GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Posted By: mc on 2007-12-03
In Reply to: Graveyard shift study results - flaMT
I totally disagree with this study, for multiple reasons. I agree with some of the posts, stating that it would depend upon if you are getting enough sleep, whether you work the graveyard shift or not. People working regular shift often get only a couple of hours of sleep, because they are out at bars all night, drinking, etc.
However, I work the graveyard shift, usually 11 pm to 6 am. I am working, while my husband is sleeping. Right after work, I go to bed, and sleep anywhere between 10 to 12 hours. Then, when my husband comes home, we have the whole evening together!
Also, do they take into consideration that many graveyard shift workers work in factory situations where they are exposed to lots of other things, like toxic chemicals, etc.? I read about it in the paper, too, and it mentioned that the increase in the cancer effect of the graveyard shift workers began in the 1930's, with the "industrial" boom --- what about those effects on cancer, not the time of day you do it.
I also feel that I can produce more in the same time frame doing MT at nite, with less stress of all the other noises of the day, and not having the phone ringing off the hook!
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Graveyard Shift
It all depends on you. I don't think there's a set rule book. I have a major sleep "situation." It isn't a problem because it's been this way all my life. I never liked to sleep, and would still rather mow the lawn or just about anything besides sleep. Obviously the rest of the world thinks that's strange, but it's just how I got wired (pardon that pun!)... Many people say they got "x" hours of sleep. I look at it as whatever I got is what I got, if any. But I know that's not the norm for most.
There have been times when I've fallen asleep typing, but very rarely. There are also times when I stay up for 2 days straight, and still fight going to sleep.
Just give it some time and decide if you can do it. It's good that we all have different time clocks embedded in our bodies!
Good luck!
graveyard shift
I've found that my body just naturally adjusts over time if I work this shift consistently.
graveyard shift questions? HELP!! sm
for those of you who work the graveyard shift, when you initially started how did you get your sleep pattern to adjust? i did this for 2 nights and loved it!! i got sooo much work done without any interruptions and it was wonderful so i have decided that i would prefer to work at nighttime but i am having a hard time staying awake now through the night and by 1ish i am falling asleep. how did you get ahead on your sleep well enough to get you past the initial getting used to it? and do you keep that same schedule even on weekends or when you aren't working as far as sleep routine?
questions for graveyard shift'ers
i'm seriously thinking of going from days to 3rd shift -- for money and to free-up daytime hours to manage other stuff better, without interfering with my job....but cannot figure when the best time would be to sleep -- do you sleep right after work, right before work, or when? How long might it take to adjust? I'm generally a morning person, early to bed, early to rise....I'd appreciate any advice at all. thanks.
Graveyard shift study results
I just had to put this here. This study came out about 2 days ago, and I did not find that anyone posted it here so I am going to comment on it. If this is redundant please excuse the double post. The other day on the news at 6 they reported that studies show that there is a new risk for developing cancer which could lead to an early grave... working the graveyard shift (punny). Anyway, they said that because it goes against our biological clock, we produce less of a certain brain chemical when we sleep at night and this chemical helps our body fend of carcinogens (I forgot the chemical). Do you know the American Cancer Society is seriously considering putting third shift workers on the list as being high risk for cancer? Can you imagine? What is this, a way for the insurance companies to have an excuse to deny us night owls insurance or to make the rates higher? I think it is hilarious because I personally never do anything risky. I work at home as an MT after all, I do not lead a risky life in the least. Now, because I work nights so I can be a mom during the day and do everything supermom should do I am going to have cancer... what next?
Is it difficult to adjust to the graveyard shift?
 What is the best way to prepar for this.
Need input from all you "night owls" working graveyard shift!
I am considering working nights, since it seems that's where the pay is higher. Do you go to bed in morning after your shift ends, or do you stay awake for a couple of hours, and go to bed, say 10 or 11 am. How many hours during the day do you sleep; or do you just take a nap in the morning, and go to bed around 6 or 7 p.m. and sleep until it's time for your shift to start? Input on getting a balance, and staying awake during shift. I worked that shift for a while in the past, but never could balance it out. It seems I was always sleeping and had no time to do anything else, other than sleep and work. Thanks
Graveyard cake
http://www.celebrationcorner.com/RecipeDetail.aspx?id=133724
Working graveyard
Most people don't know how I do it. I work from 9:00 p.m. to about 4:00 and then up at 7:30 (8:30 now that it's summer). On Friday nights I don't work and I'm in bed by 8:00 p.m. And on the weekends I sleep in. My family is used to it and I've been doing it for so long I actually prefer it. No phones, no kids, no husband. I have also been known to fall asleep in the chair, but it doesn't happen too often. You'll get used to it. I'm not actually sure I even prepared in any way.
More graveyard experiences
I've worked graveyard before and will be starting again tonight. I've learned a few things from past experience that can help this time.
One is bright lights at night and blackout curtains during daytime sleeping hours. Another is turning off the ringer on the phone before going to bed, arranging with a neighbor who is generally home during the day to take true emergency calls from certain people and ring my doorbell if necessary.
I try to keep in mind that a lot of other people aren't readily available during the day or able to do what they like during the day because of work, either in or out of the home. I also remember how lucky I am to be able to work from home and not have to deal with a commute, among other things.
Give myself some unwinding time after my shift and then do the best I can to adhere to regular sleep hours that least interfere with regular activities outside of work. There will be times, of course, when I'll need to be flexible on the sleep hours to take care of things that must occasionally be done during the usual sleep hours schedule.
Accept that there will be days when the rest of the world will not be tip-toeing around because I want to sleep. Watch out for sleep-deprivation crankiness, try my best not to take it out on other folks, and apologize promptly if I do. It does help to explain the situation yet not use it as a recurrent or frequent excuse.
Make use of caffeinated beverages at the beginning of my shift and limit them toward the latter portion. Remember that power naps during breaks may work for other people but that the temptation to keep hitting the snooze alarm could be overwhelming for me. It was one thing when I was an IC, but not cool as an employee. Better for me is to something semi-active during breaks and make myself get up and stretch on a periodic, regular basis.
Keep in mind that it will take a little while to get used to the new schedule and see what sleep hours seem to work best for me through trial and error. I'm lucky that I have a natural tendency toward nightowlism.
Sorry for the length of this essay and best of luck to you! Would that there were a yawning smiley face...
I worked graveyard before, and will now again.
This time though, I have a window of time, and can split shift, but I can tell you I am very scared about it. The last time I took graveyard, it was set hours, and I got through it, but switched back to days because I never slept, or took time for myself. But, there is not much work during the mornings, and I end up getting frustrated watching the children who are all under 10 years old, and scratching for work, and the whole situation. So, I am going to work 8 hours in 12 overnight. I am very scared but going to go for it for these reasons: 1. I am not lonely because everyone is at home but they are sleeping, so very few if any worries about anything other than working which is really less stress. 2. There will mostly always be work, so I won't have to worry about my paycheck or begging for work or worrying about the bill collectors. 3. DH is concerned too, but he knows how frustrating it is to scratch for work during the daytime when everyone else is on. He figures I work after I put the kids to bed, rest some, and then work in early morning hours. Then, I get another nap during the day when he gets home from work or during the school day when the kids are back in school. It is just this fear of mine about overnight I have to learn to get out of my head and remember, night means peaceful, quiet, work, a good paycheck, and naps during the day along with trips to the mall, or doing art or anything else during the day when the kids are back in school I can do just for me. I wish you luck. In the end do what is best for you. But if you run out of work during the day, or if you have other obligations while you are working in daytime, rethink which is really best for you. Good luck!
Kitchen appliance graveyard
In the midst of moving last weekend, I discovered my long forgotten kitchen appliance graveyard. All the cool gadgets that I thought I HAD to have at the time that have long since moved into that cabinet. I had three juicers dating back to the 80's, an ice cream maker, a sandwich maker, a George Foreman grill, a food dehydrator, and a the most recent one I got for Christmas, a smoothie maker. Oh the humanity! I have decided to resurrect some of them for fun and because I feel so guilty. How about you all ? Anyone suffer from this gadget collecting problem?
I work graveyard on weekends
I can't say there's any real way to prepare for graveyard shift other than going to bed earlier the night before, this way you are well rested for your shift.
I work day shift and evening shift Mon-Thurs, but come 3 pm on Friday, it's bedtime for me. I work graveyard shift on weekends, and I love it. I don't really have a problem adjusting my schedule, as I have massive sleep deficit accrued all week.
The problems that I do find are with:
Family not getting it through their heads that I wake/work early on weekends.
Deliveries (UPS, FedEx) normally take place during the hours I would be sleeping.
Phone usually rings during the hours I sleep.
Other than those outside factors, no problem for me adjusting back and forth between shifts.
My experiences while working graveyard were (sm)
both good and bad: Bad: During the spring/summer months, I wanted to be out catching the rays and walking the beach, but my body kept telling me, "It's time to sleep." Additionally, my diet was a little off; eating a Stouffer's dinner at 3:00 a.m. just seemed out of order. Also, I started watching those Judge shows in the afternoons, thus, not putting the lights out until about 5 p.m., leaving me only about 5 hours to sleep -- not enough for this bod. That experience taught me that I am definitely a morning person.
If you want the good stuff, work GRAVEYARD, or
nm
Disagree...ESLs tend to dictate graveyard shifts....nm
hit left Shift key 3 times, then right Shift key 3 times -
nm
1st, 2nd, 3rd shift????
My husband is a correctional officer, and his 1st shift is considered 12 am - 8 am, 2nd is 8 am - 4 pm, and 3rd is 4 pm - 12 am. I get the impression that most MT companies consider 1st shift as day shift, 2nd as evening and 3rd as 12 am - morning hours. Can anyone clarify this for me? Thanks.
Just put another pot on for my 2nd shift of the day! nm
x
Shift F9
m
Shift F9...
Type is RAD this weekend and mine was shift F9, which will bring up menu with spell check selection, which will give an info window, return and then it will start. But as mentioned always be at the top of report or it will say "done" as it does not automatically start from top. If this does not work use your F1 Help menu to find it.
Third shift
I was just working third shift and my hours were 11 pm to 7:30 am. Another coworker who also works third shift works 9 pm to 5:30 am. I think it varies by company. I hated third shift. I guess others love it, I was not one of them. I was on it for a year and a half and never could adjust to it. I would think long and hard before taking another third shift position, because it is so hard to get off third shift. But, like I said, there are many others that love third shift.
3rd shift
When I was on that shift, I would get away from my desk, walk around a bit, wash my face and get another cup of coffee.
Try to take a nap right before your shift (sm)
if you can, say even 20 minutes. Track the times you get up in the morning (or during the day if you work 3rd shift). If you can sleep a little later, this will help by the end of the day. I like to snack while I work, but to stay awake, I can't eat a thing!
Shift+F9.
.
1st night on 3rd shift and still
but i started at 11 p.m., and notice that my line count for first hour was credited to yesterdays work. so -- is this just a fact of life for 3rd shifters?
Cherrypicking at end of shift
What about when you just have a little bit of time left on your shift and you want to shuffle through and pick up some short jobs instead of the 25-minute psych report or the long consult that will put you way over your shift?
9 CPL, incentives, shift, 65 CPL
with spaces. I live in the Pacific NW, company is on the east coast.
Shift Lead MT/QA
In this position currently at 15.00 per hour.
How do you adjust to a 3rd shift job? nm
nm
split shift
split shifts are great! you will do much, much better if you split your 8 hours up by 4 and 4. Early in the day and then late evening are usually the best.
What exactly is a shift lead MT?
night shift
My life currently revolves around babysitting my 15 month old grandson all day, somedays he arrives at 5:30 a.m., others it is 7:00 a.m. stays with me anywhere until 2:00 to 5:00 pm. (his mom is in nursing school with somewhat irregular hours depending on her clinical days). I get on and transcribe from 7:00 p.m. until midnight or sometimes 1:00 a.m. five days a week. I absolutely force myself to take a one hour nap before my shift starts(never more than 1 hour). It helps so much. At first it was hard to do, but it really does help me stay awake and now it is almost natural to do it. Darken the room and keep away from the TV, unplug the phone. Of course, I can't live without caffeine either. Good luck with you new job/new shift
Shift question
I don't want to appear ignorant but I have always worked M-F. Now am getting ready to look for a new position and am curious if I work third shift Sunday thru Thursday, I guess that means 11 o'clock Saturday night to 7 Sunday morning or does it mean 11 o'clock Sunday night (which would actually be Monday morning) Thanks
Your company might consider 4/5p-12a.m. to be second shift, tho'. Better ask.
b
Night Shift
I have a 3 year old and I work late hours, but they seem to work for me. I work for a few hours in the a.m. and then I go back to work after she goes to sleep and work until about 4:00 a.m. I take Friday nights off. I've been doing this for so long it's second nature. I usually sleep from 4:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays my husband lets me sleep in. I also have a soon to be 13 year old and she's very helpful on weekend mornings. Once she goes to pre-school I'll change my work hours.
Split shift
Employee; afternoon and late night/early morning split shift.
third shift tedium
My shift of preference happens to be the third shift.
The work I do entails the defragmentation of rail cars, both sitting on designated tracks or inbound morning trains at o430 in the early morning hour.
I work under the stars, amidst the rain, through the snow and whatever else mother nature throws my way. The traffic on days is run by frantic old timers,,hacking their tired lungs through yet another day.
We on third, punctuate our time with home cooked food, ample caffeine and sometimes a 45 minute nap, depending on inbound traffic.
If you consider moving and arranging several million pounds of rail freight hard work,, some do , some don't . For me, the Federal Rules test cause more stress and shortened lifespan tendencies than life itself.
Speaking of a typical day, I try to sleep at least four or five hours during the am. Up by noon, I exist in a surreal, dreamlike state till dinner and family time. Gardening and woodsplitting fill some of my days...By early evening I return to my cave for two hours or so of eyelid resting time...up by ten, at work by llpm..five nites a week...I live for the weekend, campfires, cervesa, music, friends, family and the Sunday, New York Times...and a little jogging now and then..or researching Krav Maga techniques...
Life can be short, live well....ajf
3rd shift work
Just looking for any tips on how to stay awake transcribing 3rd shift. I recently switched my hours from days to nights and am having LOTS of trouble staying awake about midway through. Any helpful 3rd shifters out there that care to share their strategies???? 
Third shift Provigil
Provigil is really great. I first got it because I had excessive daytime sleepiness. Insurance would not cover it, unless it was narcolepsy. So, I paid 10 dollars a pill for a while. Then, I found out I could order a 3-month 30-day supply from Canada for 300.00 which is about what insurance would cost if it covered.
I took the sleep study, and found there was nothing wrong. Insurance would not cover it. But since I was tired during the day I started working 3rd shift, and the Provigil was a dream. I am continuing to use it along with B vitamin supplements and taking a break every hour to walk around. If you can go to the doc to get the Provigil, get the Rx, and try to get it from Canada in the mail. Good luck!
I just completed my shift for the day and
I had an easy doc for most of my shift today and she does mammograms and so it is copy and paste and change the necessary material. I worked on Meditech once, and found it very cumbersome. My platform now is word based and I love it. I get an accurate line count daily.
I'll do it at the end of my shift
I'll do a just little if I'm tired, or a couple hours if its there and I've still got my groove on. I never want to start work early, I'd rather work late. And I never want to get panic calls on my day off like I did with a former employer. I've made a rule for myself - I deserve my days off and by gosh I'm going to have them, just to stay sane.
I meant first shift
Often there are no jobs on first shift..
split shift
I work Sun-Thu 6A-10A, 6P-10P. This works really well for me, as I could not sit at a computer for 8 hours straight, and I have Fri and Sat off to spend time with my kids.
split shift
I work M, T, W, & F 8:00-12:30 and 2:30-7:00 (9-hour days). I, too, find it hard to sit for a complete 8- to 9-hour shift and enjoy the split.
Split shift
My kids are all in school, so I work M, Tu and W 12 noon - 3:30 p.m. and then 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m., Thu 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. and Sun 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. This works real good for me. I'm part time.
split shift
10a-2p and 7p-11p
works well to give me time in the morning to get my child off to school and a few things done, same when the bus comes. my child is a little older so the 7p is just a couple hours before bedtime and I take a break for bedtime. I love my split.
shift+F3 (in Word). nm
nm
Except that you have to shift to work the + key.
I don't really mind that small detail. I really am just hoping the Freestyle will help with my wrist/arm pain. How long have you used it? Do you really notice that the keys are low-force? I think that will really help me. Thanks!
You said nothing about the Shift key. Sorry to have upset you so much. nm
xx
control shift
With VR system I was using (example of bad VR I posted above) I used all the control shifts, control shift arrows, ALT backspace, control delete, the highlighter, did not use foot pedal or mouse, played the audio in the background while editing. But with so many corrections to make these things are not much of a help. Did not notice much improvement in line count. On a better VR program they can be.
Als the platform that I was using with this VR involved a lot of control this and that too, for headings and subheadings, and also a lot of control this and that to move around different pages to put in cc (required 5 or 6 Keystrokes to do that), assign work role, check demographics, etc.
Like this: to make heading
PHYSICAL EXAMINATION had to use control N
then to make subheadings
HEENT: had to use control shift N.
Of course VR did not get all these headings correctly so had to reformat as well as correct the text.
Did like the list function though... no need to manually number.
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