Night shift workers....

[ditchman]

i used to do tide work ................that was superb..........lots of extra dosh and your shift changed everyday by an hour.......

[Fuddster]

i've worked nights over several shift patterns for the last 26 years.....7 nights then quick change over to afternoon shifts was the worst...then working my days off for overtime on nights.Lately its been 2 day shifts then 2 evening shifts then the dreaded 2 night duties.

 

my advice...if you have kids...sleep whenever,even its 15mins in a layby-done it many many times.

 

other than that,straight home,no dilly dallying seeing kids to school, ear plugs in, darkness blinds drawn and clear your head for some sleep.

 

switch off from work or the missus or why dont the birds swarm into my decoy pattern.

then power down and get to sleep.

 

funnily enough i seem to get my best quality deep sleep after a night shift when then house is empty.

 

failing that drink lots of rum!

 

night night

 

fudds.

[Bigbob]

We used to have three days off do three nights 21.00 till 07.00 then when you finished the last night shift at 07.00 you started your late shifts at 14.00 that afternoon and did three 14.00 till 21.00 shifts then three 07.00 till 14.00 shifts and then three off it was okay because after the fast turner over a couple of drinks and you had a great sleep and on the lates you had all morning till 14.00 and then after 21.00 there still was time to do loads .

 

But last year they changed us to Four days off four day shifts 07.00 till 19.00 then four days off then four nights 19.00 till 07.00 then four off and being honest while your working you don't have time for much else but my first day off after my nights I just sleep to noon and get up so the days no wasted

[Lord Geordie]

Home! Bite to eat but not a big meal! Bath! Warm drink like cocoa and bed! If you have a bad head when you wake plenty water and a couple of paracetamol!

 

Eventually it may build up to a crash day! But once that's over your ok! I normally get that once a month or so! Basically your body is deprived of so much sleep it just shuts down and it's the best sleep I ever had!

[craftycarper]

When I get in of a morning it's usually porridge, Internet then asleep anytime between 8-9am usually up and about again between 12-13:30 otherwise it becomes a bit monotonous and you don't see anything of the day. That's how it's been for the the last twenty years, weekends are worse as its a quick turnaround and 12 hr shifts, weekdays are 8 hours so it's become a doddle the last 13 years prior to that the first 7 years it was 7 lots of 12 hours, couldn't go back to that it was a killer.

[redleg in kale]

it seems to be all the rage for industry to be working 12 hour shifts these days , our grandparents were forced to work 12hour shifts till the unions fought for reduced working hours ie working week and shift . shiftwork doesn't get any easier as you get older, the people that think up all these different patterns of shift work id bet they are not working them, ex shiftworker for over 30 years and still struggling to get a good nights sleep.

[shaun4860]

Never has any bother sleeping,

 

Used to get in, wash, bed, sleep for 6/7 hours then up.

 

No really set shifts so finished anytime from 1 in the morning to 7 in the morning,

 

4x12 hour shifts a week, every 4/5 weeks we did days, followed by a split of 2 days 1 off 2 nights.

 

Others used to go home have a couple of beers to help them sleep.

 

Got used to it, did it for 12 or so years

 

[Gonna Shoot a Wabbit]

i have worked shifts for 26 years. First continentals and for the last 15years two 12hr days, two 12hr nights and 4 off. Every 7 weeks get 18 days off.

 

Recovery after last nights is i get in at 6am after work and up at 1030 that way you get tired again by about midnight. Staying in bed until 1pm keeps your bodyclock on night shift on your days off.

 

 

[Scully]

Did some really carp shift patterns including quick change overs to get for nights to days for the best part of 12 years. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone. However, the best pattern we did was 4 x 12 hour days followed by 4 off, then 4x 12 hour nights followed by 4 off.

Shift patterns **** up your sleep patterns, your bowel habits and basically your life.

[Dougy]

It's an age thing. The older you get the harder it gets

But most I suppose depends on your wotk, I know some who take game's to work, they work for 1/4 of there shift then play the rest. I think if I was to go back on shift work I would jack, I would rather stack shelves.

[officerdibble777]

I always found when you worked odd hours you never struggled with jet-lag when you went overseas

[nick13]

I used to work 22;00 - 06;00 night shifts did so for 11 years, it's not easy at all, and like some have said it gets harder the older you get, again it's just about listening to what your body is saying, but don't let it get lazy, otherwise you will always be tired. I found that finshing at 06:00 Friday morning and being in bed by 06:30, (i only work down the road from my house) then get up around 11:30, you feel like **** but your ready to go back to bed by 9ish, but I found that if I slept past that time I would sleep like **** and the whole weeknd would be ruined, so you need to find that right amount sleep on a friday for you, it will at least make the rest of the weekend bearable

[Dougy]

I found that after my last shift I stayed in bed till 13.30 ish, felt like pants all day then bed around 23.30 I nearly always woke up at around 03.30 wide awake, so that was another day fluffed because I used to get tired around mid afternoon because i had been awake so long. Its not good for your life expectancy. increased chance of ---

 

 

stroke

heart attack

angina

 

The list goes on.

 

It has some benefits though so its not all bad

 

 

 

 

a nice lump sum from the company to your beloved

[THE MEK]

We do a split fortnight on the rig. Get on board at 3pm start at 10pm, work till 7am then do 7pm to 7am for 6 shifts.start at 7pm then knock off at 3am come back out at 11am and work till 10pm.then 7 to 7 on days.final shift is 3am to 11am your body thinks it's going back into nightshift. Seen and heard about some incidents while doing this and guess when they occur, yep all on split shifts not good at all.

[Sprackles]

I work 2 days, 2 nights then four off. After the 3rd set of 4 its 10 days off so I work 12 days in a 30 day cycle. 12 hr, 7 til 7.

I had worked this for many years until a spell of sickness kept me away from shifts for 2 years but now have been back on them for 3 months and I have to say, I now hate them with a passion.
I love the time off but recovery is 2 days....I have tried the staying up, short sleep etc but have come to the conclusion that if my body needs 10 hours of sleep then so be it.
I often come home and am in bed by 8...sleep until 4 then up but am fast asleep again by 9 for the entire night.
I am not a spring chicken anymore and in the early years I thought it was great but now at the end of the 12 I am knackered and need my rest.

[mossy835]

one thing i would never do is night shifts.

[foxnet22]

I was in a routine of doing either 12 hours days or nights 6 till six.bt this new job has two shifts early shift I have to be up at 2.30 am but struggle to sleep the night before going to bed at 7 pm and usually find myself lying wide awake still at 10 pm resulting in feeling totally drained nxt day.I could cope with the 6pm till 6 am shifts but this one is a struggle.it does get harder to do as you become older .