3rd Shift Job

[badatmath]

I never could make that split sleep thing work for me with a nap before work but thank goodness I only had to do it temporarily to fill in for someone.

Figure out when you are going to eat and stick with it. I felt sick most of the time which was a great weight loss tool but many people gain a few pounds eating in the day and then at night too.

 

[W2R]

Frank worked second or third shifts almost all of his life. He really liked it, because he could avoid a lot of the "office politics" and was left alone to do his work.

After many years of working at night, after we retired he still has not fully returned to a "normal" schedule. But at this point, who cares?

Good luck and I hope your new shift works out well for you, too!

 

[Telly]

.... I am a little concerned about starting my car at 6am after being in potentially zero degree weather or lower for 8+ hours. Isn't starting your car at the coldest time of the day the worst thing you can do as far as temperature related car things?

Well it sure ain't the best. Starting a stone-cold engine at the coldest time of day, oil thick, battery handicapped by cold. And look at your daily driving cycle in your case - Headlights ON to work, short trip, not much battery recharge. Then sits and gets cold as a stone. 6 AM, probably still dark, start car, turn on dome light so you can see the frost to scrape off, while it tries to re-freeze about as quick as you scrape. Takes quite a bit of idling to generate any engine heat in northern winter conditions from cold start. Then you probably will have headlights ON for the way home, short trip again, limited battery recharge for what you took out of it. Watch that battery charge. If you have a garage, can run a charger on it when needed. If you're living in an apartment building, I knew one guy who had a spare battery he would charge in his apartment, and learned how to change a battery pretty fast if needed.

Be "glad" you live in the era of fuel injection, cars start and run a lot better in the cold than back in the carburetor days, that's for sure!

I never worked graveyard shift, but in my early college years, worked factory second shift, 4 PM to midnight. Then up 3 days a week to make it to a 8 AM class, 9 AM the other two days. About a half-hour drive to school. Come home, eat some quick lunch heated up out of a can, do homework, go to work. No time for social life.

Weekends, I tried to get out like normal people, but work and school always hanging over me.

One summer, I didn't have any classes. Free time! Joy! NOT! I was off while everyone was at work. And when they were off, I was at work. During weekday mornings, only moms with little kids out and in stores. Desolation for a young man!

Been there, done that. It's a tough life that many people don't experience. I feel for ya.

Working in factories, I gathered enough $ and college credits of the right type to later transfer to the Big U, where I got an Engineering degree (any lab-type class for me was an easy A, as I was always science-oriented, and very practical). And my life changed. But can never forget those days. They are part of me.

I wish you the best! Sometimes, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

 

[youbet]

I have accepted a new job working 3rd shift(10P-6A) Mon-Fri.

I did factory work on night shifts for many years. Most of the time I was on 2nd shift which I had no trouble with. When I was on 3rd shift, I struggled. No matter how long I worked 11:00 PM to 7:30 AM, I was always "pulling an all-nighter." I struggled to sleep during the day and usually got only 3 - 4 hours of sound sleep. By the weekend, I'd be staggering (not a good thing for a guy running a cutting press in a folding carton factory) and would eventually crash for 8+ hours of zzzzzzz's. I just couldn't make it work. Always tired. Always "staying up all night."

I managed to get on 2nd shift and that was much better. Off work at 12:30 AM, either straight home or maybe a couple beers and some pool at the bar across the street which closed at 2:00 AM. Home and asleep by 3 or 4:00 AM. Up by 11:00 AM (I slept great those hours), a little time for myself and then at work by 4:00 PM.

Some folks take to 3rd shift fine and I envied them. I just struggled. If I had to do it again, I'd be sure to have a dark, quiet place to sleep totally undistrubed, try to sleep the same hours everyday and be disiplined about it.

Good luck.

 

[tmm99]

Lots of good ideas have been already mentioned. I did graveyard shifts as well as rotating shifts. Pitch dark, quiet room helps. Expect to need more sleep than you are used to when you worked normal hours. At least, that was my experience. Also, you may feel a little more depressed due to lack of sunlight, so make sure and get some sunshine on your days off or get some kind of special light. Try to stay away from sunlight before going to bed.

 

[Sunset]

I hope they are paying a lot compared to other normal time jobs, as working shifted hours can be tougher on the health, both mentally and physically.

Maybe OP can put in a request to move to the more normal time shift if it turns out to be unpleasant ?

 

[NameTaken2]

Retired a few years from a career mostly working rotating 6-6 12HR shifts on a "4-3-3-4" schedule. My experience:
Some adapt better than others -some love it, others endure it. I endured it.
Had a 45" commute -got home, ate breakfast, then to bed ASAP/shortly after 7AM.
Would wake around 11AM, then unable to get back to sleep -often wasted 2-3hrs struggling to do so. Adapted by getting up and going about my day, then back to bed late afternoon for approx 2HR.

Kept sleep hours as close to normal as possible -highly recommended. For example, following my last night shift, to reset to days I'd sleep 2-3hrs that AM to "take the edge off", then tough it out until normal bedtime. You're only working 8HR shifts -I'd try splitting sleep hrs between early AM and late evening on that schedule to best adjust to normal hours on days off/vacs.

You're 43, so will share that as I aged shift work became more of a challenge, especially returning to day shift a couple days after nights.

Around age 50 it became too much, therefore took advice of coworkers and tried Ambien. Others may weigh in with negative perspectives on Ambien -it's YMMV. For me, it was a godsend and exactly as advertised. I only took Ambien for the 2 nights after my last nightshift. The first time I took Ambien, the following morning I couldn't believe how well-rested I felt. That first night previously wasn't deep rem/restful sleep. I took Ambien for the 1st 2 nights following night shifts, and it got me the quality sleep I needed to not be foggy when I returned to dayshift.
Read years ago that rotating shifts take 10years off your life, and never doubted it. It's a challenge, with cranky/miserable days when your body is confused whether to be awake or asleep. Straight 8HR nights not exactly the same, but similar challenges.
Give yourself time to adjust and find what works for you, with focus on maintaining good health. No perfect solution -shift work is shift work. Make adjustments for good sleep and maintaining good health, and if after a reasonable trial run it's not working find other employment.
Not worth giving up your health and enjoyment of life.

 

[aaronc879]

I hope they are paying a lot compared to other normal time jobs, as working shifted hours can be tougher on the health, both mentally and physically.

Maybe OP can put in a request to move to the more normal time shift if it turns out to be unpleasant ?

Most of the jobs are rotating shifts so getting any straight shift is a plus. Probably several years before I would have any chance of moving to second shift(2p-10p). The most I have ever made at any job before was $21.76/hr. This job starts at $22.51 and goes to top pay of $25.01 after 90 days. That is not much for most of you but a lot for me. Oh yeah, 65 cents per hour extra for 3rd shift.

 

[Mark1]

I worked nights for 2 months during a work stoppage back in 2014. I made sure the bedroom was pitch black and had lots of white noise and sleeping wasn't a problem for me. I stayed on my night schedule for the entire 2 months, but I was working 12.5 hours shifts on a 12-on/2-off schedule, so I didn't have a lot of weekends.

 

[Dtail]

Good luck to you. No experience with your situation, but appreciate your transparency of finances in your postings.

 

[Jerry1]

Someone mentioned a mask to cover your eyes for darkness. I would add that earplugs will be helpful. There are nights when I’m fidgeting and any noise makes it worse. I put in my earplugs and it helps immensely.

 

[street]

I never worked shift work a regular basis but have worked many all day and all-night scheduled work outages. I also worked a lot of all-night and all day with outages occurring at any time of the night or weekends and any time of year for 35 years.

It was part of the job but the part I never liked and never did adjust to that type of work pattern. I personally would never take a job with shift work on a regular work schedule. I don't believe I would ever get in sync with that work pattern. To me it took my life away from me in so many ways.

I wish you the best and hope you find it a fit for you. Getting on a schedule and adapting to that flip flop might be a lot easier than out of the blue all night work.

 

[Winemaker]

I did shift w*rk for 30 years, steady, rotating every 4 weeks, 2 weeks or weekly; no real tricks to speak of. Everybody is different and reacts different. I could preform well with 6 hours of sleep; 11 hour shifts (I was in management), as a husband, father, coach, landlord, and home owner. I taught myself to fall asleep anytime, I kept the room dark, and used a fan, TV or radio for white noise. I could sleep when they were building homes in the neighborhood, cutting trees down, but the small "plink" of the bedroom door lockset when DW came into the room, would be like a snare drum.

My industry referred to the midnight shift as the 1st shift or "cateye". I didn't have any problem staying awake during the shift because I was busy, but being underground, I couldn't look out a window and see people having fun in the daylight.

Sorry I couldn't be much help, but you will learn your own tricks.

 

[aaronc879]

I did shift w*rk for 30 years, steady, rotating every 4 weeks, 2 weeks or weekly; no real tricks to speak of. Everybody is different and reacts different. I could preform well with 6 hours of sleep; 11 hour shifts (I was in management), as a husband, father, coach, landlord, and home owner. I taught myself to fall asleep anytime, I kept the room dark, and used a fan, TV or radio for white noise. I could sleep when they were building homes in the neighborhood, cutting trees down, but the small "plink" of the bedroom door lockset when DW came into the room, would be like a snare drum.

My industry referred to the midnight shift as the 1st shift or "cateye". I didn't have any problem staying awake during the shift because I was busy, but being underground, I couldn't look out a window and see people having fun in the daylight.

Sorry I couldn't be much help, but you will learn your own tricks.

I have never heard of managers having to work shifts work. Supervisors yes, but not managers. Interesting.

 

[pacergal]

I worked nights early in my career, not my favorite shift in the hospital!
Many good ideas so far.
What worked best for me:
*No heavy meals during break, I kept my food intake light. Other nurses were getting fried eggs, bacon, etc from the cafeteria at 3 AM!
*Dark room and white noise machine (we lived next to a middle school at the time)
*Slept first thing when I got home, after a nice warm shower and a light meal. Slept as long as I could, and would often take a nap late afternoon. Most errands were done from about 3-5.
*Off days varied, I really tried to keep the same schedule, but DH was on days, so sometimes I switched--that made first day back to work a bit brutal.

Best of luck in your new job Aaron!

 

[Andre1969]

I have a friend who works the night shift at Target. He does it because the pay is a bit better, and he hates people. So he'd rather work stocking merchandise, than deal with the public. Can't say I blame him!

I'll have to ask him what his sleeping habits are like. Whenever I've hung out with him, it would usually be late morning/early afternoon, and he always seems to have plenty of energy.

 

[aaronc879]

I worked nights early in my career, not my favorite shift in the hospital!
Many good ideas so far.
What worked best for me:
*No heavy meals during break, I kept my food intake light. Other nurses were getting fried eggs, bacon, etc from the cafeteria at 3 AM!
*Dark room and white noise machine (we lived next to a middle school at the time)
*Slept first thing when I got home, after a nice warm shower and a light meal. Slept as long as I could, and would often take a nap late afternoon. Most errands were done from about 3-5.
*Off days varied, I really tried to keep the same schedule, but DH was on days, so sometimes I switched--that made first day back to work a bit brutal.

Best of luck in your new job Aaron!

I don't think "no heavy meals during break" will be difficult. The 12hr schedule gets two 10 minute breaks and a 20 minute break so I assume my shift just gets a 10 minute and a 20 minute break. Not much time for eating a full meal.

 

[Winemaker]

I have never heard of managers having to work shifts work. Supervisors yes, but not managers. Interesting.

I was a supervisor of hourly workers, and in later years, supervisor of hourly and salary workers. At some times, 125 hourly, 30 salary, and maybe 10 contracted vendors.

 

[Dreamer]

My brother worked shift work at a rubber factory. He was divorced and picked up his 3 year old daughter for Easter one year. When he went to take her back home, his ex-wife had moved out of state. I still am amazed how he was able to continue working shift work with a small child. He was able to do that until his daughter was 9 years old and he died of cancer.

We sleep with a LectroFan machine that I bought on Amazon. I am a light sleeper and my DH snores. It works well.

I wish you the best of luck in your new job and I hope that you adjust well.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I had a second shift job as a social worker when juveniles got arrested we had to do intakes. I couldn’t work third shift as I couldn’t sleep enough during the day to function.

 

[Sunset]

Most of the jobs are rotating shifts so getting any straight shift is a plus. Probably several years before I would have any chance of moving to second shift(2p-10p). The most I have ever made at any job before was $21.76/hr. This job starts at $22.51 and goes to top pay of $25.01 after 90 days. That is not much for most of you but a lot for me. Oh yeah, 65 cents per hour extra for 3rd shift.

I worked the second shift for 10 years, on a weird 7 day on, 3 day off schedule, so the days off changed.
I found this was a very workable shift, as I normally would stay up to 11:30 pm so there was no change in my sleep pattern.

It did mean before work I went to parks, shopping, when practically nobody my age was there, that was sort of odd.

 

[badatmath]

Most of the jobs are rotating shifts so getting any straight shift is a plus. Probably several years before I would have any chance of moving to second shift(2p-10p). The most I have ever made at any job before was $21.76/hr. This job starts at $22.51 and goes to top pay of $25.01 after 90 days. That is not much for most of you but a lot for me. Oh yeah, 65 cents per hour extra for 3rd shift.

I recommend saving your shift pay. Trust me it CAN go away when they randomly move you to a different shift.

 

[braumeister]

I recommend saving your shift pay. Trust me it CAN go away when they randomly move you to a different shift.

Yes, I would keep the shift differential separate.

I had a friend in the Air Force who was a pilot. From the day he started getting flight pay, he put all of it into a separate account and never touched it except for special purchases. Smart guy, and it really paid off for him.

Most of his peers just considered it part of their salary and went through it as soon as they got it. But my friend realized that anything could happen to make that extra pay go away as suddenly as it started.

 

[aaronc879]

I recommend saving your shift pay. Trust me it CAN go away when they randomly move you to a different shift.

It is a union shop so they can't just randomly move me anywhere after my 90 probation is over. The only way I move anywhere is if I bid for a job and have the seniority to get it.

 

[REWahoo]

Anyone else miss the f in shift when initially reading the title of this thread?