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Night working

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 3:36 pm
by Nob3y
Am starting a new job on Tuesday and its going to be shift work of 6 days on then two days off then 6 nights on the two days off.

Have any worked night shifts before and can give me any tips or suggestions how to surrvive this ?


Re: Night working

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 4:21 pm
by Arginald Valleywater
Best of luck! Try to keep sleep patterns, diet etc to as near as what you do now. Stay hydrated and don't rely on caffeine or Red Bull type drinks. It will take a while and btw 6 on 2 off is pretty brutal...

Re: Night working

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 6:32 pm
by jbomz3
Is it 12 hour shifts ? I've worked 12 hour shifts for the last 22 years , the last 17 being a 4 on 4 off alternate days and nights , the hardest thing is turning it around from nights to days especially within 2 days , so your first day off (the morning you finish your last night shift) you don't want to be in bed too late . Cheers J .

Re: Night working

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:04 am
by Nob3y
Yea its 12 hour shifts.

So you mean I get home and dont goto bed,or goto bed but not too long?


Re: Night working

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:07 am
by Nob3y
I was thinking of keeping everything the same (but ignoring the clock as such)
so get up at say 5pm then breakfast then work at 7pm the do the shift,get home a 7.30am then dinner,relax for a couple of hours or so then goto bed.
Worth a try?


Re: Night working

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:13 am
by jbomz3
Yes , I try to stay up , but sometimes depending on how tired i am it's harder to do than others but I try to keep busy , doing housework or diy .

Re: Night working

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:19 am
by jbomz3
I always have a relaxing couple of hours before bed , I get home around 6:30 and go to bed about 9ish then get up around 2ish . On the afternoon of my last shift if I plan on staying up the following morning (my first day off) I try to stay in bed till 4 .

Re: Night working

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:51 pm
by Nob3y
Ok thanks for tips.
Will give it a go when I start my first night shift


Re: Night working

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:12 pm
by jbomz3
I start back on nights tomorrow (sunday) i've always prefered nights to days because i've never been keen on getting up at 5am when i'm on days , it's even worse in my current job . I don't envy the 2 days off though , 48 hours between finish off of nights to starting back on days sounds grim . All the best anyway .

Re: Night working

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:45 pm
by Sam Slater
It's the switching over that's the worst.......and winter when you never see daylight. Horrible.