|
So I recently got a new job that pays well. Which is pretty exciting for me since I'll be able to actually afford stuff. The catch is I'm working grave, which I've never done before. Anyone here work grave or has done so? I'd like to hear how you adjusted to the hours(I'm still trying) and what your experience working at night and sleeping during the day was like.
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 02:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 6, 2024 03:26 |
|
|
I worked overnights for two Christmases back when I was working in retail (10pm-6am for November/December). The sleeping schedule is the thing that needs the most adjustment towards. My schedule was work from 10-6, go home and sleep minimum 8 hours (which meant I got up 2-3pm) then go about my day until it was time to work again at 10pm. The next thing is to figure out your meal schedule which pretty much means you shift your entire meal schedule several hours later. Getting up in the early afternoon is your breakfast, eat lunch in the late evening before you go to work and supper is in the early morning hours before you get off. Then home and sleep and get up early afternoon to repeat it again. It's possible to do as long as you figure out how to shift sleep/eating patterns and not think of it as unusual.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 02:56
|
|
|
Really depends on how your body works. For a while I was doing double shifts with a "break" between them. So I work 12pm to 8pm, leave get lunch maybe a cat nap come back and work 10:30pm to 7:00 am. I got by simply because I have problems thinking so figured why not spend that time working instead of starring at my eye lids every night. The big thing is the time it's self had a huge impact on you either physically or mentally. Depending where you are it could be dead at night. Here the only thing open passed 8pm is allsupps so lots of fried burritos for lunch/dinner/what ever the hell this meal is. You also have to take care of poo poo like bills, doctors, grocery shopping early as possible, often right after you leave work.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 03:12
|
|
|
Sleep, seriously, sleep when you are supposed to every day even on days off. Just sleeping at night twice in a row makes me tired when I go back to work the following day. My biggest problem is that I have two jobs and my second job has me on two shifts. I work Friday afternoon, Friday night, and Saturday morning almost every week. Literally, have to work 24 hrs straight.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 03:22
|
|
|
I've worked overnights for a long while. Generally speaking I found the biggest problem to be that first week or so that you're adjusting to a new schedule. I was tired and sick as hell. Beyond that it's really a matter of balancing out sleep with a social schedule. If you really think about it the average person works from like 8 - 4, so if you're sleeping then then it shouldn't really affect you that much. But of course in reality some of us can't just come home and plop over like that. I for example sleep before work, so I wind up sleeping from 3 - 10, when people are just getting home and want to call me on the phone every two seconds. One big positive is that when you do need to do things then the world works well on your schedule. I never have an issue scheduling a doctor or dentist appointment directly after my job because who the gently caress else is free at 8 in the morning for that sort of thing. Also I can hit a movie and there will be no lines.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 03:38
|
|
|
While I was overseas, I worked escort/security duty and was moved back and forth between days and nights a few times (on a 12-hour day, 3 days on / 1 day off work schedule). Although I adjusted fairly quickly (and despite a single day off given to help adjust), it was always hard to stay awake during the first few work shifts afterward. In my experience, I could minimize the fatigue on my first work day by staying up ultra late, then passing out at about the time I'd be going to bed on the new schedule. I'll second the advice that you really stick to the schedule, even on your days off. You could always tell the walking dead who tried to spend their day off awake during the day.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 04:21
|
|
|
Right so basically 1. Shift everything around. 2 is breakfast, 8 is lunch, dinner around 1am. 2. Stick to schedule even on days off. What do you guys recommend doing about a window in your bedroom? My current blinds still let too much light through. I threw a blanket over them but its still not enough. Right now I'm just consdering buying a blindfold tomorrow to wear at night, but that might be too uncomfortable.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 04:59
|
|
|
You can get use to the light in my experience. However you can get black out curtains at wal mart that block out something like 80% of light. When I was in my stupid high school goth phase I nailed a dark red and black comforter over a 7 foot by 9 foot bay window and it block out everything even in the Texas sun.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 05:09
|
|
|
I've been working 3rd shift for over 3 years now, and there are two main ways to do it. Keep your same sleep schedule or swap it over the weekend. I'm lucky where I work 4 - 10's, so I get what amounts to be a 3 day weekend. Usually I will switch back to the 'normal' day schedule so I can do stuff with the girlfriend. However when my first day back at work arrives, I usually either take a short nap before I got in, or try to muster through a 20 hour day. That first night is rough, but it can work. Another thing I would suggest is that when you do wake up in the afternoon, have a small breakfast then go for a walk/run/workout. It'll help you wake up more and be more alert during the night.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 06:34
|
|
|
Is fine. Shitpost a bit more around 3/4ths of the way through and need to rely on caffeine for the first few days, then I'm fine. Depends on how nocturnal you are I guess. I do 7 day 12 hous shifts, 7 days free. For sleep, sleep on side and have another pillow over my head, also helps with the noise as well as blinds. Just make sure you bloody well do sleep. Is also pretty convenient for talking to people across the world, means I can post here real-time.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 08:26
|
|
|
Quornes posted:Right so basically Highly recommend blackout curtains, it makes a difference. The only issue is the light that bleeds in from the top unless your curtain rod prevents that. Else toss a long piece of cloth or another curtain pane on top of the rod.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 08:59
|
|
|
If someone asks you to come in on a normal day shift, don't do it, it will make your sleep schedule all sorts of hosed up and then suddenly you're a dude who can cover for day shift people and they won't stop asking you ever
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 17:01
|
|
|
Quornes posted:So I recently got a new job that pays well. Which is pretty exciting for me since I'll be able to actually afford stuff. The catch is I'm working grave, which I've never done before. Anyone here work grave or has done so? I'd like to hear how you adjusted to the hours(I'm still trying) and what your experience working at night and sleeping during the day was like. I worked graves for a good while when I was younger, here are my tips: - Get a schedule and try to stick to it. It doesn't always happen, but do what you can. I personally like to wake up right before work, and then unwind for several hours after work. When I was working a 10 to 6, I would wake up around 8PM or 8:30, shower, eat, and then go to work, then I would stay up until 12 or 1PM and then go to sleep. You can adjust as necessary for your lifestyle. Being able to run errands in the morning while everyone else is at work/school was always a nice perk. - Sleep hygiene is important. You can't expect the rest of the world to be quiet because you have to sleep during the day. I slept with a box fan making lots of white noise and I taped blackout curtains to the window. Zero light entered the room. Also your bedroom should be used for sleeping only, don't play games or watch TV in bed because you'll have a hard time falling asleep when you need to. - Your social life is going to suffer tremendously, and if you're in a relationship I would advise against doing this at all. I would see my girlfriend for maybe 2 hours a day during the week and it can put a strain on a relationship. Your friends are going to want to do poo poo like normal people... though if you have weekends off this won't be so bad. - Take care of yourself. A lot of graveyard work is sitting around doing nothing. It's really easy to start packing on a ton of weight, eating lovely food, and neglecting yourself. Try to eat ok and make sure to exercise a few times a week.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 18:06
|
|
|
Here's some tips I've developed; I worked graveyard shift three times in my life, most recently on a 12 hour schedule from 6pm to 6am 4 days a week: -Blackout curtains and earplugs are a must for sleeping during the day -Don't be tempted to stay up when you should be sleeping, even though you will want to so that you can do poo poo with friends. -Eat lots of small meals throughout the shift and make sure you drink enough water (more than you think.) -Wear dark sunglasses on you way home so you stay in the "bedtime" mindset And most importantly, -EXERCISE whenever you can. You'll feel a whole lot better mentally.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 18:53
|
|
|
Been on graves for the best part of a decade now, most of what the folks above keep saying is true. Also, a couple tips : You -will- get tired of breakfast food. If you don't cook, learn now, because by three months in you'll be dying for real food when you get home, and nobody serves it at 8am. Accept now that you will become a misanthropic shut-in over time. Your friends that don't work the schedule will never understand why you can't just 'get up early' to hang out in the evenings when they get off work. They'll never really do the math and realize they're asking you to get up at your sleep schedule's equivalent of 3am. Melatonin supplements and ZzzQuil are your friends, especially if you have people in the house who insist on being noisy fucks in the morning.
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 19:56
|
|
|
Liquid Communism posted:You -will- get tired of breakfast food. If you don't cook, learn now, because by three months in you'll be dying for real food when you get home, and nobody serves it at 8am. If you get tired of eating McDonalds, which is really the only place you can get food at 3am, you can also grab a Subway sandwich at like 9pm and throw it in the fridge until you're ready to eat it. Eating on midnights is the worst thing ever. I probably ate at McDonalds 2-3 times a week when I was working mids. I liked going to bed as soon as I got home so I could be up and eat dinner with friends/family and that would basically be my lunch. I only eat 2 meals a day though and generally on midnights I was less hungrier than I was on other shifts. Liquid Communism posted:Your friends that don't work the schedule will never understand why you can't just 'get up early' to hang out in the evenings when they get off work. They'll never really do the math and realize they're asking you to get up at your sleep schedule's equivalent of 3am. This used to / still does annoy the poo poo out of me. Also your Mom/family calling at 11am and wondering why you're "wasting the day away sleeping". The Shep fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Aug 29, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2014 22:39
|
|
|
With winter coming...try to see the sun once in a while. It really hosed me up to go 2-3 weeks without really seeing the sun because I'd fall asleep before it really came up enough to be noticeable & it had set before I woke up. Then again I hated the job and was depressed anyway so I did a fair bit more sleeping than I probably should have, so hopefully this won't apply to you at all!
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2014 02:46
|
|
|
I live in Alberta: even if you work the day shifts you barely see the sun because it's out for only 6-7 hours in December. It's honestly the thing I hate most of all about winter, even more than the snow and cold  Cmdr. Shepard posted:If you get tired of eating McDonalds, which is really the only place you can get food at 3am, you can also grab a Subway sandwich at like 9pm and throw it in the fridge until you're ready to eat it. McDonalds and gas station food (those sandwiches you toss in the microwave) were what I ate for a good month before I started bringing in proper food because, yeah, you get sick of it quick and it gets kinda pathetic to think about after a while. I mentioned this before: but the big trick is to not think of your new sleeping/eating schedule as unusual and if anyone gives you judgment because you "slept in until 3pm" don't think anything of it. Human beings need 3 meals a day and minimum 6-8 hours of sleep in order to function and you get that however you can with an overnight schedule.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2014 06:57
|
|
|
Turn off your cell phone. Off. Not silent, not vibrate, off. Unplug your home phone. Unplug your doorbell. I know, I know, "what about emergencies?". Think through the past 10 years. How many emergency phone calls have you received that couldn't possibly have waited 8 hours. Zero. So turn off your phone. Your sleep will thank you.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2014 08:53
|
|
|
wilfredmerriweathr posted:Here's some tips I've developed; I worked graveyard shift three times in my life, most recently on a 12 hour schedule from 6pm to 6am 4 days a week: All of this. I've worked a varying schedule for the last 15 years. My tips: 1) go to bed when you get home from work. Don't go on the computer. Don't watch tv. Go to bed. 2) sleep until you wake up, whenever you can. No alarm clock, let your body tell you when it's time to get up 3) I don't use curtains, I use eye shades (aka a sleep mask) like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ROYAL-TRAVELLER-SAMSONITE-SHADES-BLACK/dp/B00JFWYUBO 4) exercise when you wake up, before work. If I do it after work, I'm up for a couple of hours. If you can work out on your lunch hour do that, too/instead. Good luck!
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2014 15:40
|
|
|
Everything has been pretty much said what I will say is working shift's when you do get time off and your ready to drink your friends won't be available.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2014 15:41
|
|
|
Don't have kids until you work days because you'll miss out on tons of poo poo/them growing up.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2014 18:58
|
|
|
A trick I used to keep the room dark was cardboard cut to window size with tinfoil taped on it facing out to reflect light, works awesome.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 02:50
|
|
|
Tell me about working grave shift : Yeah, it's like living in a meth lab
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 09:39
|
|
|
Don't be too hard on yourself if you can't stand it even with all the advice. I did most of the things listed and it still totally destroyed me.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 09:54
|
|
|
I've been working 11pm-7am for a few months and planning on keeping this schedule indefinitely. This shift is the lesser of the evils when considering the jackasses that work during the day and it's mostly guys my age so we usually have a good time. It helps to have a supportive wife who does most of the errands on her days off and does everything she can to keep the house quiet for me. I have a floor hepa filter for white noise, a window a/c unit to keep the room cool, and earbuds to block out the neighborhood and I don't normally have a problem with sleeping 7-10 hours.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 10:02
|
|
|
Namarrgon posted:Don't be too hard on yourself if you can't stand it even with all the advice. I did most of the things listed and it still totally destroyed me. Me too, even as a night owl. I worked it for three years. I did all of the above, and while I could sleep and function fairly normally, it never, ever felt right. I never got that deep, restful sleep you get at night. It always felt more like a nap, even if I slept eight hours. I always felt like a zombie. The fact that your friends and family don't ever seem to get it that you cannot be awake all day pissed me off. No, I do not have all day free, you fuckers.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 05:26
|
|
|
I've been working 7 pm to 7 am for 3 years now. All of the advice so far has been good. I couldn't live without my sleep mask and white noise from the fan. I do take melatonin as soon as I get home and go to bed. Also resist caffeine within 3-4 hours of when you want to sleep. I've found that chewing gum or eating ice keeps me awake without lingering jitters. Some people adapt well and some people don't. Give it a couple weeks. Do not swap your schedule to days on your days off or it takes longer to adapt. The worst for me is the frequent education we have. It's always at 8am so I have to be on a day schedule 1-2 days a month. This week I work 4 nights in a row, have 2 days off, and then have to be at work at 8am. After 1 day off I have to be back for 2 more nights. Ugh.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 09:41
|
|
|
Chiming in to agree; apparently, the final equation is that some people can adapt and do it indefinitely, and others can endure it, sometimes for years, but nevery truly fit. Didn't do my little bro any good. Call it genetics or fate or whatever.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 11:51
|
|
|
Yeah, main thing is if you're going to be steady overnights, just become an overnight person. On your days off, stay up until at least 3-4AM, don't ever go to bed more than 2-3 hours than you'd be scheduled to get off work. In order to switch your schedule, eating helps your brain think "this is when I should be awake." 2 days before you're supposed to start, stay up as late as you possibly can, fast overnight, and go to bed the next morning. When you wake up from sleeping during the day, get out of bed and eat something small. This will tell your body "this is when I wake up now, this is when food is available." I worked overnight 12 hour shifts from 1800-0600 routinely for the last few months, before that in the past I've worked 2300-0700 8 hour shifts. For the 1800-0600 I'd go to bed at 0800-0900 when I got home on days I worked, and go to bed at 0400-0600 on days I didn't work, and I'd wake up at 1400. That let me do things during regular business hours at the end of the day. When I worked 2300-0700 I went to bed at 0900 and woke up at 1700. That kinda sucked but it's doable if you live in a city with some sort of night life, otherwise learn to enjoy playing games with Australians online. Never break that schedule if you're steady third shift. If you're on swing shifts, welcome to hell, hope your body is good at adapting sleep schedules. Also, train yourself to sleep on command. Furthermore, learn that "sleep" doesn't have to be a bed and pajamas. That sort of twilight condition where you drift and your thoughts wander but you can't move your body? That's sleep enough if you work in EMS or something. Also if you have a long commute, take a 10-15 minute nap in the car before you start driving home, it will refresh you pretty well.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 13:16
|
|
|
LoveMeDead posted:eating ice keeps me awake without lingering jitters.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 15:14
|
|
|
I worked graves for a year and a half straight and then off and on for another two. Here's my best advice. 1. Heed the advice about sticking to a schedule. Lots of folks brought it up so it's great. 2. Blackout curtains are great...if you have curtain rods. You can also just buy blackout cloth from most fabric stores, which generally is white on at least one side. I've never had a problem taping this up in my windows from landlords since it looks very neutral and doesn't make the apartment/house look trashy. Use painter's tape so it doesn't gently caress up the paint or anything. (Alternative here is definitely eyemasks but I couldn't stand them, so pick your poison.) 3. Stay active. I gained over sixty pounds while on graves because I was constantly drinking soda and not paying attention to my calorie intake. On a similar note: 4. Don't rely on caffeine to keep you awake all the time. Keep to a sleep schedule, too much caffeine can cause headaches and can gently caress up your sleep pretty decent. 5. You'll have a shitton of by yourself time on your off days. I highly suggest picking up a constructive hobby of some kind, or just do what everyone else does and watch a shitton of tv and video games.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 02:04
|
|
|
Falcon2001 posted:
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 17:33
|
|
|
Blackout curtains, earplugs/fan/white noise machine, REGULAR sleep schedule (if you plan on going to bed at 9am every morning, DO IT. Do not stay up because it's light out and you expect to be awake when it's light out), and maybe invest in a bottle of Melatonin tablets. They are not sleeping pills, they're a supplement to the melatonin your body is supposed to naturally produce. It helps you drift off and helps you stay asleep (which is my big issue during night shifts/day sleeping). I also use an app called Twilight on my phone, which filters the screen through a red-orange filter and supposedly counteracts the problems that exposure to blue-white light can cause with falling asleep. There's one called f.lux that is available on Mac/Windows computers as well but I haven't installed that yet. If nothing else, the filter on the phone screen helps if I wake up and want to check the time without squinting at the intense backlight. Oh, and definitely eat right and don't rely on caffeine. I switch between caffeinated tea and non-caffeinated herbal teas (Celestial Seasonings makes a great tea called Fast Lane - as much caffeine as a cup of coffee and no crash! and one called Roastaroma which tastes kinda like coffee but has no caffeine at all), no coffee and only rare sugary drinks (more for the sugar than caffeine content anyway). Staying properly hydrated with water will help more than chugging coffee, I drink tea because it's a habit which helps me focus and get going more than because the caffeine does anything for me (even the herbal stuff is a pick-me-up). This is my second year working a three-week overnight shift set for inventory prep. Normally I'm daytime, and the shift is horrible but it's better if you can stay up a full overnight a day or two before the work starts, to set a pattern. Even so I drag the first week and a half, and by second week I just get bored staying up all night on weekends. There is nothing to do at 4am on a Sunday morning except gently caress around on the internet or clean your house. Faerunner fucked around with this message at 14:36 on Sep 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2014 14:28
|
|
|
Darth Freddy posted:Here the only thing open passed 8pm is allsupps so lots of fried burritos for lunch/dinner/what ever the hell this meal is. I work graveyards at an Allsup's, so I feel your pain. Protip: if the graveyard cashier isn't a complete drone or burnout case, convince them to come up with crazy food ideas. Chili cheese mexiburgers are almost too awesome not to try, along with bacon chicken biscuits and rib-b-ques topped with the pico they use on the mexiburgers.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2014 13:56
|
|
|
If you switch to a normal schedule on the weekends, make sure you get a good couple hours nap before you go in. Get a sleep mask.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2014 00:37
|
|
|
I've been a vampire for about 8 years now. I'd advise against trying to live like a daywalker on your days off. I've seen a lot people try the 'Work Nights, Live Days' method and pretty much all of them either quit or were fired because they were absolutely miserable. We humans are creatures of habit and your body is going to get real confused if your sleep schedule goes topsy-turvy every few days. Is the job something that's active and keeping you on your feet or are you going to be sitting in front of a computer all night? You might look into maybe bringing in some dumbbells or kettle bells to motivate you to stand up and get your blood pumping if it's a desk job. On the social side, start looking into what stores and restaurants are open 24 hours around you. There will be nights where you'll feel stir crazy and need some actual human contact at 3AM so go bug the people stuck on their own grave shift. If you're lucky, maybe you have friends who like to get up early and you can get 'breakfast' with them before bedtime. BlackIronHeart fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Sep 17, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2014 06:17
|
|
|
Cmdr. Shepard posted:This used to / still does annoy the poo poo out of me. Also your Mom/family calling at 11am and wondering why you're "wasting the day away sleeping". Goddammit, 10 years since I've worked graveyard and the bare mention of this still pisses me off. I was miserable on that shift just because people couldn't leave me the gently caress alone during "Sleep" hours.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2014 21:54
|
|
|
I'm a nurse and I work night shift (7pm-7:30am). I am naturally a night owl and I adjusted really quickly. I actually sleep better during the day now. The only issue is that sometimes I sleep TOO much, leaving me kind of zombie-like a good portion of the time. I know others have said not to do this, but I always flip schedules on my days off. However, working 12s I have more days off so that might not work on a 5-day a week schedule. My first day off, I get home around 8am, sleep until about 1pm, and then go to bed at a relatively normal time that night (12-1am). I've been doing it for over a year now and it's gotten very easy. Just make sure that you get enough sleep before your first night back on - don't wake up at 10am, have a full day, and go into work at 11pm without a couple hours sleep during the day. My best advice is don't let people bother you during the day. Turn your phone off, put a sign on your door if you have people knocking occasionally. It's not NAPPING, it's sleeping. It would be rude if you woke someone up at 3am, right? Don't let them do the same to you. Some say blackout shades/sleep masks/melatonin are a must... I come home so tired that I couldn't stay awake if I tried. It wasn't like that at first, but after a week or two of sleep deprivation I adapted to the sleeping during the day pretty easily. Even though it was easy to adjust to - it does take it's toll. My hormones have gotten all hosed up since I started working nights, and I'm actually going back to day shift soon. Studies have shown, time after time, that night shift is bad for your health for a ton of different reasons. On the short-term though, it's a nice way to make extra money (assuming you get a differential) and work in what is typically a more laid-back atmosphere.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2014 06:32
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 6, 2024 03:26 |
|
|
It's possible to switch your schedule working 12s, if you can do like 3 on 4 off. It doesn't work as well doing 2 on 1 off or even 1 on 2 off. But yeah, changing schedules doesn't work on a 5 day week.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2014 06:44
|
|