me throw a vote in for 3rd shift. I loved it (before we had kids). I doubt it would work so well now.

As far as sleep, figure out a routine that works for you, AND STICK TO IT! Bouncing around sleep time didn't work for me. I was one that wanted to stay up after work, get stuff done, then sleep until work time. Most others I worked with, liked sleeping right after work, then staying up until work time.

But whichever pattern you choose, you gotta stick with it. Thats what worked for me.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

You'll adjust as best you can in another couple of weeks. The fact is we're not built for this shit, so it will always suck. I remember getting off work at 6am and going to the bar for some beers and breakfast. Fucking weird. What really was weird was the fuckers that were at the door every morning waiting for them to open so they could start drinking, or continue I guess. I mean, I drink too much, but I've never been a day drinker let alone a first thing in the morning drinker. I guess just try and prepare yourself for a weird life until you can get a better shift.

[BigMeatballDave]

Haven't worked 3rd since my 30s.

I'd go home, eat, get a shower, watch about an hr of TV. Usually would get 6-8 hrs sleep.

My last 'regular' job before I began driving OTR I worked 4 12s. 4p-4a. That was only 4 yrs ago. I REALLY needed those 3 days off every week.

[Earthling]

I remember getting off work at 6am and going to the bar for some beers and breakfast. ****ing weird. What really was weird was the ****ers that were at the door every morning waiting for them to open so they could start drinking, or continue I guess.

Yup. This was my first thought when I read the thread title.

[Buehler445]

Get some melatonin. It's a natural sleep aid, but I'd quit it when you have your sleep pattern changed.

[stonedstooge]

Loved it when I wore a younger man's clothes

[Fire Me Boy!]

How many here have done it or are currently doing it? I'm on my 2nd week at the hospital. The pay is great, but the schedule is absolutely brutal. I find myself getting home at 10 AM, sleeping for a couple of hours, and then not being able to fall asleep again until right before work. What's the secret to making it work?

You never really get acclimated to it. Humans are not nocturnal creatures. That said, if you give it time you will get used to it. It's important that you find a sleep schedule and stick to it, even when you have days off.

Back when I started here at CP, I was working third shift at a TV station on weekends. At the time, I was also working 50+ at a newspaper during the week (sometimes weekends) and was the church choir director. I pretty much worked and slept and mostly hated everything. For three years I didn't have anything resembling a sleep schedule.

[oldman]

I did it for a couple summers while I was in college. It takes a couple weeks to get adjusted to it, but overall, not too bad. It does screw up you weekends and social life. The worst is working swing shift. I did that for a summer in college. You are a zombie with that.

[Bwana]

Get some melatonin. It's a natural sleep aid, but I'd quit it when you have your sleep pattern changed.

Some people do well on that but I'm not one of them. I would have some weird dreams after I took that stuff and the sleep wasn't that great.

[bevischief]

Loved it and would go back in a heart beat.

[CaliforniaChief]

I worked overnight at a brake factory when I was 19. No responsibilities outside of the job, though. So, I just slept all day.

My job here as an air traffic controller is a little more tricky. We do this shit where we work two 3pm-11pm shifts, then two 7am-3pm shifts, and then we finish the week with a 11pm-7am shift. It's gonna put me in an early grave.


You and the passengers of the planes you're guiding. That's brutal!

[The Franchise]

Some people do well on that but I'm not one of them. I would have some weird dreams after I took that stuff and the sleep wasn't that great.

It was that way for me as well.

[Hoover]

There is a 3rd shift?

LOL

So when I have a big project and shit needs to get done, I let my employees work regular hours (9-5) then I work when they are not there. Typically that 4 to midnight. I love having the place to myself. Hours are not bad, but sucks not seeing my boy at night. I used to do go in and work 5 am to 1 pm. Love those hours. But my wife can't make that work for some reason.

[Munson]

You'll need something to help drown out the noise from all the daywalkers, such as a fan or a stereo.

[Rausch]

I work 11:30 pm to 7:30 am.

People need to learn that your sleep time is your sleep time. If you can work it to where all you do is switch your work/sleep schedules you'll be ok.

I work when most people sleep and sleep when most people work. That still gives me off time when the rest of the world is off...

[Demonpenz]

3rd shift is awesome if you hate lines people and bad pay. If you like being left alone, great pay, and the single life that is what 3rd shift is all about.

[Jiu Jitsu Jon]

You'll likely lose weight because you'll be asleep when you would normally eat. When you do eat, it probably won't be as much. I started 3rd shift a few months ago and have lost 15-20 lbs.

[Valiant]

I did it. They suck. Late 2nd is worse. My problem with it. I work 10 hour shifts and 40min drive each way. My days are over by the time i get home.

[BigMeatballDave]

I did it. They suck. Late 2nd is worse. My problem with it. I work 10 hour shifts and 40min drive each way. My days are over by the time i get home.

Ugh, this reminds me of a job I had back in 98.

6p-6a mon-fri and every other sat. 80 miles a day. Glad I had a Honda Civic then.

[Dunit35]

I had little difficulty when I worked 9pm-7am. I did it for two years before switching to 2pm-12am in January. I had it very dark in my bedroom and a loud fan. I did wake up every few hours. I still wake up every few hours now that I sleep at night.

[DenverChief]

How many here have done it or are currently doing it? I'm on my 2nd week at the hospital. The pay is great, but the schedule is absolutely brutal. I find myself getting home at 10 AM, sleeping for a couple of hours, and then not being able to fall asleep again until right before work. What's the secret to making it work?

What time do you start your shift?

[2bikemike]

I have over 30 years.working shift work. We work a dupont schedule 4 days one week and 3 days the next. Each shift is 12 hours. We altered it a little by lumping all of the night shifts together so we work 7 nights in a row, then off for 3 days, work 4 day shifts, off for 7 days, back for 3 days off for 4 then start it all.over again.

I don't think I could work any other way. As a shift worker AC and black out curtains are your friends.

[BigMeatballDave]

My last 'regular' job before I began driving OTR I worked 4 12s. 4p-4a. That was only 4 yrs ago. I REALLY needed those 3 days off every week.

I forgot about this, but when I started this job, I had to work a weekend shift.

4a-4p fri-sun. 36 hrs, but paid 40 as a shift premium.

That lasted about 2 months. I did enjoy 4 days off every week. I chose the 4-day on position because of the OT every week.

[scho63]

When much younger, I used to work as a newspaper pressman on the 11:30 pm until we finished shift, which was usually by 4 am. It wasn't bad but I hated when I would work an extra shift at The wall Street Journal in Princeton because we would start at 7 pm and be done around 2am. It was an awful time all the way around.

Would hate to start at 2-3 am in the morning, that's gotta be brutal.