Graveyard Shift

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Kanned

Beast
Well, this is going to be a new experience. After years of starting work at 6am, my shift now goes from 10:30pm to 7am. Never done it before, but I have always been a night person. I'm curious to see how I'm gonna handle it. So far I slept off and on from 5:30am to 11am this morning, so no doubt I'm gonna be falling asleep tonight.

Since I work pretty much right next to the beach, I plan on going there after work every once and a while to unwind before going home. That should do a lot to keep me from looking like a zombie.

Anyone else gone through this and have some advice?
 
yep, i've done it. it sucks ass in the beginning.

what do you do for work?

take your books to study. there is a lot of down time at night. i used to get off work and be wired. i would go home and play video games until 11 am before i would crash. don't schedule ANYTHING for the mornings. make afternoon appointments. ie class.
 
Last semester I drove from 10:30-2:30AM, then had to get up and be back at work at 6:45. Was pretty sure I was gonna end up killing someone before the summer was here.
 
You're right, it's probably going to suck pretty bad at first. Although, there is quite a bit of incentive... 15% bonus and no boss. Also, as you said I get to do homework while on the clock.

I'm a machinist/mechanic for an aviation company. I only do mechanic(structural... I wish it were with the engines) work when there is some sort of issue with the machine or if somebody needs help, so I'll have LOTS of thinking time.

I'm only in school part time atm, but I'll be back full-time come January. So far I'm gonna have a pretty fucked up schedule come then lol. One day I'll sleep in the morning, the other in the afternoon. That's one thing I'm really curious about... will I be ready to fall asleep right when I get off work or later?
 
Last semester I drove from 10:30-2:30AM, then had to get up and be back at work at 6:45. Was pretty sure I was gonna end up killing someone before the summer was here.

Sounds lovely. I don't sleep as of now, I'm actually hoping I'll get more when I have all day to sleep.
 
Just do Univ of Phoenix. Its all online. Also, get an xbox 360 and some Halo. All the teenagers will be online during ur shift.
 
3rd shift is awesome. I'd go back to it in a heart beat.

less work, better pay, still get to have a normal life for going out (that 2nd shift ruins)
 
You're right, it's probably going to suck pretty bad at first. Although, there is quite a bit of incentive... 15% bonus and no boss. Also, as you said I get to do homework while on the clock.

I'm a machinist/mechanic for an aviation company. I only do mechanic(structural... I wish it were with the engines) work when there is some sort of issue with the machine or if somebody needs help, so I'll have LOTS of thinking time.

I'm only in school part time atm, but I'll be back full-time come January. So far I'm gonna have a pretty fucked up schedule come then lol. One day I'll sleep in the morning, the other in the afternoon. That's one thing I'm really curious about... will I be ready to fall asleep right when I get off work or later?

identical to what i was doing. i was working on aircraft at the time. i was going to school too. sleep whenever you can at work, without getting fired of course. take evening classes. after 4pm is best, then you can go into work afterwards. just treat it like a regular day schedule. wake up and go to school, then work. go home and get some food, watch tv and crash. do everything just like if you had to be to school at 8am then go to work until maybe 8pm. it's VERY hard to sleep until it's time to go to work.
 
and you MUST have a routine. if you bounce around, you'll fuck yourself over and something will have to go.
 
i could never do it.. when its light out i cant sleep.. when its dark, i cant stay awake.. lol
 
I wish I could go back to it... I loved 1030-7am. get off work. sleep until 2 pm then have a solid 8 hours of do-what-I-want-to time. it's easy to adjust to for me. im still having trouble with an 8-5pm shift.
 
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see, morning shifts is where its at for me.. i can stay up till 4am and wake up at 630 when the sun starts to peek around the earth, like i slept all damn night and stay awake all day
 
maybe I should switch my sleeping... work 8-5, sleep till 2 am, then have 6 hrs before work.... hmmmm... I hate waking up in the morning.
 
Just do Univ of Phoenix. Its all online. Also, get an xbox 360 and some Halo. All the teenagers will be online during ur shift.
I stray away from online classes as much as possible. Total lack of ambition topped with an overload of distractions online. It's so impersonal.

I have to be slightly more professional than bringing in an xbox lol. Now a PSP or something like that may be in my very near future.

3rd shift is awesome. I'd go back to it in a heart beat.

less work, better pay, still get to have a normal life for going out (that 2nd shift ruins)
All true. I plan on making the best of it.

identical to what i was doing. i was working on aircraft at the time. i was going to school too. sleep whenever you can at work, without getting fired of course. take evening classes. after 4pm is best, then you can go into work afterwards. just treat it like a regular day schedule. wake up and go to school, then work. go home and get some food, watch tv and crash. do everything just like if you had to be to school at 8am then go to work until maybe 8pm. it's VERY hard to sleep until it's time to go to work.

I see where you're coming from, I can foresee this being the best strategy. However, my favorite teachers decided to switch their classes until the middle of the day, but it won't be that bad. One day I go to school at 11am for about 4 hours and that's my longest day. Another I'll start at 11 as well, but get out at just after 12.


On that note, I'm off to walmart to get all sorts of caffeine products to make it through tonight. Gonna be tough, I can feel it.
 
Yeah you'll definitely need a routine. I used to come home, eat, flip channels for a bit, and then crash. Might wanna look into some room darkening shades if the sunlight will prevent you from sleeping, although I was usually so tired it didn't matter.
 
I use to go to the gym to wind down after the night shift. By the time I was home I was beat. The only thing is, I would stay in bed for like 9+ hours since I didn't really have to get up even after a healthy 8 hours of sleep. I was effectively shortening my time to do other things. But I was going to the gym every day.
 
I worked 5:30pm-5:30am nearly all summer. Badass. Just like B said, less work, more pay. I would work 4 days, then have off 4 days. And when on I would go home and sleep til like 2-3pm. GF hated it, but I loved that sweet sweet money. I'm currently in training for another similar position, so im 9-5 m-f now, but when I'm finished, I'll be back to 6-6 shift with a 3 day rotation.

It's awesome. The only thing that sucks is that I'm supposed to rotate days/nights about every 2 weeks. But I can switch with people to stay primarily on nights.
 
I've been 3rd shift now for 9 years.... I couldn't handle 1st or 2nd shift now. 12am-6:30am...6-7 days a week. I used to break it half for sleep, pass out when I got home, and wake up around 11---screw around in the garage...then go back to bed around 6-7...wake up at 10:30. Or, just stay awake all day, and pass out around 3-4....

The new one for me...is PROVIGIL® (modafinil) – Home ...for those days I want to fish right after work...and get home around 4pm... it works. Just go to your doctor and give him a story that your on shift work, and need a little boost to adjust to the new schedule. 100mg is too much to start, but break it in half and do 50mg at first. don't do 200mg.... you'll be figuring out pi to the 100,000 decibel. :ph34r:
 
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