Posted by Liza Wake on October 10, 2003 at 16:05:30:Hi,
First let me say I'm 50 years old, which is relevant because I *used* to be able to handle stuff like this when I was younger, No Problem! But the older I get, the longer it seems to take my body to adjust to the "swing" of a swing shift. Right now I'm not adjusting very well, and consequently I feel like I have a permanent case of Jet Lag.
Need to do something different (soon!) ... and changing my hours won't be an option any time soom (unless I screw up so badly I wind up getting fired! Which would be even worse.) Argh.
Here's the deal. I work 5 days/wk (Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed) with 2 days off (Thur, Fri).
On Sat & Sun I work 5 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
On Mon, Tue, Wed I work 3 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.Its the same every week (except if I get shifted around due to vacations, etc., which happens more during the summer than during the winter).
The thing is, I find it completely impossible to tumble into bed the moment I get home (on Mon, Tue, Wed). I get home around midnight, and it takes me 2-3 hours to "wind down" enough to go to bed. So I typically go to bed around 2-3 a.m. on Mon, Tues, & Wed.
I have Thurs & Fri OFF, but I know I have to be able to GET UP at 4 a.m. on Saturday morning, and if I don't start "shifting" my sleep right away, I could very well wind up (and HAVE wound up) never going to bed at all on Friday night. If I haven't shifted my sleep-wake cycle by then and I don't even get tired enough to fall asleep until 3 a.m. Saturday morning, I wind up not going to bed at all that night (afraid I'll wind up sleeping right thru the alarm if I fall asleep @ 3 & have to get up an hour later).
But of course if I haven't started "shifting" my sleep-wake cycle before Friday, I'm already sunk, because I can't just all of a sudden go to bed 8 hours earlier than I'm used to going to bed, and actually fall asleep & get a good night's sleep.
So what I do is, on Thurs (my first "weekend day") I MAKE myself get up after only 4 hrs sleep (whenever that is -- i.e., 7 a.m. if I go to bed at 3 Wed night). The idea is, I'm trying to force myself to be exhausted enough to fall asleep earlier on Thurs. night (I aim for no later than 1 a.m.).
I set the alarm on Friday morning so I get up after no more than 5 hrs sleep (i.e., 6 a.m., if I went to bed by 1 a.m.).
I'm hoping I'll be drop-dead tired enough by Friday night to be able to go to sleep by 10 p.m. and get 6 hrs. of sleep before I have to get up (at 4 a.m.) Saturday morning.
Then I drag myself (exhausted beyond belief) thru the day on Saturday and FORCE myself NOT to take a nap Saturday afternoon. I try to stay up until at least 9 p.m. Saturday night, because if I go to bed any earlier than that, my body interprets it as a "nap" and I wake up wide awake and ready to go for another few hours at midnight or so (which is definitely Not Good).
Up again at 4 a.m. Sunday morning. Work Sunday.
Totally exhausted by Sunday night (my body is already starting to "adjust" its sleep-wake cycle to the earlier shift). BUT... I FORCE myself to stay awake until at least 1 a.m. Monday morning, because I'm going to have to work until 11:30 Monday night, so I have to start "shifting" my body's clock to that LATER cycle again, a.s.a.p.
Etc., etc., etc.
I find myself constantly grouchy and making WAY too many errors. I can't think on my feet, and I feel like I'm in a permanent "fog." Plus the "Big Swing" gives me a terrible migraine by Monday night 9 times out of 10 -- which often lasts thru Wed.
I HATE complaining about "how hard" this is, because (like I said) when I was younger this wouldn't have been a problem for me At ALL. And I don't want to start being seen as "too old" to be able to handle it, because I *HAVE* to work, and I can't afford to be demoted to one that pays less (or Fired!).
Anybody have any Clues on what I can do to make this more bearable? My finances say I'm going to HAVE to work for another 20 years -- and NOT at some minimum wage job either. So I HAVE to find some better solution somehow!
Help! (???)
- Re: Swing Shift , Help Needed dispatcher 12:51 3/30/04 (0)
- Re: Swing Shift , Help Needed Honest Abe 13:47 3/29/04 (0)