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I've been working the nightshift for 11 years now, 10p-6a, and generally sleep from 9a-5p or 10a-6p, and I love it, and love it more every year! I don't know what normal is anymore!
The people I work with, as well, have been working the nightshift for years, too, and they can't fathom working during the daytime, ever again! Me too!
There seems to be something we share in common, but what?
If you know some nightshifters, and who love that lifestyle, what do you think characterizes these people and what distinguishes them from "normal" people?
Myself, I feel sorry for people who work days, and contrary to the reports that nightshift workers live shorter lives, I think they're wrong, wrong, wrong about that! With far less stress, you'd think we'd live 10 years longer! No daytime traffic jams to deal with, for one!
I always feel better at night, even as a small child I was hard wired to be more of a night person. I thought midnights would be the a great shift for me but it wasnt. I can stay up till 4 a.m. with no issues but found pretty much after that I lost major steam. After 4 a.m. I had a hard time. I also found that many people felt I should carry on daytime responsibilities even though it was supposed to my time to sleep. My husband would call home to see what I was up to. Family and friends would expect me to stay up so I could attend a get together and so forth.
I started averaging 3-4 hrs of a sleep a day and a lot of times it was disrupted sleep. Someone ringing the doorbell, neighbor cutting grass and so forth. I developed dark circles under my eyes and over all didnt feel very healthy. I think it could have worked for me if I didnt have a family or was able to sound proof the house. I think afternoons is probably the better shift for me except it can feel like you dont have time to get anything done. I simply hate mornings.
I think how satisfied one is with working night shift depends on how they balance other obligations with their sleep schedule.
If you have other things going on in your life that interfere with you consistently getting 8 hours of sleep, that makes it difficult. If you are skipping out on some of these things in order to get your 8 hours of sleep...that makes it hard as well.
I always feel better at night, even as a small child I was hard wired to be more of a night person. I thought midnights would be the a great shift for me but it wasnt. I can stay up till 4 a.m. with no issues but found pretty much after that I lost major steam. After 4 a.m. I had a hard time. I also found that many people felt I should carry on daytime responsibilities even though it was supposed to my time to sleep. My husband would call home to see what I was up to. Family and friends would expect me to stay up so I could attend a get together and so forth.
I started averaging 3-4 hrs of a sleep a day and a lot of times it was disrupted sleep. Someone ringing the doorbell, neighbor cutting grass and so forth. I developed dark circles under my eyes and over all didnt feel very healthy. I think it could have worked for me if I didnt have a family or was able to sound proof the house. I think afternoons is probably the better shift for me except it can feel like you dont have time to get anything done. I simply hate mornings.
When I was working inventory, I discovered that same cutoff time. About 4 I became useless. It wasn't that I was sleepy but concentration went out the window. I couldn't remember what how many cans were on the shelf. But my brain was starting to 'wind down'. When I worked as a programmer during the day, morning was reserved for the mindless part. I loved it when where I lived by the coast was so fogged in during the morning that I came in two hours late and worked two hours late. I did my best when all the annoyances were out of there.
When the ex and I had a home business. we did all the work at night. I'd get my son to school and go home and go to bed. Now I stay up until I get sleepy enough to sleep, and often don't go to bed until the sun is coming up and for once have had a MUCH better overall sleep pattern than before. People who know me know not to call before afternoon. I'm not one who has the cell phone in bed with me, and even if I did it wouldn't wake me up.
I think we do need to find our natural sleep patterns and follow them and that we generally don't is why so many have trouble sleeping.
I've been working the nightshift for 11 years now, 10p-6a, and generally sleep from 9a-5p or 10a-6p, and I love it, and love it more every year! I don't know what normal is anymore!
The people I work with, as well, have been working the nightshift for years, too, and they can't fathom working during the daytime, ever again! Me too!
There seems to be something we share in common, but what?
If you know some nightshifters, and who love that lifestyle, what do you think characterizes these people and what distinguishes them from "normal" people?
Myself, I feel sorry for people who work days, and contrary to the reports that nightshift workers live shorter lives, I think they're wrong, wrong, wrong about that! With far less stress, you'd think we'd live 10 years longer! No daytime traffic jams to deal with, for one!
I'm a night owl myself and absolutely hate getting up early, but there's no way I'd resort to a night shift job. If it's a gorgeous day, your missing out on it because of sleep. Most everybody else operates on a day shift schedule, so it's hard to hook up with other people to do things. I'll just bite the bullet and get up early, thank you.
When I get off work at 6am, depending on the time of the year, I still get to enjoy 3-4 hours of sunlight before I go to sleep. And I live in a city with 300 days of sunshine per year, so I can usually count on lots of sunshine early mornings. And I usually take a walk with my pet after work.
Yes, I may miss out on many a gorgeous day, but let's not forget about the gorgeous nights! Taking a bicycle ride thru my neighborhood at 2-3am, with no traffic to contend with, is a sheer luxury to me! I would never risk, on the streets of this city, taking a bicycle ride during the daytime!
Shopping at 24 hour grocery store here, and Wal-Mart, at 2am, with traffic-free aisles, is a real treat to me, and then driving home on relatively traffic-free streets is another treat to me!
Last edited by tijlover; 10-30-2012 at 08:04 PM..
Reason: edit
I didn't mind 3p-11p (which usually was 3p-1a most of the time; but I digress), but when I got transferred to 12a-8a, I didn't like it especially with each passing year - now I kind of think I'm messed up from it - long story; trust me, u don't want to hear it
I think some people are just hard wired to have a different sleep system. We're all different, some more different than others. There is also a condition called Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome that can affect you and make you unable to have a regular day job. I firmly believe that's what has plagued me for a big part of my life. When I was in my teens and I not only hated mornings. I was literally unable to get up. I had three loud alarm clocks and I slept right through them all. It made life very difficult. I've gotten better through the years but my ideal sleep hours are still about 4am to 11am-noon. I often have to take sleeping pills to go to sleep earlier. For me second shift fits best with my sleeping but I can see that for others who are programmed a bit differently third shift may work best. There are definitely pros with it. I've worked third shift a bit and I like the time I have in the afternoon but I hate having to head out the door and go to work in the evening when I prefer to relax and just watch some TV.
I would like the third shift system they have in some other countries though. In Sweden, for example, working third shift for more than three days in a row is illegal so nobody works it five days a week every week. Instead those who work third shift work about 13 twelve hour shifts per month. That way you can still have a normal day schedule most of the time. That's the problem with working nights - having a normal life.
I'm a night ER nurse and absolutely love working nights. I'm in a small hospital in a small bush Alaska town and nights are so much more pleasant. Admin is gone, fewer people around, quieter, more freedom. I wouldn't go back to days here if they offered me a pay raise.
Plus I've always been a night owl. Even when I worked days I would stay up until 0400 or so, sometimes later, on days off.
Nights for the win!
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