Night-shift work

[1Supersonic]

I was thinking of applying for a job working nights. 10pm until 6 am

Anyone else work night shifts here. How do you manage to sleep during the day? Are there any issues I need to be aware of?

Night shifts often leave you feeling jet lagged. No matter how hard you try it is much harder to sleep in the day than it is at night but in someways I quite enjoyed working the night shift. Working nights has long term implications for your health.

What sort of job is it. At 9pm you will be going to work when family are going to bed which is hard. Leaving at 6am you will miss the traffic but it can take a while to switch off and relax. How long is the travelling.,you need to get used to eating snacks at 2am, going to work And home in the dark in winter, it can take a toll on your health.

My partner hated it. And I hated him doing it. Though I did enjoy the bed space!

That's what I work. Well, 9pm to 6am. Five shifts a week.
It works for us as it means we dint need childcare. Dh works from home the days after I work which allows me to sleep. Then we have the afternoons together and dinner and early evening. I go to work then do the school run then sleep.

Personally I loved it, but I had no family to work around.
Black out curtains are a must as is a fan in the summer.
I was absolutely knackered by 7am, and slept really easily.
My routine was a quick, easy tea, shower and bed.
Up at 2pm, breakfast isn’t my thing so I had a couple of snacks before work and took a good lunch into work with me.
Take layers to wear - as you do feel the cold much more and learn to drink very strong coffee around 1am. The worst bit was the 2-4 am slot. It’s a known ‘sleepy time’.
Made some great friends and had a lot of laughs.
Beware of those daylight dwellers who think you are always available during the day - my partner has done nights for five years and our neighbours still cannot understand why he’s asleep during the afternoons (midnight start).

Unless it pays well and/or you really need to job, id give it a miss. It will be physically and mentally damaging long term.

When I do them I just stay awake throughout. It’s tiring!

I would say that isn't enough hours to make reversing your body clock 'worth it'. I work 3 12 hour shifts a week so the full time wages with 4 days off makes up for working nights IYSWIM.

Thanks for responding. I have DS 11. DH works from home.
The job was in a care home. The money is ok. I am currently unemployed the last place I worked closed due to Covid. I have applied for loads of jobs and its so depressing when most of the time I don't even get an interview.
The shifts for this job are 6 working and 7 off. Unsure if I would find it too much.

Care work is very hard doing nights. Think 2-4 people looking after 40 residents and usually expected to do domestic work as well. Also you need to expect to be called in to work a lot of your ‘off’ shifts as either days OR nights.
There is zero chance of a break or rest on nights in a care home. They are also usually long nights. Care work is also hard to unwind from.

Carehome work is hard and tiring. You will carry out regular checks, be on your feet, starting at 10 could be quite late and residents may all be in bed. How big is the home. 6 nights on is dire.,that's 48hrs. Are there other night staff who start and finish at different times.

10-6 isn't too long - it would give you 16 hours between shifts. I would prefer that to my current pattern of 12.5 hour nights and days. It's lovely to finish at 7.30 on days but I hate starting at 7pm on nights. Swings and roundabouts.
If you need the income I would take it.

10-6 isn't too long - it would give you 16 hours between shifts. I would prefer that to my current pattern of 12.5 hour nights and days. It's lovely to finish at 7.30 on days but I hate starting at 7pm on nights. Swings and roundabouts.
If you need the income I would take it.

Oops sorry double post..... said failed to send so I sent it again.

You will need a blackout blind and definitely a fan for summer. Preferably a doorbell that you can switch off, otherwise the postie will wake you.

That's an amazing shift pattern though. I used to do 6 on (8-10 hours without overtime) and 3 or 4 off. 7 days off actually gives you enough time to recover after night shifts. The first day off is normally a write-off because you're so knackered. Though the jet lag can last to the second day too.

Commute is better on nights and it is great to do your shopping/pub lunch etc on a Tuesday afternoon when it's quiet!

I wouldn't recommend it long term though. 5-10 years of nights is enough to age you for twice that amount.

6 on and 7 off might be more workable than a night in, a night off, two nights in and so on. Care work is hard and so are nights. You can't expect life to stop around you but at the same time you need sleep. As others have said a fan and blackout curtains in summer and an electric blanket in winter are a good idea. As is a do not disturb function on your phone. People do think that 3 hours sleep during the day is enough.
Eating a good meal before bed helps me sleep. I have done them on and off my whole working life and normally 2 years is the limit. It does affect your health, and try not to fall into the sugar rush/slump cycle about 4am, things like porridge are good. Your first day after your shifts is the worst for the hangover feeling, you need to sleep a bit so you're not a zombie, but not so much that you can't sleep that night. It takes some getting used to, but if you need the job, then I think a block and then a block off is the best way to deal with it as long as you can sleep between.
I worked nights before lockdown and it took me about 3 weeks to sort my sleep pattern out while I wasn't working (not in care now) I'm now in the process of moving to days because I've done them this time round for 2 years.

I enjoyed working nights, but then again I only ever worked 2 or 3 in a row as part of a shift pattern. I'm naturally more awake at night end really enjoy that time at about 4ish, when the sun would peep up and everything was so still.

Also enjoyed my final nightshift ritual of tea and g&t before bed when DP was getting ready for work 😂

I loved it when I used to work nights. I am naturally nocturnal and I never got the sleepy thing during my shifts. I sleep really well during the day and never had that jet lagged feeling. I work days again now and I struggle with it hugely. Having said that, the key thing is my work was office based so just sitting at a desk - a more physical job may well have been harder.

I wouldn’t do it. Working 1 night a week for 1.5 years aged me by about 5 years. I was also doing loads of late shifts and it left me permanently bloated, having to eat my dinner at work at 7/8pm... I became addicted to ibuprofen to take away body aches during the night.
It was great when we had childcare issues, and there is something peaceful about working night shifts but I wouldn’t do it now all my kids are in school. And I wouldn’t do a care job either at night. It’s tough.

I work a couple of nights a week. I’m usually up til late anyway so I thought it would be ok, but tbh it has fucked with my sleep! Even though it’s only a couple of nights, I end up staying up even later now even when I’m not working, so I’m more or less nocturnal all the time! Luckily I work at home the rest of the time so can work later in the day, but if you’re expected to do things like the school run on your days off you might struggle.

I also find that normal day time noises become really annoying - one morning a courier delivering a parcel rang the doorbell and hammered on the door repeatedly until I woke up and answered it. So I would recommend ear plugs and/or a sign on the door asking them not to knock while you’re trying to sleep, especially if your DP isn’t home to fend them off.

I actually enjoy the feeling of being up when everyone else is asleep and have always been a night owl. I also like that I get paid extra due to the late hours! I feel like it might be easier if I did more than a couple of shifts a week, so that I got into a bit more of a pattern, rather than constantly feeling like I’m clock watching and panicking that I’ve forgotten to go to work on non work days!

I hate nights but mine were longer than yours. 10-6 feels more doable although 6 in a row on is a lot!

I haven’t regularly done nights for 5 years after doing years of nights while the dses were young. I aged so much when doing nights, it really did nothing good for my health or wellbeing at all.

I think sleep is always difficult. I can easily get 8 hours overnight but no more than 5 in the day time and that is not solid sleep.

Care home work is tough, day or night but the 7 nights off would be quite tempting. I suppose that isn’t actually very many hours a week, 24? If my maths is correct.

Be worth a try if you are desperate for a job. You might love nights, some people do!