Does anyone else here work nights, or have you ever worked nights in the past? What are your opinions on it? I work nights, and have for the past two years now. As a matter of fact I am at work right now. I mostly work nights because I don't like having to deal with people, but sometimes you almost wish there was someone to talk to. Most of the people here can't even hold a decent conversation. Still, it's nice to work alone without having anyone looking over your shoulder. I can pretty much do what I want at my own pace. Sleeping during the day is a bitch sometimes. I go through long periods where I get little sleep, and when I do it isn't very good sleep. I am managing to get by, surprisingly, but it seems to be slowly dragging me into a depression.
i lived by my self for extended periods working nights before (3 and 6 months) having little contact with outside world exept for internet and 3-4 people perhaps some late night food that happens to be open but it is all poison anyway.. heh.. know what you mean it's a pain imo. Really makes you appreciate the sun and just having a good conversation with anybody. As I believe you may know. Adequate sleep and high quality food along with some exercise and sunlight may cheer you up. feel free to shoot me a pm if you want to aswell.. Although I am trying to stray away from political type things. I would love to converse about many a random subject. this plus more stress led me to quit my job and travel around meeting hundreds of strangers.. some of whom I am still in contact with. Life is a trip eh
I have worked 3rd shift (graveyard shift), which is what you must be doing...and I decided after 1 yr of that, I absolutely, positively could not work then. Even tho' I have insomnia, 3rd shift was NOT for me. I hated everybody (but my son) and everything, including myself and much of life. I remember thinking that even bugs rest at night. I began to literally get sick, but the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with me...and he prescribed me sleeping pills and nerve pills. (This was about 15 years ago) The next day I walked in there and quit. Even tho' I'll be quick to admit that I have loved me some pills back in the day, I do have enough sense to know that is no way to live. Well, for me it's no way to live. Weed is the only "drug" I'm going to partake of regularly. But I really feel for you, because working night shift is absolute hell. Only special people can handle it and maintain sanity. I couldn't, especially not for .50 over minimum wage. But if you are able to get on a computer at work, that isn't sooo bad. At least you'll be able to escape there to some degree.
i've worked nights for like a year and a half, up until a few weeks ago when i quit.. its kinda hard to get used to at first... but when you do get used to it, its not so bad. you dont have to deal with the rush hour, or too many people, or bosses.. its kinda nice.. i even drink at work sometimes with other people working night shift in that area. and yeah, no one is there bossing you around, you go at your own pace, as long as you get your work done.. actually i kinda miss it.. however, it can be dangerous.. the thing that sucks is that everyone around you is awake during the day, when your sleeping, and tend to turn up the tv really loud.. kinda annoying... sometimes, you only get 2 - 3 hours of sleep in a day. and then maybe 1 or 2 more hours of sleep just before you start your next shift. (if you're lucky) i couldn't just sleep when i felt like it.. gave me dark eye circles for a bit.. but i made up for my sleep in the weekend. but once you've adjusted to working nights.. its kinda hard to get back to sleeping at nights. its been over a month, and i still can't sleep at normal hours.
Excellent replies! Thank You!! Anyway, I work nights at an assisted living home. I am sort of in charge of keeping the place secure at night. I have some light cleaning and maintenance responsibilities, but I can pretty much chill whenever I want as long as I get my work done. Like I said before, I don't have anyone looking over my shoulder, and my contact with people is minimal, which can be nice (to an extent). All I know is I want more out of life. I am 30 and I feel like so much is just passing me by. I also feel like I've missed out on what should have been the best years of my life. Oh well, I know I am not the only one who struggles, so I try not to feel sorry for myself. I just can't believe how fast time seems to pass once you reach your late 20s. I am starting to digress now. All I know is that without pot I just might have went insane by now, but even that is making me more paranoid and self-loathing than it ever has before.
I work nights sometimes.its the pits long hrs especially weekends. its hotel work so I'm not on my own too much. and most times its fun meeting all different ppl. but sleeping in the daytime is the pits. especially when its nice and sunny outside. If i was working night shift all the time. dont think i would like it soo much I alwys bring a joint for a toke. that helps too.
I used to mind the reception of a hotel from 11 to 7, mostly on weekends. It was great. Between 11 and 3, I did about two hours of work. There would be nothing to do from 3 until 6-6:30, so I'd smoke a joint and play on the Internet or watch movies. It got tiring eventually (I did it for about 4-5 months) as I held a day job as well, but I really enjoyed it.
I've worked nights before. It was bullshit and I'll never do it again. Come home and no one's around cause everyone's at school or work, sleep when it's bright and sunny out like some goblin. Go to work when everyone is coming home. Fuck that.
Doesn't sound too bad, earning money with toking and hanging at the computer. Unless the hours are a drag. I've worked night shifts in a factory for awhile, it was better than in the day (also more relaxed) but I had to do stuff all hours. Advantage: you have no problem with sleeping during the day if you've worked 8 hours til morning. Disadvantage, the work stank
It's just mindless, unfulfilling work, and the hours are fucked up in terms of how it affects my life outside of work. It almost seems like when I am not working, I am sleeping, trying to sleep, or smoking copious amounts of pot in front of the computer waiting to go to bed or into work. The thing about working nights is that it seems to go by pretty fast. The worst part about work is anticipating going in, then the 3 or so hours of actual work I have to do, which is simple enough but drudging and ultimately soul-sucking. Not to mention it is always around 80 fucking degrees in the building, so it doesn't take long to begin feeling like shit.
i don't think i could do it. just working second shift for a few weeks makes me start to get sick and depressed and start drinking excessively. on the other hand it would be really nice to work a set schedule, and to be able to work at my pace, and to be able to get paid for playing on the internet or getting homework done.
I worked evening shift (not graveyard) in a big University hospital back in the 70s. I was attending college during the days, so my days were very busy. That shift was really great for me. The few times I worked graveyard (there and at a restaurant), I hated it. It would throw my sleep pattern out of whack, as you have experienced. Yes, the lack of social interaction does lead one towards depression and being anti-social. If you're having sleep problems, you might want to choose your cannabis strain more carefully. There are some strains that will ensure you get a good nites rest. Others will keep you restless. I recommend Blue Dream if you can find it. Another thing to help you sleep is to try to stick with a routine after work. Your sleep patterns are determined by the last few nights (or days in your case). If you can't go to bed at the same time everyday, you aren't establishing a sleep pattern. Once you do get a pattern established, your body will seek sleep at the same time and wake up at the same time. Of course if there are distractions during the day they can interfere with this pattern. A good sound machine or some other sound generator like a fan or air cleaner can help a lot! Now that you're 30! (wow, I remember you as a teen!) You are more established in your habits. I'm like you in that I'd rather not be interacting with people all day long. I burned out on that long ago. In fact, it's been about 16 years since I had lots of face time with people or spent time on the phone with them. With the advent of the Internet, I closed off most other forms of communication for a number of reasons, but mostly because I don't like getting interrupted while I'm working, or even relaxing. Pot can help or hurt you with all this. I've learned to carefully select strains depending upon what I activities I have to do. If I'm working I do mild sativas that give me a head buzz and help with my creativity. If I'm in pain, I do the purples because they're great relieving my pain. And when it's time for sleep I do the indicas or hashish because those put me out quickly and fight my insomnia. Choosing the wrong pot at the wrong time will cause one to either be unable to work or unable to sleep, and can add to a depression if you're already prone to it. Best thing to counter depression? Exercise! Just walking around a lot can help. Another thing is to relish the few direct social interactions you do have. One thing I've noticed is when you are dealing with people, there is much more going on than meets the eye. There is an energy exchange and you can actually GET HIGH if you have positive interactions with others. So long as you don't over do it, you can get a big charge from people that can relieve depression. Also focusing on the negative in life can make you depressed. Just reading your posts reveals how obsessed you are on certain things that you can never change. While it might relieve some tension to be "anal compulsive", it keeps you wallowing in negativity. Funny thing is someone just wrote the same thing to me after my posts on another site... lol! So maybe focus more on the things that make you happy and less on those that don't... Good luck!
Good advice. Before I learned the roofing trade I had all kinds of jobs,one of which was working on a drilling rig in Coalinga, Calif. I threw chain(dangerous!) and they had the weirdest schedule. Hard to remember exactly now,but something like 7 days straight on days and then 4 days off. Come back for 5 days on swing shift and then 2 days off. Then come back and do 5(or 7) days on graveyard and so many days off. Forget a sleep schedule--I felt like I met myself coming when I was going ,sometimes. It was rough in those days because I was 21 and drinking pretty hard trying to deplete the over abundance of alcohol in town. They told me when I started "if they drop a pipe on your foot-don't wait 'till they pick it up--just walk away". And "if you hear any differant noise while we're operating--run like hell and ask questions later". I was pretty glad to get out of that job. ps=never did get all the liquor drank,so I failed.
i want to my dream is to land a job where i could just sleep and get paid for it...like a night watchman type job or house sitting
I prefer working a graveyard shift, but I've been stuck working 8 to _____ (usually 5) for the last 8 years. In the summer I don't mind it so much, but since I take my daughter to and from school on the bus before and after work, we don't get home until after 6, and it's already getting dark before 7, when it's dark at 5 I'm going to be very upset. I am unfortunately involved in numerous relationships and various types of social interaction, and while I put on a front that many of these people admire, all I want to do by the time my daughter is in bed is read, write or put on headphones and slip into hypnagogia with Fripp and Eno Because I've been so involved with the (Matt you'll know exactly what I'm talking about) "turning on" for people in the north east (not directly, just a synapse, if you will) in the past year, I'm constantly having to put myself in situations I don't care for, like festivals, or visiting different cities, when really at this point I just want to finish War and Peace and get back into my daily meditation practice. I have a ton of writing I've been meaning to finish / get started, but never seem to have the time to do it because of all these other engagements. The main problem is that since I'm so soft for making other people happy, I can never say no, until I've gone out of my way for someone for so long that I totally ignore them for a week or two. Well, anyway, I've stopped and no longer make those connexions, I get home with my daughter, eat dinner and play until 8:30, and I spend from then until usually around 2-3am reading and writing before catching 3 1/2 hours of sleep before the next day begins. I've always been the kind of person to thrive on no sleep, which the people we know mutually can attest to lol and are suprised by, working nights was preferable to me before my kids were conceived. If it weren't my responsibility to take my dauther to and from school, at this point I'm ready to quit my job anyway, I would gladly seek out something along your line of work. I know what you do lol, and I'm jealous. The grass is always greener though, the social interaction you seek is exactly what is driving me fucking nuts.
It's probably not as frustrating to work the evening shift (for me the evening shift is noon to anywhere between 10:00 PM during the school year and 1 PM to 11 PM in the summer), bur I can say there's seriously a world of difference between working in the day time and in the evening. I used to love it when the shifts were shorter. It kind of sucks having to come in and clean up after day crew, but not having corporate office breathing down our necks is a great trade. The atmosphere is usually a lot less tense and that's when the high school kids can work, and they're fun to work with. But when I get off work, it takes at least two hours to wind down to be able to sleep, so that fucks with my sleeping patterns, and eventually the lack of sleep starts to make me kind of crazy. I can't imagine what it'd be like if we had a graveyard shift.
I worked nights as a dishwasher as a 2nd job on a boat. some nights getting home at 3am, then having to get up at 7am for work at 8am. but most nights the boat docked around 11pm. pain in the ass if I missed the bus as the bus only ran every 1/2 hour...some night I had to walk the 2 miles home and walking home after being on your feet for over 12 overs isn't fun. before i got my job now, i was looking at a temp job for an overnight office job, which wouldn't have been bad. i wouldn't particularly go after a night job, but I won't avoid it if its something I need to take on.
