I worked graves for years. In the USAF I worked a weird rotation, five different shifts in five days, lots of fast rotations. Youth is the only way to handle that. Got out and a new job, worked graves four years straight. Then for 26 years I worked one month of graves in every five months. I do things a little differently than most. I do not go right to sleep as soon as I get off. I found that doing that made the last few hours of my shift unbearable. Instead I go home and do whatever needs to be done, yard work, get a haircut, work out (yuk), whatever. Then around 1100 or so I would sit down with a cold beer and read or something. By noonish I would be getting really fuzzy, so then I would hit the bed, wearing earplugs (light does not interfere with my sleeping, but noise does). With any luck at all I would sleep like a baby 'til around 8pm, then hop up, shower, shave, eat, go to work. Still be wide awake at the end of the shift and do it all over again. At the end of my last shift of the week I would just tough it out and stay up all day, then go to bed at a 'normal" time. That would instantly get me back into normal sleeping hours for my days off. Before my first shift of the week I would try to take a nap in the evening, then just tough out the first shift...

I used to work all three shifts weekly... My sleep patterns and my body were all messed up. After 7 months, I was totally burnt out, ill and very stressed. Every time I stopped moving, I'd fall asleep, including several times IN the running shower. I asked my boss for a week off to rest, he said "no". I quit right then and there. It took me months to recover. Never again shift work or midnights for me.


RIP Tigress TFC Carpenter, 7/3/06

I listen to Coast to Coast AM radio during the night shift. It discusses everything that is "weird, strange, & unusual".

Listen to The Commodores & Marvin Gaye: ''Night Shift.'' <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I have been working rotating shift work / night shifts since 1986, i have found for me going to bed right away when i get home and sleep for about 6 hours
then i will go back to bed for 2 hours more right before my shift , not including time needed to get ready for the shift, i have found if i dont get this 2 hours of sleep right before, i am useless the whole shift
Yukon

It helps if you are a night person. I worked swing shifts for 28 years, then went to straight mids. The swing shift sucked but I loved the midnights. I sleep just fine during the day without the shades drawn. I normally stayed up until 3-4 am even when I was unemployed or working afternoons, (4-12pm). I once got fired for tardiness when I had to be there at 6:00am. If light bothers you, a towel over yer head works better than window shades. The only serious vehicle accident that I had was my fault, going through a stop sign at 5:45am, raining & dark, & brain still asleep, from having to get up so early. I'm much better at that hour if I've been up all night.

I work a very wierd shift. 6PM to 6AM. One week I work 3 nights the next 4 nights, then 3 then 4 etc.
Sleeping during the day is difficult for me, I like a very dark cave-like sleeping zone and also need lots of quiet to fall asleep.
I've found that the thing that works best for me is to plan on between 5-6 hours of sleep. I go to be around 10-11AM and wake up with an alarm at 4:30PM.
One of the most important things for me is to not try and re-set my sleep patterns on my nights off. Took me a few weeks to get into the pattern and now most of the time on my nights off I stay awake until around 4-6AM.
This week I'm on vacation so sleep patterns are all screwed up.
Hope this helps some

if men work on shift work, how can they find women to date?

Would women be open to dating men who work shifts?

Do like I did (the second time)...marry a woman who works shift too...

I won't do it, plain and simple. In fact, my company has decided to do a 9 hour day starting in mid December, 4x9 hour days, 1x8 hour Friday and every other Friday off. Sounds cool, but consider going to work in the dark, getting off in the dark and how little time left in the evening when you get home. Missed time with the family mainly.
Also consider that if you take a day off, you get charged 9 hours of personal time, an odd number and with 160 hours personal time per year, it shorts your actual vacation weeks.
I feel strongly enough about it to consider going part time, 4x8 with ALL Fridays off, that will teach 'em! I'm pretty stubborn you see!
Midnight shifts are hard because it forces sleep during the day, that can be difficult with all the noise and light. I sure cannot sleep enough during the day to feel rested enough to work all night. Some people like it and get used to it but almost all prefer day shifts. If you need a job, you mayy have to put up with shift work, if you do well, there is always an option to change shifts, hopefully. CHeers