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Post by Vashthestampede on Dec 18, 2005 18:50:11 GMT -5
Well as maybe one or two of you know while I'm home from school for xmas break I am working 10pm - 6am at target as a backroom worker pulling and backstocking items.
Its been five days since I've started and I am totally wiped out. Any of you have any ideas on how to alleviate the fatigue?
Thanks,
Mike
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Post by Kozz on Dec 18, 2005 19:17:21 GMT -5
Sleep during the day...It's like jet lag, you get use to it eventually. I've found that Monster and No Fear has kept me awake when I should be sleeping, too.
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Post by RandyA on Dec 18, 2005 19:28:43 GMT -5
this may be a stupid question, but are you getting enough sleep? i know when i worked overnights. i had problems sleeping B/C there was to much sunlight coming in thru my windows. to solve this i taped black poster boards to my windows. it looked like my windows were tinted  from the outside. so my mom didn't get pissed about it looking trashy |
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Post by Vashthestampede on Dec 18, 2005 19:57:10 GMT -5
Im sleeping about 8-9 hours a day so Im covered on the sleep bit, any advice for staying awake for those last one to two hours of the morning?
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Post by Turtle-Prophet of Doom on Dec 18, 2005 20:04:42 GMT -5
When do you sleep? When you get home from work or do you wait until noon(assuming you get up between 8 and 9 pm for work)? I have found that by sleeping later rather than sooner when you get home helps out a lot(I've been on 3rd shift for 10 years). Also, when do you eat(both at work and at home)? Eating a good meal before you get to work and having a later lunch could also help by giving your body fuel to burn instead of telling you to sleep.
Having only been doing it for 5 days I would say give it a little while longer. It usually takes a month for your body to get used to the shift, your bodies clock isn't easily changed.
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Post by Vashthestampede on Dec 18, 2005 20:10:26 GMT -5
Right now I sleep as soon as I get home around 7ish till about 3. I eat dinner about two hours before going to work. And we have a 15 minute break at 1am and a 30 minute lunch at 3:30.
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Post by Electricity on Dec 18, 2005 22:21:58 GMT -5
not really a lunch then is it  |
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Post by Turtle-Prophet of Doom on Dec 18, 2005 23:03:27 GMT -5
Then I would try to start sleeping later in the day, that's what I do. It's a bit closer to the rhythm your body is used to plus you'll find that it's easier to get all of the daily stuff done in the morning while everyone else is at work.
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Post by Kreeper X on Dec 19, 2005 0:12:25 GMT -5
Well as maybe one or two of you know while I'm home from school for xmas break I am working 10pm - 6am at target as a backroom worker pulling and backstocking items. Its been five days since I've started and I am totally wiped out. Any of you have any ideas on how to alleviate the fatigue? OKay, this is worth the price of admission right here. 1. Sleep in shifts. When I worked third, I'd get home at around 7am and set the alarm for 1pm. Then I'd get up, do whatever it was that I had to do and then try to catch a 2 hour nap before going in to work again. Aim for either 2 or 4 hours at a time, but try not to go over 2 without going for 4 and try not going over 4 unless you can get the normal ammount of sleep. As odd as it sounds, I've found that getting even numbers in hours of sleep feels better than odd numbers. 2. If you get off before sun up, bust your butt and get home and in bed before the sun comes up. Your body tends to want to "stay awake" once you actually see sun light... 3. Lay off the caffine. Let yourself get run down and tired. Caffine will come back to haunt you when you're trying to lay down and get some rest... 4. Invest in some really heavy, dark curtains for your windows. Think Vampire movie. The darker it is the easier it is to sleep. Other than that, it takes a while for the body to adjust to any new sleeping pattern. So even if you do the things above, it won't really do much good for the first few weeks. |
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Post by Kreeper X on Dec 19, 2005 0:15:55 GMT -5
And Turtle is right. If you wake up a 3ish and then stay up until you get home again at around 7ish that's a 16 hour day and you're going to be dragging at the end of it... Stay up later in the day and get up just before you have to to get to work on time or at least throw in a 2 hour nap sometime before you have to get up and get ready for work.
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Post by jestertls on Dec 19, 2005 0:35:57 GMT -5
Vash my man, I have been on nights for the most part for eight years. And to be totally honest, you never get 100% adjusted to it. It keeps you feeling tired alot. And my sleep paterns fluxuate (sp).
It just takes time to get adjusted to a life of night shift. If you dont do it all the time, it can play havoc on you. Blacking out your windows can help. Another thing is white noise. I keep my window unit AC on pretty much 12 months a year. Helps me sleep, as I have heard many other night shift people use white noise to sleep.
Now me, when I sleep at night on my nights off, half the time I have a lamp on while sleeping, I am so use to sleeping in the day time.
As far as what time I sleep, well it depends. I get off from work at 0700 and normally dont get to bed till around 0930 or a little after. But I toss and turn all day, due to my back problems. I wake up around 1500 hrs and read awhile and wait for the Ibuprofen to kick back in, then go back to sleep and get up when ever. Some times around 1900 hrs or so.
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Post by Turtle-Prophet of Doom on Dec 19, 2005 8:09:29 GMT -5
I use a fan when I sleep, partly because it blocks traffic noise and partly because it blocks the noise of the jets zipping around(I live near an ANG base). That's another factor, your not used to hearing noise whan you sleep so it disrupts the pattern.
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Post by Medina on Dec 19, 2005 9:03:39 GMT -5
Eight to nine hours? You might be getting TOO much sleep. I only sleep 5 hours a night, anything more than that and I'll feel sluggish all day. I don't even sleep in on the weekends.
You can make your job interesting by running around and doing some crazy things in the backroom. Footballs are meant to be thrown... hehe
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bigred33
Sergeant
Great Lakes Ranger
Posts: 206
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Post by bigred33 on Dec 19, 2005 18:29:20 GMT -5
Turtle you must be used to Selfridge, when I used to live with my GPs up north for weeks at a time I never got used to the base (B-52's at 500 feet are not quiet) that was 5 miles away. Yet my dad could sleep right through it without any problems.
And for Vash, you never really get used to it until after about a year, or thats what I was told. About five years ago when I worked for the big orange box, I got transfered to nightcrawlers for almost a month and it wiped me out, never really got used to it.
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Post by Turtle-Prophet of Doom on Dec 20, 2005 6:32:09 GMT -5
Turtle you must be used to Selfridge, when I used to live with my GPs up north for weeks at a time I never got used to the base (B-52's at 500 feet are not quiet) that was 5 miles away. Yet my dad could sleep right through it without any problems. Brother, I've spent almost my entire life either on or near that place. I used to drill there when I was a Sea Cadet, lived near here most of my adult life. It's like nothing to me now unless they get really low... then it's like they are trying to keep my up!! |
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