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?
I’ve been working a night shift for a few years now. Last 2 of which have been from at home. The social isolation is real. The only people you’ll ever really get to hang out with outside of work, are the people you work with, since most of your normal-sleep-schedule-having friends aren’t gonna be available when you are. There also won’t be anywhere good to hang out at because everything’s closed by the time you’re off work.
Most of the world isn’t designed for people with our schedule, unfortunately. Need to go to the post office for something? You’re gonna have to either get up early or stay up late to do it. Need to do something that can really take up some time, like go to the DMV? You might need to schedule some time off, because that’ll ruin your sleep schedule for a few days.
Being able to retain your sanity on this schedule really does require a bit of self-sufficience. You’ll need to rely less on services that aren’t available at night. You’ll need to get comfortable with losing sleep to get important stuff done. It’s tough, and while a lot of companies pay a differential to hourly employees on the night shift, it’s rarely enough to justify the toll it takes on you if you don’t have the right mindset for it.
