I've posted around here a few times, and I was wondering, how long does it usually take to get used to working odd, inconsistent hours? After getting into File Maintenance for two days a week, I've had a lot of trouble trying to sort out sleep. It's very common for me to have weeks where I close the store at 1:00am in the morning on Sunday, come in to work starting at Midnight on Tuesday and Wednesday, work a shift starting at about Noon Thursday, Work the opening cashier shift Friday, and then close again on Saturday. I'm dealing with it slightly better than I did when I started out, but I still have days where I simply can't get enough sleep at the right times and I wind up having to start an 8 hour shift after having already been awake 12 hours straight.
I'm fully capable of doing it, I'm mainly just wondering about how long it takes to get used to working shifts that are spaced like this and how other people manage and tips you guys may have for me.
My other problem with working schedules like this is that it's hard to find time to do personal stuff, since usually the only day I get off is Monday, which I really only get 23 hours in between my Sunday closing shift and my Tuesday Morning shift with that, and I have to spend that whole day adjusting my sleep schedule.
You will never get used to working odd hours. Heck, I used to work with a girl on a night crew that had been there 7-8 years, and she still wasn't used to working overnight hours! My thing is...once I started working in the grocery biz, I found out pretty quickly that I was going to have to get used to some weird schedules. Just be glad if you get 8 hours in between shifts. It's better than nothing.
I once turned down a job that would have paid HUGE bank....But it was a rotating shift, days/eve/thirds----EVERY TWO DAYS. No way in HELL.
I interviewed for a job with TVA that would have been some weird 12 hr shift rotation like every other 12 hr period for 5-6 days and then off a couple days. The catch was, it was an absolutely essential job, so if the guy running the shift between your 2 shifts called out, you had to stay to fill in. And if he had the shift after that and called out?... You guessed it, you have to fill in that shift too. Which means if say, god forbid, somebody died or crashed a car or came down with mono, I could have ended up working up to 5 days straight, on the clock the whole time working. This wasn't even an on-call type of job either where you could rest; it was out on a power plant floor working the whole time.
I once turned down a job that would have paid HUGE bank....But it was a rotating shift, days/eve/thirds----EVERY TWO DAYS. No way in HELL.
I interviewed for a job with TVA that would have been some weird 12 hr shift rotation like every other 12 hr period for 5-6 days and then off a couple days. The catch was, it was an absolutely essential job, so if the guy running the shift between your 2 shifts called out, you had to stay to fill in. And if he had the shift after that and called out?... You guessed it, you have to fill in that shift too. Which means if say, god forbid, somebody died or crashed a car or came down with mono, I could have ended up working up to 5 days straight, on the clock the whole time working. This wasn't even an on-call type of job either where you could rest; it was out on a power plant floor working the whole time.
And yet, I would still kill for that job...
Yep yep, those aspects were involved too! And like you, with the job I turned down, I really wish I could have worked something out with them. It would have been my golden ticket out of retail.
if you can't figure it out, why are you saying you're fully capable of doing it?? i feel your pain. i work shifts like this a lot. i'll work til 2am, then work 10a-4p, then work 12a-8a tags. it's rough but doable if you really really want those hours. if youre like me and basically do the **** shifts because no one else will, get out now. seriously, you think they appreciate you and you do kinda stand out for being there at such weird hours all the time, but in the end nobody cares. i've found this out and have since stopped putting my body though hell and working 3 dif shifts in a 24 hr period.
PLUS knowing that people you're "helping out" (ie file clerks, acsm, managers) are extremely lazy and the only reason you work odd shifts is because they dont want to work as hard and actually get paid double or triple what you make.. yeah makes you think twice about putting yourself through that stuff for chump change
-- Edited by SCO on Friday 20th of September 2013 09:47:56 PM
OP here. After yesterday, I think I will request to have some serious changes made to my schedules from now on. I was able to handle these types of shifts short-term, but after a month of doing these types of shifts, and getting few days off, and having to stay overtime so often, by the time I got home yesterday, I wound up crashing as soon as I got home and didn't wake up until 17 hours later. So yeah, I'm definitely going to request some changes, since the very tiny pay increase isn't worth me putting my body through this at all.
As far as having to work these odd hours due to other people being lazy, I can see that being true too now. The front-end supervisors acted surprised when they said "Hey, you want to stay 30 minutes later today right?" and I told them no, because the front-end people are so used to being able to rely on me for everything. "Our morning shift person called in and we need someone to come in. I know you already have 39 hours this week and it's your day off, but we really need you." I used to say yes to stuff like that all the time, but I'm at the point finally where I'll just have to say no a lot more.
