Always work nights, or never work nights. There are more that can't, than can.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.
It all gets harder as you get older.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.
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!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.
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.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.
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.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?
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.
know where that's at in the ole Rouge.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