Do feel if you work the night or overnight shift - your life is different?

Question

I am 56 - have sleep apnea, live alone now and the only work that I can find is at night.

I seem to have less energy when not at work.

I seem to sleep thru weekends and holidays.

And a social life on the night shift is nada.

After a while "shift differentials" don't mean much.

Am curious to hear from younger adult workers on this.

I have friends who are cops or nurses and this does not seem to be an issue with them - maybe they are all adrenaline junkies!

Answer 1

I worked the night shift when I was very young- 19/20 years old. I was always exhausted (I could never sleep well during the day) and had absolutely no social life. The only people who were around when I had nights off were co-wrokers and I didn't really feel like seeing them away from work. I hated it.

Answer 2

I spent 18 years on the graveyard aka night shift and I loved it. I would be able to adjust my dad depending on what I had going on. If I needed to see a doc or dentist I scheduled it first thing in the morning and went right after work and then got my sleep. My normal day I would sleep till just after lunch time then get up and do lots of things while it was daylight out and the I would power nap for about an hour or so before work and be ready to go. Sleeping away the weekends was not for me. Weekends are made for fun even if it just means being with family.

Answer 3

Yeah, I used to do mobile security supervisor overnight for six months. Those were 12 hour shifts and I couldn't take any more after that. The only reason why cops and nurses can take it is because they work on rotating shifts. I know that cops up in Ontario work on a 4 days on, 4 days off cycle (4 shifts on mornings, 4 days off, 4 shifts on nights, 4 days off, 4 shifts overnights, 4 days off). Dude, try to find another job. This isn't healthy for you; that comes first and foremost. I'm 24, by the way, and I left that mobile security gig a year ago this coming May.

Answer 4

I am 31 with a wife and 2 1/2 boys, and i work nights. I think nights is personally very difficult due to the demands on my time during the day with the family, but being a nite owl by nature makes it a lil better. I think that being ok on nites has more to do with how well that fits 'your' life schedule. Some people just never adjust to fighting the instinct to curl up when it gets dark. But I find nites to be a temporary thing, do it too long and i think you start to feel like a reclusive vampire.

Answer 5

I think the issue you really need to address is the sleep apnea. Because of it, you have less energy and spend more time asleep than developing a social life. It has nothing to do with your hours at work. I work 3 to 11pm sometimes and still manage to go out afterwards. When I had sleep apnea, I was too tired to do that.

Answer 6

Working at night for myself seems a little less stressful. There are less things toworry about i:e rush hour traffic and crowds of people wherever I go. The weekends seem to be a rest period instead of a social event as it was in the past. Also the weather is better living in the hot part of the U.S. it is cooler at night and can avoid those 100+ temps. There are advantages to working nights, you just need to find what you feel comfortable with and see the benefits of both sides.

Answer 7

as a nursing student ive done many an overnight shift a hospital i actually worked at last yr. for 1 people like it b/c theres usually less work, many others are asleep including the patients so u do less than the day shift. when i got off at 7a I'd eat breakfast at about 8am and be in bed by 9a. When i got up usually about 3p I'd eat a little lunch if necessary and had time to run erreands etc b/c places were still open during the day. I didnt have to go back until 11p so it was like I had most of the day (after i got up). Once u get used to being up all night u can wing it. Its easier for younger folks b/c their circadian rhthyms can be altered quickly. As for social life I usually kept either a fri or sat open to go out, we picked our days to work.

Answer 8

I always hated "alternative" schedules - I never liked being on a different schedule from the rest of the world. I also witnessed the impact it had on my folks while growing up - Dad was on the NYPD and had rotating shifts. That had a significant impact on their relationship with each other and their friends.

As for the physical symptoms / issues you mentioned, it could be that you haven't yet adjusted yet, or that subconsciously you don't want to adjust because you're unhappy about it. Even if you adjust, the rest of the world is still up and about during the daylight hours when you've just finished your day. It's not easy, and it may never be.

Good luck finding something better suited to you.

Answer 9

I am 36 and I work 3 pm to 11 pm. I do not have any trouble with a social life. I can go somewhere after work, since I am generally up until 3 am or later. I like getting the extra pay for working the shift that I do and the extra pay for working holidays, since I really do not care about having to work the holidays.

Answer 10

i am 29 and worked nights for about 3 years when i was 25-28 or something like that....i felt like a can of smashed @ssholes because i hated sleeping during the day so i didnt get much....i missed holidays and all kinds of stuff cuz i felt like shmoo for 3 years...you will feel better if you make yourself go to sleep at the same time everyday....my dad is 55 and he works nights and says he feels fine because he can get enough sleep everyday...he doesnt have a social life at all...