I hate 3rd shift right now

[SirFozzie]

I used to work 8 am-6 PM, but thanks to a new queue (mainly for government companies) that requires US Citizens on US Soil to handle (I work tech support for EMC..) I got switched to 9 pm-7AM four nights a week.

I just finished my 2nd day of this, and despite the fact I started working for this company about two years ago 2 am-noon.. this is throwing me for a loop. It has its benefits.. I get 15% shift differential bonus normally, and as soon as the paperwork is done, I get brought on full time (all in my group are), not only do I get shift differential. but I get weekend as well, as well as sick time, vacation time and benefits (ah the joy of working as a contractor :rolleyes: )

But I don't remember this shift kicking my ass so much before.. maybe it's a complete role reversal with three days to prepare.. but urgh.. it's quiet at work.. but.. not too quiet. It's not that busy.. but I'm not sitting around twiddling my thumbs all night either.

I just gotta get used to it, maybe I'll feel different after a week or two of this.. or maybe I've gotten too old to be Mr Nightowl anymore. Just.. urgh.. has anyone else completely switched there work schedule in such a way.. how do you handle it? :rolleyes:

[Lorena]

The important question here is: How will this affect your CoH play? :D

I had an akward shift once and I ended up listening to audiobooks or Podcasting some of my favorite shows. It really does make a difference.

[Lorena]

Doesn't Sirius radio allow you to listen via the internet? If so, there's another idea

[SirFozzie]

Yeah, I've been considering that.

I spent a lot of today just laying down, I have a killer migrane going on, and uptill recently any amount of light caused pain.. but I'm here at work, and I'll get through it.

[DaddyTorgo]

bring the laptop to play FM?

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

So Fozzie does that mean you have more time for your stories now? :D

[Schmidty]

3rd shift is the only shift I prefer to work. That's probably because I hate people so damned much.

[SirFozzie]

So Fozzie does that mean you have more time for your stories now? :D


Not that I could write THOSE stories at work :P :D

I'm tempted to get a remote access program and put it on my home computer, so I can at least hang out on FOFC more (as I've said before, I get 6 10 minute chunks of time on "unapproved" websites from here.

[SirFozzie]

bring the laptop to play FM?


I would.. if I had a laptop :D

[Dutch]

The best thing I ever learned to do was to crash IMMEDIATELY when I got home, whether I slept well or not, and made sure to get up before dinner-time. So I could basically have the same off-hours as my family and friends.

[DaddyTorgo]

I would.. if I had a laptop :D
bah. well...ummmmn....ummmmn. books?

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

I would.. if I had a laptop :D
A laptop for your stories...so many things to say, where to start?

[FrogMan]

I just gotta get used to it, maybe I'll feel different after a week or two of this.. or maybe I've gotten too old to be Mr Nightowl anymore. Just.. urgh.. has anyone else completely switched there work schedule in such a way.. how do you handle it? :rolleyes:
my wife has been doing the night shift, midnight to 8, for the last 6 months or so and honestly, it's been brutal. To her, to us as a family, to me having to deal with two kiddos in the morning, to our life as a couple. She started getting depressed about it and all until I urged her to see her doctor who prescribed her medications against depression (giving you the short story version here). She's doing much better now, but she has to remind herself that she won't spend the rest of her life like that. When you think this will be the rest of your life, the future becomes very dark...

Night shift is rough on one's body and on one's life... Good luck with it Foz.

FM

[JeffR]

I did a couple of years on a 10PM-6AM shift. Best advice I can give is not to try to live on a 'normal', daytime schedule on your days off. Once I stopped doing to do that, I felt a hell of a lot better. Altering your sleep patterns every week will really mess you up - if you do it, get used to feeling like you do now.

As for keeping alert, the thing I found worked best for me and my staff was having a few distractions, but keeping them in a routine so you've got some structure and the nights seem less endless. Radio's not a bad idea, especially if you can find a decent talk show, and after a few days you can figure out when news websites tend to update with their morning stories. Just don't keep doing/listening to any one thing for more than a couple of hours. More than that, and it'll only add to the monotony. The only exception I found to that rule was Howard Stern - nothing keeps a room of 20-something guys alert at 5 AM like lesbians and fart jokes.