Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    
    My sympathies.  Be grateful you're not on a swing shift.
    
    Doubtless there are more knowledgeable folks (does Jerry Boyajian
    read this file?) but here's what I found:
    
    The less you shake up things, in terms of what your body comes to
    expect when the better off you are.  People who work 9-5 follow
    a basic cycle in their lives.
    
    Get up from bed
    Eat something
    Go to work
    Do work
    Eat something
    Do some more work
    Go home
    Eat something
    Do stuff at home
    Go to bed
    
    Unfortunately, that probably puts you coming home when your, ah,
    person is going out the door, so you don't see very much of each
    other.  I never ran into that part of the problem.
    
    A good friend of mine works 3rd shift, and is continually yielding
    to some temptation to stay awake and disrupting his rhythm.  It's
    very hard, particularly if you're sleeping through what a lot of
    people consider the best part of the day, but if you don't establish
    some sort of routine you might never get used to it.
    
    This is just personal experience, of course.  As I said, there are
    people out there who know more about it than I do.
    
    DFW

    	Hi Dee,
    
    	First off, how many days per week do you work?  In my group,
    	the third shifters are divided into two groups -- the ones
    	who work during the week work a 4 day week, and the ones who
    	work on the weekend work 3 days per week (12 hour days.)
    
    	I've worked the weekday 10_hour_per_day 4_day_work_week for
    	just over two years and I love it!!  
    
    	I'm a single Mom with a teenage son and the schedule works
    	out well for us.  I am normally awake during the evening (for
    	dinner, etc.) and go to work when my son is about to go to
    	sleep.  I'm off during the day, and my sleeping schedule varies
    	according to the list of personal errands I have to do that
    	day (or according to how keyed up I am from the night of work.)
    
    	My weekend starts at 8:00am Thursday, and I usually stay up
    	all day that day (so I can sleep Thursday night.)  That way
    	I can be awake all day Friday and Saturday with the rest of
    	the world.  :-)  Then, Saturday night, I stay up as late as
    	I can and sleep in on Sunday as late as possible (so that I
    	can stay up all night Sunday night on my first night back to
    	work.)
    
    	So, in essence, I switch back and forth from being awake nights
    	to being awake days every single week (and most of the other
    	fairly long-term 3rd shifters that I know do the same thing.)
    	It becomes a sort of rhythm after awhile.
    
    	If you work 5 nights per week, I don't blame you for finding
    	it hard to get enough rest.  We had one person try a 5 night
    	per week "mid" shift during the week, and he cried uncle after
    	two weeks.  It is pretty well acknowledged here as being too
    	hard on the body (a person *NEEDS* three or four days off
    	after working nights all week.)
    
    	What I like best about 3rd shift is that during the day I am
    	essentially a "stay at home Mom."  I'm a sleepy one, but I am
    	home every day in case someone needs to be home for repairs
    	or to receive packages or whatever.  I can arrange all the
    	appointments that I need to arrange (doctor, school, etc.)
    	without having to take days off from work.
    
    	Essentially, I am my own stay-at-home wife (I have the advantages
    	of both working and not working at the same time.)
    
    	The only time it gets difficult is if I go away from it for
    	awhile (on vacation or for training.)  If I get away from it,
    	it takes about 3 weeks to get back into the "rhythm" of 4 nights
    	then 4 days awake.  Other than those times, I love my schedule
    	and hope to stay on it for another 5 years or so, at least.

    	As far as eating goes, you have to remember that your mealtimes
    	are totally out of whack on the days that you work (so eat which-
    	ever type of meal seems appropriate to you, like dinner when
    	you first wake up in the late afternoon, but never, never, never
    	eat just before you go to sleep no matter what time it is.)
    	Arrange your meals to occur when you first wake up until 6 hours
    	before you go to sleep (and never eat after that 6 hour mark.)
    	No matter how you arrange your meals, it should work out well
    	for you as long as you don't sleep with a new meal in your stomach.
    
    	If there is anything else I can help with, please send mail.
     	My group specializes in all the hours other than 8 to 5 M-F, so
    	we have it down to a science.  :-)
    
    							Suzanne...

    	<------   P.S.  I work in the "Extended Customer Integrated
    	Support Group" in the Customer Support Center (troubleshooting
    	customer hardware and software problems during the night), and
    	one interesting thing about my job is that it can vary from
    	dead quiet (no customers calling in at all for a couple of
    	hours) to incredibly busy (helping several customers at the
    	same time on a microvax with 4 visible windows.)  In my work,
    	I use 5 clusters in our building (and can be logged into as
    	many as 5 or 6 customer systems at the same time.)  It looks
    	somewhat like an air traffic controllers' setup at times. :-)
    
    	We never know whether our nights are going to be busy or slow
    	(we just take it as it comes each night.)  I like the variety.
    
    	On the slow nights, we can read or do research (and have a
    	relatively relaxing time of it.)  On the nights that are busy,
    	although it is a stressful time, it goes by very, very fast
    	(which can be quite nice at times.)
    
    							Suzanne...

    I have pulled a few 3rd shifts before, so you have my sympathy.
    We have 9 and a half hour shifts at 4 days a week, so the 3 day
    weekends do help.  
    
    I had to sleep in a darkened room, so my body didn't know the sun
    was out.  Eating can indeed be crazy.  I know one guy who has been
    on that shift for years, and all he ever wants is breakfast foods.
    I think the worst complaints for sleep interruption is barking dogs
    and phone calls.  
    
    Good luck, and hope you develop your own pattern soon!
    
    Theresa.

    I was doing SW testing between Midnight and about 9-10 A.M., six
    nights a week for about 2-3 months once during a "crunch".  It was
    actually very nice.  I work best alone anyway, and that was wonderful
    to my biological clock.  I stayed with most of the "usual" routine,
    just that it went something like this
    
    11:00 P.M., get up, get something light to eat, get dressed go to
    work.
    
    12:00 mid.  Get to work, talk things over with the person who was
    coming in at 3:00 P.M., start working.
    
    3:00 A.M.  Warm up a TV dinner or leftovers in microwave, eat "lunch".
    
    3:20 A.M.  Back to work.
    
    7:30 A.M.  Start whatever interactions were necessary with the
    "outside world".  Included going to meetings, talking with other
    group members, members of other groups.  Perhaps continue testing
    for awhile.
    
    10:00 A.M. Go home.
    
    10:30 - 3:00 P.M.  Do stuff around the house, run errands, read.
    
    3:00 P.M.  Go to bed.
    
    I didn't have any trouble with the sun - I can easily fall asleep
    with the lights on anyway.
    
    I didn't change the schedule on Saturday - just went with it, and
    tried not to disturb my then-not-so-significant-other.  It had the
    added advantage of keeping the relationship together longer - we
    didn't see each other, thus we had no problems while I was doing
    this.
    
    Elizabeth

    My first job as a contractor was at Raytheon, several years ago,
    validating software on 3rd shift at a remote test site.  I had never
    done anything like it before and was so glad to have a job that
    I was usually pretty keyed up all night.  I was also becoming a
    coffee junkie, which didn't help my sleep routine when I got home
    around 8:00 a.m.
    
    The worst thing was the barking dogs and car noises.
    
    A couple of years later, as I was about to start a new contract
    at RCA, my original boss at Raytheon called me up and asked if I
    could help out for two weeks because the only other person that
    could jump in and do it was in Texas and not immediately available.
    I figured I owed him a favor because he gave me that first job,
    so I did it.  For two weeks I worked from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
    at Raytheon in Bedford, then I went over to RCA in Burlington and
    worked from 7:30 to 4:15 p.m.
    
    As it turned out, I was more awake for the 3rd shift because I was
    having such a good time crunching numbers on something that I was
    now an "expert" on.  During the day I typed verrrry slowly.  I found
    that I could sit at my desk and separate the perfed edges of the
    printout while asleep.  As long as my hands kept moving and nobody
    could see my eyes.
    
    As luck would have it, I came down with walking pnuemonia, then
    my car died and I had to get my wife to drive me over at night and
    get a co-worker to give me a lift between plants and another co-worker
    to give me a ride home.  If it had gone on more than two weeks I
    would have died for sure.
    

    re:.1
    
    I don't read this conference thoroughly, but I skim it. I've
    even contributed a few notes. Where have you been? :-)
    
    re:.0
    
    Survive? I've been on third for over nine *years* now. Socially
    speaking, it's a drag, but otherwise I love it. I had no trouble
    at all adapting. Even when I was on days, I was a night person
    and often stayed up late.
    
    I'm not sure I can offer any advice on how to cope, since it's
    never been a problem for me, and I'm not the normal type anyway.
    I have no set schedule for sleeping, it depends on how I feel,
    what errands need running, etc. Sometimes I go to bed just after
    I get home from work, sometimes I stay up till late afternoon
    and sleep till just before I go to work.
    
    If you're having trouble sleeping, have you considered sleeping
    pills? I have qualms about recommending drugs to someone, but
    you might want to consult a doctor about using something.
    
    --- jerry

    
         I've worked 'vampire shifts' off and on for the past seven
    years.  The biggest mistake I've made, is to try to live like a
    'normal shift' person on my days off.  When I tried to do that,
    my body clock was CONSTANTLY trying to adjust itself.  Finally,
    I started keeping the same hours (with some adjustments for personal
    errands and things like that) whether I work or not.  My advantage
    was in not being married. 
    
                                 Greg
    

    Guess I'd better reply here, as I'm absolutely LOVE third shift.
    I always had sleeping problems before I went on third (two years
    ago).  Now when I get home in the morning I sleep like dead for
    at least six hours, which is a major accomplishment for me.
    
    I believe the fact that my mind knows I have to get up only when
    I want to.  I don't go to bed thinking, "Ok, that alarm is goint
    off at 6:00, probably in about 4 or 5 hours (when I was on days).
    I have to make sure I get up and get ready to be at work on time."
    My sleep was not as sound, my mind just waiting for the signal.
    I had to be sure not to be late.  Now if I set an alarm, it's for
    something I have planned for myself, something that won't berate
    me if I do happen to be a little slow moving.  
    
    I feel it's a much more relaxed life style.  And comes in real
    handy when Christmas shopping.  I don't have to get out there
    at night or on Saturdays.
    
                                       cj
    
    

    
    Oh...you are all sooooo lucky!  I would LOVE a third shift job.
    I'm a night person too....hate mornings.  I do all my best creative
    efforts late late at night.  I just wish I could find a nice operations
    group to put me in OTP so I could become an operator.  Is there
    anyway for a person to pay for OTP themselves??Does anybody know?
    
    

    Thanks for all the responses. The one I've found the most helpful
    is the one about not eating before going to bed. It seems so 
    obvious now, but I really never thought of it before. I've been
    trying to limit myself to only eating while at work and I can't
    believe the difference - I think it may have been a contributing
    factor to my nightmares, as I haven't had any lately.
    
    Unfortunately, I do work 5 and occasionally 6 days a week, so I'm
    still pretty tired most of the time. I also go back to real time
    on weekends which doesn't help matters any, but it's the only way
    I can spend time with my SO.
    
    Re : 10 I don't know if OTP works the same way but I know the PTP
            (programmer training program) is impossible to get into
            without a sponsor. Your PSA can give you more information
            on this.
    
    Dee
    

    Dee,
     FORGET sleep. That's the most talked about subject to a 3rd shifter.
    I spent 15 years on 3rd working with Computer operations and loved
    it. Especially the Summer. Who had to wait for the weekend? Just
    got out of work, grabbed a few beers and headed to the beach. Always
    managed to catch a few winks there.
    
    I worked a 5 day shift and durng the summer stayed up when it was
    nice. There's always something to do in  the summer.
    
    In the winter use to get home and go to bed, sleep 4 hours and ready
    again. If I wasn't going out I'd catch a hour before going to work.
    You learn to take short naps.
    
    I did go to days for 6 months once, took me 4 weeks to get use to
    nights again.
    
    Best set up...Days for the winter...
    3rd for the Summer.
     
    Join a health club and hit it after work. 
    
    Cal.
    

    I want to put in my 2 cents worth on this subject of 3rd shift.
    My husband works 3rd shift at DEC and I work first!!  Great for
    a marriage! No fighting! Only joking.  My husband chose the 3rd
    shift in order to become a DEC employee and still work his consulting
    business in the daytime with hopes of eventually transferring to
    a day shift.(it's been difficult so far with the headcount freeze)
    
    Let me tell you my hubby's schedule.
    
    Sunday night goes to work for 10:45PM til 6:45 AM
    
    comes home at 7AM  (I'm getting ready for work)
    
    he eats breakfast, showers and changes into a suit and tie
    and works 8 hours doing Consulting work.
    
    Comes home at 5:15PM and we have 10 or 15 minutes to
    talk. 
    
    He goes to bed (he can't eat just before going to bed) while
    I make dinner for my son and me (two daughters have their own
    apartment)
    
    9:45PM  I wake him up to get ready for work
    
    10:30 he leaves for work and I go to bed
    
    We find it very difficult because even on Friday evenings when he
    doesn't have to go to work he is dog tired. He can't keep awake.
    So Saturday evening is the only evening we can go out. 
    
    He works 80 hours a week as we can't live on the pay he makes
    in security so he works the consulting business. We are hoping
    things will break soon for us.
    
    That's my 2 cents (well maybe it was more like 10 cents!)
    
    Barbara