Anybody here work nights?

[TheVTCGuy]

For the past couple weeks, I have had to work at night to attend video meetings with my parent company in Japan. It's actually kind of nice.... The world seems... less hectic at night. I enjoy the quiet, the peacefulness. I don't know if I could do this forever, but it has been a very interesting and enjoyable experience.

Do we have any full-time night workers on TRF? Please share your experiences, what's it like? How do you interact during the day etc.

[eman1200]

I used to work a 3am to 11am shift to support overseas clients. For a while I enjoyed it, no traffic, a quiet office, on the golf course by noon, but after a while it tooks its toll on me. I was a little younger then so I would still try to meet friends for dinner or hit the bars, and the lack of sleep eventually caught up with me. While the quietness of the shift as well as the differential was nice, I would never do it again.

[East Bay Rider]

My last job was nights.
4:00pm until 2:30am Monday through Thursday = 10 hr days x 4 days/week.
3-1/2 day weekends every week were great.
Of course that was 23 years ago. I don't know if it would bother my circadian rhythm now. It didn't at the time.

[Lisa]

I worked 11pm to 7am at a hospital for years. Did it part time and full time, depending on my college schedule. Being young certainly helped, but I don't miss those days of trying to sleep with the doorbell ringing and people mowing the lawn next door. I did, however, love the quietness of the hospital at night. That suited my sort of non-social personality. Plus, sometimes I could actually get some studying done. I drank lots of coffee.

[Dan Pierce]

All my working lifetime has included nights and weekends of all hours. It constantly changes so acclimating back and forth can be a struggle the older I get. But it's what I've chosen.
dP

[Rbdport]

My husband did it for 18 of the 20 years he was a police officer.

[Widows Son]

Originally Posted by Rbdport

My husband did it for 18 of the 20 years he was a police officer.

I'm doing it right now!!!! Two year old son just woke me up. I staggered into the kitchen and had some cereal now I'm trying to find my way back to bed. I'm a zombie.

[meloncap78]

Welcome to the club. I own my own business and I am struggling a bit so for the past few months I have been doing electrical at night working on the Destiny USA project down the road from me. Good $ but I have absolutely no life anymore. All for very little return too. I am beginning to wonder if all this work is worth just staying afloat with my little business. I have worked 80+ hours a week before in my life and grew very tired of it so my answer was to buy a business.......LMAO, I have a lot to learn in life.

[tkc324]

I work for an international company that has a lot of clients in China. My mornings are usually free and I work till about 1-2 am at night. I enjoy working at night in my own home on my own schedule. No traffic jam or crowd to beat. I get to sleep in till about 9-10 am if I want to. No complaints here.

[Gharddog03]

Working nights for about 9 years.

[gmh1013]

When I worked off-shore in my teenage year I worked 6 pm to 6 am...12 hours a day for 28 days....then had 28 days off.
I could never do it now.
At IBM I would get up at 3:45 am because all my clients are on the east cost and I would be at work at around 4:30 to 4:45am.....felt like I was working some strange sift.
I would be so tired at night that I went bed at 8:30 pm most of the time

[Tri-Tip]

I never have and don't think I could. I pulled an all-nighter at work once, was here for about 23 hours straight. Went home, only able to sleep for about an hour, got up, showered, and back to the office.

[dalip]

6 years as a met police officer in London. Plenty of nights .... 10pm-6am. My favorite shift. The night always brings out the best in people.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by dalip

6 years as a met police officer in London. Plenty of nights .... 10pm-6am. My favorite shift. The night always brings out the best in people.

Especially, around 2 AM stateside, when the bars let out.

[wantonebad]

Originally Posted by Frosty

Especially, around 2 AM stateside, when the bars let out.

It's known around these parts as "LUSH-HOUR"...

[dba]

Originally Posted by Frosty

Especially, around 2 AM stateside, when the bars let out.

Where I worked as a police officer, was right on the California/Nevada state line. While the bars in CA would close, we would still have to deal with the dregs that stumbled out of the casinos at 0400 or so.

Except for a very short time in detectives, I spent 20 plus years working exclusively nights. I hated day shift; too much brass and other self important peoples.

[Gaijin]

Originally Posted by dba

Where I worked as a police officer, was right on the California/Nevada state line. While the bars in CA would close, we would still have to deal with the dregs that stumbled out of the casinos at 0400 or so.

Except for a very short time in detectives, I spent 20 plus years working exclusively nights. I hated day shift; too much brass and other self important peoples.

Bingo.

I worked late afternoons my whole career other than when I got bumped for seniority. 1600-0200.

Hated day shift. Waking up and dealing with administrators as well as bad guys.

[Kingair]

Some years ago I was working about 18 to 19 hours a day . . .

I just acquired a new company and it needed some reorganization . . .

Sometimes I was sleeping during the day . . . but working at night was a pleasure . .

Took some time to get used to it . . . but I did about 50 % more than during the day hours . .

No calls . . . no people interfering . . .

And it all was worth it !

Glad it was only a year . . .

HAGOne

[MonBK]

Can we clear one thing out first,

what is work and how do you do it?

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Can we clear one thing out first,

what is work and how do you do it?

Just a distant memory, Mon?
dP

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Can we clear one thing out first,

what is work and how do you do it?

Work & work makes 2

For example road construction is real work for me . . .

Sitting 8 hours behind a computer . . . makes you lazy . . . ;-)

HAGOne

[Jonathan007]

Originally Posted by Kingair

Work & work makes 2

For example road construction is real work for me . . .

Sitting 8 hours behind a computer . . . makes you lazy . . . ;-)

HAGOne

Massively agree with this!

Spent years on pipelines 12 hours a day 7 days a week to get the job done. Jobs sometimes lasting 25 weeks.

Welding inspection now sitting behind a desk going out of my mind, need to get back on the lines!

[bayerische]

Restaurant owner, so yes.

Every friday and saturday at peak season begins at around noon, usually hit bed at 6am the following morning.

[Vincent65]

I did some all-night studio sessions, but that's about it!

[Cru Jones]

did a few months of dealing with being in paris, client in japan, target in belgium, target's lawyers in san francisco and finance in NY. getting everone on a call at the same time was a bit of a challenge....

[wantonebad]

As a kid out of high-school I worked for a grocery chain and was on the night-crew, stocked the shelves while the doors were closed. It was a lot of fun, made some great friends and had a blast for a little while but it got unglamorous real quick. Once we were done we'd pick a persons home to go to so we could start drinking at 7am, pretty bizarre to stagger home trashed at 10am...

[rolexperfect]

Glad to see fellow night owls here. Great thread. Me too, when there's too much pressure on some of my projects I have to do it. I actually will have to start doing it quite soon now. But no complaints about it. I love what I do and it feels great when I can finish things and work hard.

[GradyPhilpott]

I worked night shifts for about a decade, mostly as a security guard while getting my education, and I agree with you completely.

In most of those years, I was the sole guard on an empty property. I would leave just as people were arriving for work.

It always seemed that I had the world pretty much to myself and having my days off in the middle of the week made it all even better.

[Grumpy Badger]

Back in the dim and distant past I had a "real job" working in the head office of the Royal Bank of Scotland. I had to work rolling shifts...

1st week - 0830-1630
2nd week - 1630-2330
3rd week - 2330-0830

It wasn't that I minded any of the shifts but it was a killer changing every week. The worst was coming of a nightshift on Saturday morning and being back at work first thing on Monday for dayshift. I wasn't a fan!

Since then I've had to do a bit at night with the army and also every spring when I'm sitting up keeping an eye on the mares who are due to foal but not real nightshifts.

My natural sleep patern suits a back-shift. In an ideal world I'd sleep til 10ish, work 1600-midnight and go to bed around 0300 but that doesn't suit the life I lead now.

[sierra11b]

Depends on the day but usually 2days from 8am until 7pm and 3 swings from 11am until 9pm or longer depending on how busy I am.

Back when I was a chef trying to make a name for myself I used to work such long hours that I would sometimes sleep at the restaurant which had a shower and an Army cot I set-up in the liquor storeroom. So while I agree that it can be nice I got over that honeymoon period long ago. At my current location walking back to your car at night can be dangerous so it's advisable to go in buddy teams.