[WinnebagoWarrior]

Howdy Y'all,


I am in my early fifties and have been a 2nd shifter ( 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. ) for the last 27 years working for the same company as a maintenance mechanic. Now do to some unusual circumstances, I have been bumped to 3rd ( 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. ).


It really shouldn't be that big of a deal , but I have been stressing about it since I found out a week ago. How many of you guys work the graveyard shift ?



When do you sleep , right away after work , ( your full 8 hrs. , or about 4 or 5 hrs. right away , and then a good nap before you go in to work.

I just had the wife get me some room darkening blinds and curtains , to maybe help me for now.


Any words of encouragement from those of you who either work or did work the graveyard shift ?? Did any of you actually prefer 3rd over the other shifts ??

Thanks in advance.

 

[carnivore]

I would think third would be better. Sleep after work then have evenings with the wife/family.

 

[StannieXP800]

When I worked 11pm to 7am I would come home and take a nap. Then I would get up and enjoy the day and take another nap after dinner untill it was time to go to work. Depending on what day it was I would just stay up after I got home.

 

[Voo-Doo]

I worked 3rd shift in the Coal mine,Hated it ,never could get use to it ,couldn't sleep,,coming out of pitch dark working conditions ,found myself wanting to make the most out of daylight,,I usually slept from 6 or 7 until around 10:30 ,,
Good Luck

 

[berks co hunter]

Did that for about 5 yrs total. I always had trouble
on the weekends. Switching back to daytime.
plus it really hurt my hunting time. Would fall
asleep in t treestand by 9 am. Go home and
fall asleep sat afternoon on the couch by 4.
missing another set.
Took a pay cut but found a daytime job.
good luck and give a shot. Some people love
that shift.

 

[siliconemaker]

I've worked all of them and of course day shift is best. Here is my comment and advice.
3rd is tough to get used to, but better on family life that 2nd.
What was bad about 3rd for me is it took about 3 days to get where I could handle the working nights thing. I work 12 hours days, time off and then 12 hours nights. (yeah a swing shift). Now that I'm older I have problems sleeping during the day. So the day before I go into work now I stay up as late as I can to try to get acclimated to the nights. it seems to work OK for me but each person is different. You just have to figure out what your body will tolerate and make adjustments from there. some people don't have problems sleeping, I do so as soon as I get home (while it's dark) the ear plugs go in, the fan gets turned on and a couple of benedryl (I'm sure I didn't spell that right) and off to bed till I wake up on my own. no issues over sleeping for me. Good Luck

 

[wilfreeman]

We run 2 shifts where I work (day and night). Both shifts are 12hrs and run from 7-7 for 7 days straight, then we are off for 7 days, then switch to the other shift (day or nights). I USED to love working night shift - would get in bed around 10 and sleep until 5. Now that I am older, I can't sleep during the day to save my life - dark room or not. I average about 4.5hrs for the 7 days I am on shift. Working day shift is fine - sleep 10pm til 5:30.

2015 Ranger 570 mid

 

[revrnd]

I worked 9:30 PM to 6 AM back in '80 as a summer student cleaning offices. It was difficult to sleep (pre AC days) in the morning when the rest of the world is getting up & going to work. Only advantage I can see is family time before you go to work. I swore I'd never work a 3rd after that experience.

I worked 28 years rotating 2 & 2 days & evenings after that.

 

[WinnebagoWarrior]

Thanks for the advice guys . Siliconsmaker brings up am interesting point. No matter when I have to sleep I ALWAYS have to have a fan running. I've already had it where my fan would crap out on me and I'd have to get a replacement ASAP. I think the difficult part is going from work days to off days , then having to sleep at night again. I am not looking forward to this in the least.

If I had to find a positive in this , it would be I could take my boat to work and hit Winnebago first thing after work and maybe get a few good hours of walleye fishing in before going home to crash.

 

[mustangwagz]

when i had 3rd shift, id work from 9pm to 6am. Most days, id stay up till like Noon? If it was a rainy crappy day, id goto bed early, and wake up sooner in the afternoon. In all honesty, 3rd shift really isnt that bad..it'll give the typical working person the ability to go do stuff during the day when most ppl are at work..it cuts down on typical headaches when going to the store and such. Also, say for example you gotta goto the Bank, or to the post office..bingo, no problems getting there in time before they close.

For me, i sleep about 6-7 hours each day, sometimes less if i got a bunch of crap to get done before i goto bed OR if im not tired. The whole nightshift deal wasnt to bad once i got used to it...but we used to swing 3 shifts at the mines. Now im strictly daylight (anytime from 5am, till whenever...sometimes 7 or 8pm... Give it a Whirl, ya might actually like it?!

 

[mrxlh]

My Dad worked swing at the mill and he did the split like several have mentioned, 4 hours in the morning 7ish - 11ish and right after supper 5ish - 9ish. I worked straight graveyard for about 8 months, I could not split sleep. I would go to sleep a couple hours after I got home til my wife came home from work. The part that sucks about graveyard is your weekend is fubared.

 

[luckyj]

kinda the same, but not really. I work nights for 21 days. I love it. first few days at work or home take a few days to adjust, but I wouldn't trade my nights for anything!

 

[slpybeartx]

I loved working the 3rd Shift, especially as it allowed me to see my wife and family. A couple of MUSTS that I found...

1.) Get in the habit of going home in the morning after work, eating what would be your "supper", watch a little TV and go to bed. Don't break that routine ever.

2.) Dark rooms for sleeping with NO interruptions from anyone.

3.) Don't ever ever ever vary your schedule. It is so tempting to switch your sleep around on the weekends so you are in sync with your loved ones. Don't do it! Stay in that routine of every day eating, and going to bed in themorning. It works!

 

[Hartone]

I hated the graveyard shift always a day ahead working on Christmas night as that was considered the 26th

 

[WinnebagoWarrior]

I hated the graveyard shift always a day ahead working on Christmas night as that was considered the 26th

Yea, James that is also one of the things that bothers me about being bumped to third.

And it's bad enough how this even came to be. 27 years of seniority thrown in a meat grinder and a new electrician and programmer with less than 1 year seniority get to stay on first, causing a chain reaction. We have two guys that are 33 year employees and have been 1st shift maintenance for 33 years , right out of high school, and they're being bumped to 2nd. A lot of tension in the shop right now.

And if getting used to 3rd isn't enough, there are a couple of supervisors and employees that are .......... well, I'll bite my tongue for now since this is a family oriented site.

Thanks for all the feedback guys.



P.S. Have any of you fellers ever try that 5 hour energy drink ? If I start really getting a bad case of drag keester around 1 or 2 a.m. Will one of these 5 hour energy shots help ????

 

[will_reed]

I don't see how you've managed to work 2nd all this time, that's the only shift that I just can't stand. Ha! I always seemed to be at work when anything I wanted to do was going on.

I work 5:30pm - 6am now and love it, but when I worked 8 hour nights it was 10pm-6am. I would go home and go straight to bed, everyone else was either at work or school during this time so the house would be quiet. I would sleep until I woke up on my own, generally between 2 and 3pm. That left the majority of the evening with family or to run errands, etc.

You mentioned adjusting your sleep patterns when you're off. That's what gets most people, especially if you only have two days a week off. I found that it worked best for me to not completely flip flop my sleep time, I just split the difference as best I could. Everyone is different though, you'll have to see what works best for you.

Once you adjust to it, it's almost as good as 1st shift for family time and such. You can work while everyone else sleeps and sleep while they're at work/school. If I had to work a 5 day, 8 hour schedule again I would definitely want it to be 3rd shift.

 

[stainlessman]

I'm sorry to read this Warrior....my self at 50...third shift would kill me. I made a choice ten years ago after working for a large company many years and running a part time business at home to give my business a try. Self employed . And loving it. If you have a skill. I'm sure you could market your self very little and customers will be looking for you. A neighbor of mine worked as a millwright (jack of all trades, pneumatic, hydraulics , mechanics) and the company closed, he bought a tool truck, outfitted it with hoist, air, welder, ect, He works on trucks and trailers, does air breaks to oil changes, last time I spoke to him after 5 years on his own, he was making over $100.k per year and very happy he is his boss. Just a thought. If your skilled and motivated , you can survive on your own easily. Don't let a big company kill you. Life is way too short.

 

[Adam800le]

I came from days to 3rd shift, 11 til 7. I go home and sleep till about 1 then spend the rest of the day with the family. hen I get an hour and a half nap before work. I have tried other ways of getting my sleep but this is what has worked for me.

 

[newyorker]

i got bumped from 1st to 2nd i hate it i miss dinner time with the family mon and tues are my day off its killing me i have been trying to get on 3rd shift for 6 months i think it would be much better for the family. i have a stationary job so no manual labor is involved lol

 

[WinnebagoWarrior]

UPDATE: Well I made it through the first week on 3rd. Hated leaving the house at 9:40 p.m. when I SHOULD have been putting my tools away and getting ready to come home. As far as actually working 3rd, it wasn't much different than 2nd. Once I got going on a job I didn't even think about what time it was unless I mistakenly looked at a clock , ( which is something I avoided doing last week ) .


The real kick in the rear was how messed up my weekend off was. Got home Saturday morning at 6:20 a.m. and went to bed shortly after. Didn't set an alarm because I thought I'd get up around noon or so , yeah right !!! , I didn't wake up until 6:45 p.m. 12 hours !!! shot to hades. So now what do I do at 7:00 p.m.??? Well I got dressed and took the dogs out for a while, about a 1/2 hr. Then I came in and made something to eat and played with the computer for a while. Ended up going back to bed around 2:30 a.m. , still wasn't smart enough to set an alarm, I thought heck , with as much as I slept on Saturday I'd be ready to get up around noon or so , hahahahahahaha , yeah right. I finally woke up around 4:30 Sunday afternoon. A whole weekend shot in the keester. I SHOULD have either set my alarm to get up at a reasonable hour or hired a bouncer to physically drag my arse out of bed and throw me down the staircase. :distrust:



It's official..... I hate 3rd shift with a passion , and there's little hope the union is going to win our grievance for us. I think after 27 years+, it's time to move on. Who's going to hire an old weathered and worn out dude like me? I kept my CDL up so I guess I could drive truck again ??..


Thanks for your posts guys. (WinnebagoWarrior)