Has anyone experienced burn out due to shift work and night shift?

Burnout.............

I took a huge paycut several years ago- like my paychecks were quite literally cut in half.
Previously, I worked a lot of 70 hour weeks- many of which were out of town. Many weeks I'd get home late Friday night and then get back on the road Sunday morning.

I found a local job in similar work that didnt involve any traveling but was a huge paycut.
After a lot of soul searching I jumped on it and am happy I did. There were a lot of lean years, and I'm still well below where I "could" be but the life I've enjoyed would absolutely NOT have happened otherwise.

On another note, I have a good friend who works one week on days, the next week nights. Twelve hour shifts.
He told me recently how hard that is getting to be.

If you can, I'd find something different.

I rotated shifts weekly for about 5 years and the midnights were horrible. I made a move to another job and worked close to 56-60 hours a week for 20+ years until I finally had enough a couple years ago and found something better for me. I'm doing about 48 hours a week now and close enough in my hourly rate to where I was.
I feel that my life is better even though I don't earn as much money.
Money is something that you need but you can't buy back time.

First off…..I am a fan of the 7 on/7off shift. I, for short periods of time worked some other shifts. One was 3 years with a 3 shift rotating and another was 5 years on an EOWEO ( every other weekend off consisting of a rotating shift nights/days of 2 on 3 off/ 3 on2 off) easily the worst shift work I ever worked. I think that it was called the Dupont Schedule.

With the 7 on 7 off, along with having every other week off, when you take a shift off for vacation……..you get 21 days off. Being away from the job for 21 days is as good as it can get and still be employed! memtb

M1A1ABRAMS said:

You're not alone. I have been working 3rd shift for 3 years now. 4 10s. I'm still not used to it. Lol It sure seemed a lot easier when I was younger.

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Always work nights, or never work nights. There are more that can't, than can.

MtPockets said:

On another note, I have a good friend who works one week on days, the next week nights. Twelve hour shifts.
He told me recently how hard that is getting to be.

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It all gets harder as you get older.

Burnout is very real in many professions. Maybe all, but man dealing with the public has a bunch of downsides.

I worked a 2 week hitch in the oilfield for 8 years (two weeks of days, home for two weeks, two weeks nights, home for two weeks) and it was awesome, nights are cooler with less management, but also, colder and more boring, and vice versa! Pro's and cons to all of it. HOWEVER, after 8 years, even tho I preferred working nights, I couldn't get used to it, i'd drive 14hrs home and sleep an hour, sometimes I'd drive home and sleep for two days, some hitches it would take me a day to adjust and sometimes I mever fully adjusted.... My wife worked nights as a nurse for 3 years. we both decided we won't do it anymore. it seems to throw everything else off!!!!

some people love it, but, be honest with yourself, is THAT whats doing it? or is there something else going on..... we all need help sometimes!

I started on 8 hour rotating shifts in the mid 90's then moved to rotating 12 hour shifts (known as the DuPont schedule). Days to nights to days to nights, the body never gets used to it and I had difficulty sleeping during daytime. Plus, when others were celebrating holidays or doing things on the weekend, I was going in to work.

After 5 years of that I wanted to get off shift work (the main reason was that I was missing too much church) so I took a pay cut to go to the day shift. It was a 1/3 cut in pay and we just barely paid our bills for the first 2 years.

A couple decades later and I do not regret it at all, I do not think I could have taken that for so many years. Now I work 40 hours a week only on days. That sacrifice for the first couple of years was worth it.

I would also suggest going to the dr and having blood work done to make sure there are no underlying issues. If everything is good, try to get off shift work.

Mrvmax said:

moved to rotating 12 hour shifts (known as the DuPont schedule). Days to nights to days to nights, the body never gets used to it and I had difficulty sleeping during daytime.

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Yep….I worked a "modified DuPont" schedule in Raleigh, NC for a couple years…..I barely remember that time frame…..except for being sick A LOT!

@Flight635 Once you start screwing with your circadian rhythm everything changes…..and it's NOT for the better…..or at least that's how it affected me (and my family).
Oh, and "NO" I never took pay-cuts for a better schedule.

Deputy819 said:

Yep….I worked a "modified DuPont" schedule in Raleigh, NC for a couple years…..I barely remember that time frame…..except for being sick A LOT!

@Flight635 Once you start screwing with your circadian rhythm everything changes…..and it's NOT for the better…..or at least that's how it affected me (and my family).
Oh, and "NO" I never took pay-cuts for a better schedule.

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I have one former co-worker who worked that DuPont rotation up until his early 70's. I could never have done that, I would have preferred staying on the same shift to make it more tolerable.

The young guys now see my position and think I have it made, but I tell them that I put in my time over the last 30 years to get to where I am. I did what I had to in order to support the family and getting where I am now did not come easy.

I guess the other good thing about the current job market is that moving from job to job is no longer frowned upon. When I first started working, if you had multiple jobs it meant you were unable to hold a job. Now people will jump from job to job while negotiating benefits. It is not uncommon to see people who have had a different employer every year. Personally I would not hire someone like that unless it was temporary. But, it should be easier to move positions to get to a shift/pay that works. At least in my industry (petroleum-chemical) and area (Houston area).

Flight635 said:

3 years ago I switched into a rotating day/night shift schedule for a increase in pay.

The days are long. I leave the house at 5 am and get home at 7 pm. I only do nights once a month but it is for a 7 night stretch.

Over the last few years I have started to notice that I don't get as excited for my hobbies or hunting trips. For example packing for a long trip seems like a daunting challenge now and the effort involved is overwhelming. I remember years ago I packed weeks in advance just on pure excitement for the trip.

So I am wondering if this could be possible burn out from the job or just getting older and not enjoying the same things in life?

I have never been a quitter and always ran with mindset of "never quit" "tough it out other people work the same shift"

Also has anyone took a reduction in pay for a better work to life balance and regretted it?

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I worked rotating shift for nearly 40 years. Your lucky you only work nights once a month. We rotated every other set. So we were constantly going from days to nights. You get in a permanent state of jet lag. After retiring it took several months to get back to normal. But my clock is still messed up. I'm more of a stay up late get up mid morning person. Makes getting up early to hunt and fish a challenge sometimes. As to wether it's worth it or not only you can make that decision. It's a deal with the devil for sure. We made great money, when the ot was light we had time off during the week. I also have a good retirement. But I missed a lot of family stuff. You truly don't know how bad you feel until you stop doing it.

Yes we worked the eoweo. Supposed to be every other weekend off but of course you always had ot. The worse thing for us was not being able to plan anything for your off weekend unless you had vacation you could be forced to work ot. Eventually I took a management position as a shift super so I would not be forced to work ot. Made a difference having your days off to recover some. There was nothing worse than working nights on the weekend and getting forced ot Monday night and have to be back on day shift Wednesday.

cajun said:

Yes we worked the eoweo. Supposed to be every other weekend off but of course you always had ot. The worse thing for us was not being able to plan anything for your off weekend unless you had vacation you could be forced to work ot. Eventually I took a management position as a shift super so I would not be forced to work ot. Made a difference having your days off to recover some. There was nothing worse than working nights on the weekend and getting forced ot Monday night and have to be back on day shift Wednesday.

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Man does that sound like my job at Exxon (Plastics) in BR. I'd be a "pimp" before ever working that shift again.

Your a much tougher man than me. I had an opportunity to transfer (across company lines) to Wyoming in the mid '80's. That fulfilled a dream from my childhood! memtb

memtb said:

Man does that sound like my job at Exxon (Plastics) in BR. I'd be a "pimp" before ever working that shift again.

You're a much tougher man than me. I had an opportunity to transfer (across company lines) to Wyoming in the mid '80's. That fulfilled a dream from my childhood! memtb

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know where that's at in the ole Rouge.

My first job after I left the army was working at a paper mill - the recruiting company I used asked me what I wanted to do professionally. My reply? "As long as it is technical and in a rural area, I would be interested." He pointed to International Falls, on a map and said, "Is this rural enough for you?" Coming from 4 years in Alaska, it was the perfect choice.

Within six months I was on shift doing the southern swing. Hated it. The place was going through a huge expansion (over a billion dollars) and we went from single loop controllers to DCS's. The operators knew far more about the process than I did, but I noticed they were very frustrated by interlocks that were not documented. So, I learned how to read DCS logic so I could help and that led me to where I am today.

That mill, like most, went to 12 hour shifts which almost everyone loved due to the one week off a month, but I never saw it. I was moved to days.

The friend I have longest in life drives an 18 wheeler delivering milk from Wisconsin to Hershey's. He may not be on shift, but his is practically - he loves to leave at 3 am to avoid the Chicago traffic. I don't envy doing that.