[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Rotating Shift work?? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/24/2013 6:00:55 AM EDT
| Do any of you guys have any experience with rotating shifts? In particular 4 days of 0600-1800, 4 days off, then 4 days of 1800-0600, then 4 days off, and repeat…. Im wondering how hard it would be to get into the rhythm. |
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Did 7-7 that way for many years. Its not that bad if you get the first day off, right after your night shift. Either stay up all day or sleep a few hours and get up.
Out of 16 days your body is only on nights 4 of them. 4 days off, 4 working days, 4 days off, 4 nights. Its like you get a vacation every week. When you take vacation you get 12 days off. So there are alot of pros. The bad thing is you work like a month of weekends. Which is usually the month everything is going on. When working nights, make the room youre sleeping in as dark as possible. I put a black trash bag over the windows along with light blocking blinds and a heavy curtain. |
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Currently work 0630-1430 for 3 days. Eight hours off, then 2230-0630 for 3 days. Three days off, then repeat. Actually not a bad rotation, but the mandatory overtime currently is relentless, and not going to improve. Don't know whether to sleep or shit lately.
So, next shift bidding going to try straight graves. |
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Do any of you guys have any experience with rotating shifts? In particular 4 days of 0600-1800, 4 days off, then 4 days of 1800-0600, then 4 days off, and repeat…. Im wondering how hard it would be to get into the rhythm. did it for 7 years in the army.........I was young so it was no biggie.....would suck today |
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Do any of you guys have any experience with rotating shifts? In particular 4 days of 0600-1800, 4 days off, then 4 days of 1800-0600, then 4 days off, and repeat…. Im wondering how hard it would be to get into the rhythm. I have worked that shift for 15 yes. You Dont get use to it, I Dont give a damn what anyone says. The four days off are awesome though. I Dont mind it. Its almost like a mini vacation every four days. If you take four days vacation, you get 12 off. Hard to beat. |
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Don't worry. After a few months you'll be a zombie and won't be able to tell the difference. Yup. I worked "Southern Swing" for 7 years in a paper mill. I regularly fell asleep behind the wheel in those 7 years. In fact one day I fell asleep on my way to work about 2 miles from my house. |
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I did that for awhile. Worst shift ever. but it was only 2 days off.
That time of year when dusk and dawn are about the same time and the light outside is also similar. I woke up one evening thinking it was morning and was I was late for work. I jumped up threw on my clothes and called to let them know I was on my way. Just laughter on the other end of the phone. Been straight 3rd shift for 20 yrs now. |
| Nah, never did any of that, never worked midnights either. I don't see much of an excuse for any of that, even in 24/7 things theres no reason not to have 3 regular shifts. They just do all that crazy rotating shit because they can, they think it's cute or something. Then tell you they have to have it for some reason or another, but you don't see their ass in there doing it. |
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Check out the company and look at the guys that have been on that shift for years. I bet they look like the walking dead compared to their peers working days or straight shift (or at least when I was working rotating shifts it was this way). For the record, I'm a whole lot sexier than my straight day companions. 
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| I work rolling shifts. 12 hour days, and it basically goes back and forth between day shifts and night shifts, with a few days between changing and a week off a month. I love it. 4 weeks paid vacation, and 12 weeks of vacation that falls into my normal shift a year. 16 weeks of vacation a year. What beats that, short of retirement? |
I did crazy shifts before like 12-4, 4-8, and 8-12 with 4 hours OT a day. But it was 7 days a week for 4 months at a time. And it was brutal but there was always an "end" I got away from that. Bit now I was offered a new opportunity with the aforementioned schedule and I don't know if I should fo. The job doesn't pay any better then anything I have done in the past, but I will get out of MA 
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Shifts like that are a great way to keep retirement costs down.
ETA: I don't have the study handy, but if I remember correctly, it takes the average human something like 28 days to adjust to a new schedule, and even that causes stress. A constantly rotating schedule causes even more stress, and ups a person's risk for heart disease and early death by a large amount. |
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Do any of you guys have any experience with rotating shifts? In particular 4 days of 0600-1800, 4 days off, then 4 days of 1800-0600, then 4 days off, and repeat…. Im wondering how hard it would be to get into the rhythm. That's exactly what I work, except 0700-1900,1900-0700....I have to get up at three and get to my work apartment at 830....watch ya want to know? I am worn out when I get home for my four off, but man are they worth it, and I have lots of time compared to 9-5ers. II have been loving it for 6 years. Not kidding. |
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It can get pretty lonely, too. You'll find that no one is on your schedule except for the people on your shift. When I did I was the only one in my shift; I watched a lot of Andy Griffith at 3 in the morning. Friends will drift away and your health will suffer. |
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I have a feeling a lot of the people talking about how horrible shift work is haven't worked it. It's not that bad. Been doing it for years, and I still have all my friends, and my health is doing great. I'm doing pretty good myself, but I know it has probably shaved years off my life. |
| I work a 4 on 4 off schedule, years ago we worked a month on days and a month on nights and everyone hated it, many people quit, you would just get used to working nights and back to days you would go and vice versa, some people like it, most people I know don't. |
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8 years now-
Hope to come up with something different soon. The older you are the harder it is on your body. And the winters DO suck. Weeks at a time without seeing the sun. The family and friends comment was spot on as well. You will find yourself down to just a small group after a few years. Just close friends and family. No one else "gets it" since you are the only person they know that is never around or always sleeping when the rest of society is awake, so they just drift away. It has its little perks, like seeing all the other 9 to 5 ers trapped in gridlock tailgate heaven every morning while you cruise an empty road back home, and most stores are empty except for retired people during weekdays before 1700.... |
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Shifts like that are a great way to keep retirement costs down. ETA: I don't have the study handy, but if I remember correctly, it takes the average human something like 28 days to adjust to a new schedule, and even that causes stress. A constantly rotating schedule causes even more stress, and ups a person's risk for heart disease and early death by a large amount. We used to work in this order: 2300 - 0700 for seven days then two days off 0700 - 1500 for seven days then four days off 1500 - 2300 for seven days then one day off We had a lot of guys who either didn't make it to retirement or only lived a short time after retiring. It was good money, but I missed a LOT of my kid's sporting events etc. |
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It can get pretty lonely, too. You'll find that no one is on your schedule except for the people on your shift. When I did I was the only one in my shift; I watched a lot of Andy Griffith at 3 in the morning. Friends will drift away and your health will suffer. True. Hard to meet women too. |
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You will either do well at it or you will absolutely hate it. I did it for a while many years ago and actually enjoyed the changing schedule to a certain degree. Ability to go shopping during the day when most people are at work so there weren't long lines. Things like that were little perks. Negatives were many. Who do you live with and or what are other people's schedule's in you life? Have a family? Enjoy passing them in the hallway as they head off to work/school and you hit the sack or missing their ballgame because you had to stay over on OT because someone else called off due to hating shift work...or you get the idea. My favorite shift was midnight (11-7) only because it was so peaceful at that job. Sunday 11-7 was a ghost town. |