Who here works the GraveYard Shift?

I used to work 2nd shift years ago...and I simply loved it.
I got to sleep later into the day but still have time to get things done before work, and shortly after getting to work almost everyone else left, and I got lots of work done when everyone was gone.
This was however back when most business were really open M-F 9-5 so, I guess now its alot different since you can get a great deal done more often, and so much can be done via the internet.
I didnt have a problem with human contact...I amuse myself quite well Actually thats when I got to listen to all my own music and no one complained, bothered me, or joked so..that was nice.

Hmm - not, I think, in the sense you mean it - I have worked plenty of night jobs - until 3 am sort of stuff- but that was in hospitality - so alone was never a part of it - well, in one coffee lounge job it could be, if it was a slow shift, and when cleaning up. I used to sing when I was alone - to the goddamn awful muzak, or to drown it out.

I have also worked in rape and sexual assault on call - for a week on at nights/weekends, then a bout four weeks off. Again, at night you were either busy, in the depths of a hospital ER department, or asleep, or praying to be. Weekends, you did what you normally did, except no drinking! I have always had bad karma for emergency work, though - so I usually spent my week with no sleep (continued to work as normal during the days) and my weekends at the hospital. Sigh.

It IS different, though - the night people have a camaraderie.

Actually, night work suits my diurnal rhythms well - I like to wake at 11.00 am, and go to bed at around 4.00 am....

Well, I do have a co-worker till midnight, but from 12 to 4am I'm on my own and all night on Saturdays. I kind of like it. But never seing daylight takes some getting used to. Not to mention the fact that nobody ever respects a day sleeper. The bummer is that if you have noisy neighbors there isn't a thing you can do about it during the day. I imagine it's going to be worse in the summer when kids are out playing in their yards and dogs are barking all day.

I think the hearing impaired make the best night crew :wink:

I'm lucky if I get 4 hours of sleep per night. Coffee and Cherry Coke are my main diet... he says as his shaky hands press the keyboard and he reaches for another sip of coffee...

Yeah, day sleeping isnt easy at all, and sun deprivation is even worse...I couldnt do it for long-thats for sure--I think thats why I liked 2nd shift better..best of both worlds really

How long have you been doing it? I'm on my sixth year. I can now sleep anywhere, anytime. Morning is when I wake up. Night is when I go to sleep.

It would be better if I didn't have a family, cuz then on weekends I could just keep my schedule. But on the weekends we do stuff that requires me to be up during the day.

Saturday is the hardest, because I try to go all day saturday with little sleep. Two to four hour nap, then up until I can't stay up anymore. But the funny thing is, I go to bed by 9:00 or 10:00pm, and I'm up by 4:30 or 5:00am. Then Sunday is a 'normal' day.

You get used to it.

Turner_727, It's only been 3 months. I wake up from the slightest noise. I have to sleep with a fan by my head to dround out the outside noise or I wake up every hour.

Been there, done that! I know what you're going through.

But trust me, you get used to it. Took me the better part of two years to do it.

Funny story. I had just started the shift, maybe a few months into it. My wife was working nights, or I was tired during the day and wanted to sleep. I woke up at about 11:30am, and felt like I'd slept for a few hours. I got up, heard voices out in the family room, got dresssed, looked at the time. I saw the time, but my brain didn't process it. I go into the living room, and my wife is out there with my daughter and her PT. I look at the clock, and ask "Is that time right?" This was about the second or third clock that had the same time. They both kind of looked at me like I was insane, and said yes. So I said Oh and went back to bed. ..

Ah, the good old days. Now I tend to yell and scream when they try to wake me up. Especially if it's too early. . .

Ha! Just today I woke up and looked at the clock and wasn't sure if it was AM or PM. I jumped out of bed thinking I had over slept, but I had only slept an hour. I had about 7 more hours more to sleep.

I worked midnight to 8:30am for several years, but I worked with other people and I loved it. All the bosses were gone and all I had to deal with was my manager. I'm a natural night owl, so working days is a problem for me.

I used to work rotating shift work. 7 nights, 7 afternoons, 5 days. When I was 21 it was great. Come home from nightshift, sleep 4-5 hours, get up, go to the gym, go for a swim etc. By the time I was 31, I'd come home from nightshift and sleep 10-12 hours, and sit around feeling stuffed 'til I went to work again. I could never do it again.

So it was a good thing, right? I wake up a couple times a sleep, and the first thing I do is look at the clock. Today it was 6:42. Ah, two and a half more hours sleep!



I've found in the past few months that I can get by with less sleep. 4 - 5 hours and, well, I'm not rarin' to go, but I can function. I'll be 34 in two weeks.

Of course, I just started drinking coffee regularly, too.

Coincidence? You decide.

I'm 33 now and I can function on 3 to 4 hours sleep. Like you I'm not full of energy but I don't find my self fighting to stay awake all night at work. But if I do it to many nights in a row I have to have a really long sleep on the weekend.

My worse day is Wednesday because I'm off Sunday through Tuesday and my sleep schedule gets all messed up. I end up pulling a 35 hour day on Wednesdays because I wake up around Midnight the previous morning and can't get back to sleep.

I've finally just accepted the fact that Wednesdays are going to be my hell days...

You don't realise how bad it is for you, until you go back on normal day work, and get used to it. Within a couple of months I felt 10 years younger.

Ya got that right, Wilso. While I said I'm in my sixth year, there was a lull not quite a year long between year five and six. Do you know how long it took me to get back into the swing of things? one night. That's right, I adjusted right back that first night. Sure, for a while there I wanted to sleep longer than I was able to, but not getting the extra sleep I wanted didn't bother me a bit.

RR - 35 hours! Too long for me. I start getting really grouchy after about hour 20, and if I go ten hours more past that. . . well, the family has learned to leave me alone then.

When I was younger it was nothing for a 30 hour day. I had just moved here to Kansas, and had no family. I worked in a resturant, and I would go to work Friday night. This was after getting up about 10 or so. Get off at 12 or 1 in the morning, hike up to the University of Kansas computer center and play Civ 1 until about 8 or so. Go home, shower, and go back to work. Work until five, six, go home, be up for a bit and fall asleep about 9 or ten. This was pretty regular.

One time, I had nothing better to do so I was up at the KU cc and played civ for about 20 hours straight. I think I ended up being up for about 40 hours that 'day'.