Working nights

buckshee

How do people work nights on a regular basis. I'm working overnight tonight until 3am having left mine at 8am only returning for my tea for an hour or so earlier.

Even when I've worked nights for a month I can't get used to it. Any tips night workers?

LoOkOuT

LBC lol

Addickforlife

Im currently in the middle of an all-nighter in the uni library to finish off my dissertation before tomorrow!! Not the same as proper work granted, but it's killing me none the less!

sam3110

Make sure you have blackout curtains and a quiet house, I am a light sleeper and would work nights in the summer, but couldn't sleep properly during the day as I live near a school and had cream curtains that let too much light in.

Also, try to keep things as normal as possible, have breakfast at the start of your day, flick on the news etc. and you may find you cope better with the change. I soon got used to being on the first bus home and not having to queue in my local 24hr supermarket!

Ledge

Key is getting evough kip. If you're only doing on short term you'll struggle . I've done nights for 3 yrs now I seem to have become oblivious to noise but find 6/7 he's kip enough for me but I am an old git now.

buckshee

Make sure you have blackout curtains and a quiet house, I am a light sleeper and would work nights in the summer, but couldn't sleep properly during the day as I live near a school and had cream curtains that let too much light in.

Also, try to keep things as normal as possible, have breakfast at the start of your day, flick on the news etc. and you may find you cope better with the change. I soon got used to being on the first bus home and not having to queue in my local 24hr supermarket!

I'll run the whole quiet house thing past my one year old twins when I get home. Still at least the mrs is taking them out between 10am and 2pm so I may get four hours kip

Ross

I have to do one overnight every 6 weeks, finishing at 1 on a Tuesday afternoon after starting at 5, and then going back in at midnight till 8am Wednesday morning. In the winter it's easy to get a good 5 hour kip in the afternoon/evening before I go and then a couple of hours in the morning when I'm home. In the summer however, with the sun shining through, it's impossible.

A couple of times we've played on the Tuesday night, so I've ended up being awake for nearly 30 hours. Not fun!

smiffyboy

Been doing nights for the last 8 years, get off it, it ruins your life, I'm stuck because the money I get can't be matched by any day job at the minute.

I have a noisy house with young children so don't know what the word sleep means on average I have about 3 hours sleep a day except for Saturday's when I don't work, i get to have a proper nights kip.

4_bowman

I am on permanent nights, my only suggestion is turn your routine around completely Sky plus all your programmes and have your evening when you get in from work most people on nights seem to go to bed when they get in a day worker doesn't do this, as for sleeping during the day Carling or Strongbow work for me! ;-))

soapy_jones

Ah those were the days. Worked night shifts for a lot of my early working life. One of my fondest memories back in the warmer 80's summers was when still living with my old mum, sleeping in her back garden during the day, she would cover me with a plastic sheet everytime a brief shower of rain floated over. Upside, coming home when every fecker was off to work, downside of course going into work when everyone was off home or off on the piss. No 24hr TV, no interweb but we made our own entertainment in those days I can tell you.

EastStand

As sam3110 said, keep things normal. Breakie when you wake up, dinner when you get in. Ignore what the clock says, just let your body decide what time it is.
It'll soon feel normal.

Bedsaddick

I work 7 nights a month on my shift pattern and have done for 11 years and i have no problem with them whatsoever. I can see why some people would hate them if they have not done them before but you soon get used to them.

richie8

As a former freight train driver I did loads of night shifts.The key I found was whether I got home before the house woke up or after the house woke up.We were also given advice on how to eat and prepare which I found not very helpful.First trick I used was on the day of first shift dont do anything different from a "normal" day and that meant when I finished the shift I was knackered and I would sleep,another good aid was jumping the Mrs,guaranteed good sleep then! Another trick I learned later was to write the week off,as in the Summer if it was sunny Id be up and about in the afternoon,unless I was home in bed for 4-5am.I found that whatever shift I was on if you are tired get a kip as soon as you get home or you will start doing something and before you know it you are nearly at back to work time and you are shagged out your mind before the shift starts! If you can grab 20 mins kip during your break that will feel like four hours in bed.When it gets bad just put your mind forward to your days off and next visit to the pub!

Lincsaddick

Just think about the MONEY