I’m interviewing for a night shift position in a couple days and I’ve always worked 8-4 or 9-5. I’m a little scared of the idea though! I’m worried about seeing my family less because my sleep schedule will be totally different than theirs.
So, night shift workers of the world, what has your experience been like and how do you manage being present in your family life?
It’s been over 10 years at this point but I to do the closing shift in fast food. 6-4am ish. Some nights it was 2am or midnight depending on time of year and what I was doing. My dad also worked a night shift till he retired.
It’s a different kind of beast. One of the things I will say is being young helped. I didnt really have any other obligations, or kids, and I still lived at home. If my dad was home since he was a night owl he’d be awake when I got there and I would see my mom and brothers during my “morning” which depending on when I got to be anywhere from 10am-1pm. The thing is the evening into latenight shift means that, unless all your friends are also creatures of the night, you will often missout on dinners and get togethers if it’s not happening on your days off. Jobs that offer irregular hours also tend have irregular days so you may also be on the clock during the weekend.
It’s not all bad. Being out of sync with the rest of the world can be kind of awesome. You avoid rush hour, you can set up doctors/dentist appointments, the dmv, and etc more easily since you can just go before work. Depending on your shift and days off you can still make time to spend with your friends and loved ones, but you will be limited and your mileage may vary.
Also if you live anywhere with grass lawns you will learn to HATE the lawn care companies that mow all day long.