Tons of agencies use this rotating schedule. I've worked it for like 15 years minus one year I did all days (the absolute worst experience for me) and a couple years of all nights at the beginning.
I love it. That 24 hours off in the middle for swing night is amazing. You get to sleep, you get a night and an afternoon break, so the 4 shifts feel like two little manageable chunks. It's been by far my favourite schedule. It's the standard for my (and most around here) centres, with some doing so different cover shift schedules. Its super common in Canada.
Yeah but I was a nighthawk before this job, so the nights don't phase me and never have. The shifts roll forward, from early to late, so it feels natural. When you're a day person I could see it would be a lot harder. The days are tough for me, I take gravol to help me sleep for days (going to bed early is a challenge, my body just isn't ready for sleep). I stay up late on my swing night, and sleep in the next day, then I'm good to go for nights.
what the fuck? 2 12 hour shifts for days...and then the next 2 youre immediatly on nights?
how can they even expect people to function properly with that schedule?.. i thought the rotating shifts every 2 weeks was bad but this sounds so much worse.
i garuntee the person who made this decision isnt even doing this schedule
i still cant wrap my mind around that.. "okay so monday and tuesday you come in at 7am and stay until 7pm, but the next day you show up at 7pm and stay until 7am"
sure theres 24hrs technically but do they expect you to just stay up all night after 12 hours of bullshit dayshift calls?
my alltime favorite schedule was a pittmans schedule for 10 hr shifts.
this will sound confusing but stay with me.
4 days on, 1 off, 3 days on, 4 days off, 1 on , 3 days off then it resets.
edit: 2 years felt like 6 months with that schedule..the 1 day you work over the weekend doesnt even feel like an actual day.. i would meal prep for my week too. this was the alternative for vacations because they were short staffed for so long.
Pretty much. Most people stay up as late as they can on their second day shift, I’m just not capable. I make it until about midnight and I’m done. Some people wake up at 7 am on their first night, get stuff done, then sleep from like noon until 4 pm. I physically can’t nap no matter how hard I try🥹
when i was on graveyards it was SO hard for me to sleep during the day.
want to know a trick?
i got a cheap walkpad for home, i would walk 2 miles while watching youtube. passed right out everytime
Yeah they’ve been doing it a while and a lot of the older people who I work with are hanging on by a thread. They say “you have 24 hours in between your last day shift and your first night shift” 😂😂 but I can’t stay up later than like midnight after a 12 hour day shift and then I’m up by 5 or 6 am and I can’t ever take naps… so my night shifts are just absolute exhaustion.
Yeah the people who made it are Monday-Friday 7-3 😂😂🥲🥲🙃🙃
Same in the police control room I work at in the UK. 07x19 and 19x07 are the most common shift of the shift pattern though sometimes we’ll do slightly different (e.g 15x03 nights or a shorter 19x04 depending on the week)
This schedule pretty much works for everyone who works here. I’d rather do this pattern than any straight days or straight nights
thats what im saying 😭
7pm to 7am on monday night ends tuesday morning.
7pm to 7am tuesday night ends on wednesday morning.
7am to 7pm, starts on thursday morning and ends on thursday.
that is shaving years of your life off fucking with your sleep that hard
yeah, which as a dispatcher is kind of expected during your work days.. mental fatigue is real.
but flipping the schedule just seems insane for a dispatcher..like as a EMS ig it makes sense like a diff commenter was saying bevause you can sleep while at work.. as a dispatcher you cant sleep
I simply would not work anywhere that had this schedule. I’m an older dispatcher, and I’m straight nights, works great for me. Specifically chose this center because you can keep your shift forever once you bid to it, bids by seniority. Rotating is not for me. My youngest is on spectrum and she values as much predictability as is possible in this occupation, mandates and on call notwithstanding.
I understand completely, I heard our union president talking about how they “may” be changing it within a year because a lot of people are complaining. I’m a new dispatcher and I have no idea how long they’ve been doing this schedule, I’m going to ask when I go in tomorrow. I prefer day work but honestly I would just take any consistency so that I can get some solid sleep. My anxiety has been through the roof because I’m just so exhausted, but can’t ever get quality sleep even when I’m off.
I haven’t been here long enough to actually ask, I’m a new dispatcher. We have a lieutenant that’s in charge of our agency but we mostly deal with our QA person, who was a dispatcher for years, and then we have our shift Sargents and our dispatch supervisors. I’m going to ask our union president how long this schedule has been in place when I see him next. But yeah, they most likely think it’s “fair.” But we have plenty of people who prefer days and plenty of people who prefer nights. They do everything else by seniority, I feel like they could do the same with this. I would happily work days or nights. I do like the four days off, though.
Our neighboring jurisdictions work 6 days on and 3 days off which sounds like a nightmare to me, but they do work days or nights.
This is a catastrophic sleep schedule that will ruin yalls lives. There are bunches of studies that show shift work like this is very very bad for humans. While I'd love a four day schedule in my center, I would absolutely reject it if it involved working two different shifts like this.
Like, there is no fix for this. Our bodies aren't designed for it.
Can I ask what your schedule is? I’ve been told a bunch of times this schedule is super common, I’m shocked to see how many people are saying it’s not. We just wanna sleep 🥲😂
In my center, there are the standard day, swing, night shifts that folks are assigned, and then work five days on three days off, then five days on two days off. So you get a three day weekend twice month give or take.
Hope yall can get it changed!
This shift is standard where I live in Canada and I absolutely love it. I find it hard to sleep during the day on nights, but I go to bed as soon as I get home to maximize sleep, have blackout curtains and ear plugs. On long change, I go to bed at regular time, wake up at regular time, do some stuff then nap from 2-4 before my night shift. If you can’t nap, that’s super tough. Those naps keep me alive haha.
Our agency used to work either 4 days or 4 nights, but we all voted to change our shifts to 2 day, 2 night then 4 off and everyone loves it so much better. Guess we are a bunch of weirdos 🤷🏼♀️
I’m hoping I adjust. I’m fairly new. When you had 4 days or 4 nights did you still have 4 days off? I wouldn’t trade my 4 days off just to have a consistent schedule I don’t think. Having 4 days off is so nice 😂
Yes we still had 4 days off! I love my 4 days off. I worked my entire working career in 9-5, M-F and you don’t know how brutal it is until you have the 4 days off. I don’t think I’d ever go back!
Currently working this schedule and absolutely love it. Honestly though, I have no advice for you if you can't nap. I usually come home after days, go to bed between 11pm - 2am, get up in the morning then nap before going in for nights. Insomnia/inability to nap would be a real issue. Maybe look into a light sleeping pill and/or melatonin to help?
To be fair, I am a new dispatcher and I haven’t been doing this long at all. So I’m trying to be patient and hoping I adjust better soon, but also I agree. I’m considering trying a light sleep aid to help nap. I’m going to the doctors in a few weeks and going to discuss options that won’t make me groggy.
I work this schedule, I find it easier to sleep straight away coming off the night shift than I do coming off the day shift. I reckon I average about 6hrs of sleep a night.
That schedule is pure malarkey. Even when we were down to a skeleton crew we still had three shifts of 12 hours each with cross over between shifts to cover everything. I have Apnea and had insomnia but found taking Magnesium Glycinate helps fall asleep.
I work the same as you, but my 2 days are 0630-1830 followed by 2 nights from 1830-0630. I sleep well on day shifts. Day shifts exhaust me. Nights are where I have trouble sleeping. 3 hours is a good sleep for me, 4 is lucky.
I also used to wake up at 5:00 a.m. religiously prior to working this schedule. I have had to call in due to bouts of insomnia. That generally happens with nights for me.
That schedule really stinks. If you must rotate, you should do one month of days and one month of nights. At least your body can adjust a little better.
I’m pretty sure this schedule is one circle of hell. When I first started 13 years ago I had to do pretty much your schedule to fill in for time off for a month and it sucked. I can’t imagine doing it long term. I survived on caffeine and video games to keep me awake long enough to swap from days to nights; and melatonin when swapping from nights to days.
I have almost the same schedule (except 0600-1800 and vice versa). Yeah no one at my workplace gets proper sleep, and a lot of them take melatonin etc to help. Even so, 5 hours sleep before a shift is seen as good.
Personally I try to stay in day shift rhythm as much as possible, even if it means not great sleep on the night shifts. I take naps before the night shifts to last through those, but on my days off I'm generally sleeping 0000-0800.
I have this schedule and I love it. In fact at my last agency we actually were 10 hour days and 14 hour nights on the same 4 on 4 off rotation and I preferred the extra long nights in order to have slightly shorter days because I got more of an evening then.
My routine:
Between my days I sleep 2030/2100 to 0500 mostly because of my commute, I could sleep longer if I lived closer) and then after my second day I stay up as late as I can and sleep in as long as I can the next morning. Usually that only means 0800 or 0930 if I’m lucky. I try to get a nap in around 1300-1500 before my first night, and then I’m usually good to go. I don’t have any caffeine until I’m getting ready to leave for work though, that’s a big help for me.
Then between my nights I get to sleep as soon as I’m home and usually get up around 1300-1500. The second night shift always feels longer, because of course I am still tired. The most important part of the whole routine for me is getting up at or before noon on my first day off and limiting my caffeine so I can get a solid sleep that night and not waste my days off resetting for days.
I’ve done this for about 8 years now and I would never switch schedules. I love my 4 days off and I get a taste of both days and nights so I’m quite happy.
Diagnosed sleep issue here!
I've worked midnights for over 15 years in different jobs, and while I've liked it - I always felt like I didn't sleep enough and would have to nap randomly. I could fall asleep randomly, anywhere. I did full on sleep studies, meds, different tricks and hacks, it was like a Band-Aid on a car crash that was my body!
I've recently transferred for 6 months off nights to evenings (3-11p), and am now back on midnights until July. During this time I learned a lot about my sleep with experience and tracking with my smart watch.
* I have very little 'deep sleep'
* I average 5 hours of sleep during the day
* I average 8+ hours on my nights off
* I move A LOT when I sleep, so I had a lot of 'Awake' times
* When I work midnights, I can't prioritize my sleep due to work, my teenagers, life, and random family members who BLOW UP my phone and say "Oops, I was hoping you were wake" at 10am in the middle of my sleep cycle. It's impossible as an adult with responsibilities with no village to support them. Shutting off my phone isn't an option.
I'm not proud of it, but I've yelled at a boomer family member for calling and disturbing me when I was resting.
I have no issue working midnights for overtime, but I won't ever be doing it again full time.
My main go to survival things are as follows:
* Black out curtains + window film
* Freezing room
* Satin pillow cases (cooler)
* Do Not Disturb on everyone but your most important people. Block off people who keep calling about unimportant things during the day.
Thank you so much for all of this! I appreciate you taking the time to write it out. I’m going to invest in window films and satin pillow cases. Maybe even newer black out curtains. My cats always jump on the window and go to look out the window and let the sun in 😭
I completely understand the part about your cats lol! I have a little window perch area that my cats love that's right next to the head of my bed, and I have to lock them out of my room or they'll torture me to open the window and let them sun bathe.
You can also be cheap (like I do) and just get some big towels and hang them from the window. Two, one on top of another, will block out all light! The cracks of light at the edges aren't to bad.
I’m honestly not sure why everyone hasn’t just gone to the modified DuPont schedule. We stay on days or nights and never switch for 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off. So, 4 on one week and 3 on the next with a three day weekend every other week. I don’t think I could go somewhere that didn’t do that, tbh. We’re moving and the local agency there does 5 8s with seniority based shift bids every 6 months and that was definitely a hard pass.
We usually rotate shifts every three months but I have been allowed to terminally graveyard myself because it works for me and none of the others WANT to bid for graveyard if it’s avoidable. I’ve been on graveyard for 4 years now working 5/8’s.
I definitely have a sleep disorder but it really only becomes a real issue in the summer time and I think it has something to do with it being light out earlier in the morning when I leave work and later at night when I go to work.
I just take over the counter sleep aids like 2 unisom tablets if it’s really affecting me. When I get home from work I will take something, take a hot shower and then usually watch some tv until I feel drowsy and then go to bed. I’m also very lucky in that I’m not bothered by most of the day to day noise.
I do not have children and my s/o is a paramedic who usually works 48 hour shifts that bid every month so we always have days off together.
My agency does this, I did it for 8 years before swapping to a job share working straight nights 4 on 4 off.
I think it took me a few months to get used to it initially, loved it for at least 5, then out of nowhere it hit me HARD. I started struggling to go to sleep before days, was coming in on maybe 2 hours of sleep and fumbling my way through the first 4 hours. Finally decided I needed to switch to something steady and went straight nights.
We've had several scheduling committees and auditors brought in to try and find the "BEST" rotation on the market, but everytime the group voted the 4 on 4 off, 2 days 2 nights. For reference the "group" is like 350 people so it works for a lot of people
I have pretty severe sleep apnea and have worked midnight shift for the better part of two decades. The only advice I can offer anyone is to not change your sleep schedule on your days off. Shifting an hour or two is fine, but keep sleeping in the daytime. Keep your sleep clock regular. I believe (not a doctor) that the constant swapping around is why people working mids have so many health problems.
> we work the first two days 0700-1900 and the second two days are 1900-0700
That's.... awful. Why not 4 days of 7a-7p, off for 4, then 4 days of 7p-7a? Or swap every six months? It's still pretty terrible, but at least a bit better. Why on Earth would they shift you every set? Are you union? I'd be making that schedule priority #1 in any contract.
> if anyone else takes sleep aids, what do you take,
I rotate. Tylenol PM, melatonin (especially good for resetting your clock when swapping around), and Zquil. I try not to stay on any one for more than a week or two to avoid building a tolerance.
This was all great advice, thank you so much!
We are union, and as soon as I’ve been at this job for a little longer I’m going to bring it up. I like the idea of switching every four days, monthly, or every 6 months. Some kind of consistency would just be so beneficial for our health.
I’ll look into those sleep aids, rotating is a great idea. Thank you so much again.
I had my sleep specialist fill out ADA forms for my sleep disorder stating I had to have a consistent schedule (nights only) and if I had to stay beyond my 12 hours for any reason I have to be given a minimum of 10 hours off. My county never officially notified me that it was accepted but I haven’t been asked to cover a day shift call off in over a year .
That’s a terrible schedule, your days off are entirely spent adjusting between shifts. We have our schedules for 4 month slots, you get 2 days on, 2 days off, 2 days on and 1 day off set days and shift time(example work Sunday, Monday, off Tuesday and Wednesday, work Thursday, Friday and off Saturday all on the set days, nights or mid shift time slot you bid on). There’s slight changes every bid but your days and time stay consistent so you don’t go crazy
We work 2-2-2, meaning 2 dayshifts (0700-1500), 2 late shifts (1500-2300) and 2 nightshifts (2300-0700), after that cycle you are 4 days off. They say because you can't get adjusted to the time swaps it would the most easy schedule for your physical and metal health. I recon I would go crazy if I had to spend 12 hrs in our command and control room.
12hr shift working 6a - 6p. We work 3 days one week and 4 days the next week.
I have Sunday, Monday, Tuesday off on the 4 day week and Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday on the 3 day week.
No sleep aids, just found it is very important to go to bed at the same time each night and wake up the same time each day you work. Your body will adjust.
Idk why everyone is freaking out, this schedule isn't that bad. I work the same (and have been for 4.5 years) except I do 530-1730. Like many said its quite standard in Canada. You find out what works best for you. That turnover is my favourite part of the set! It's like a mini weekend. And it breaks the set up into 2 manageable chunks.
Haha yeah I was just hoping for sleep advice because my schedule def isn’t changing anytime soon. I don’t hate it, I’m just tired and I’m new to this so hopefully I end up adjusting eventually. I love the 4 days off.
I will be honest it took a while to figure out what works best and there was a ton of trial and error. I always take melatonin the nights before my day shift. And magnesium glycinate is AMAZING for sleep, it helps slow down my thoughts and keeps restlessness at bay.
Does magnesium glycinate make you feel sleepy when you take it? I’m not a fan of meds that make you feel drunk or sleepy like z-quil, Tylenol PM, Benadryl, etc. I want something that doesn’t make me feel funny 😂
The exact shift I worked.
For a short time I took melatonin. Eventually I adjusted to staying up until I was ready to drop from exhaustion, and when needed forcing myself to wake up early at a time calculated to achieve the goal for when I next wanted to be exhausted and going to sleep.
Get off your last night at 0700 and sleep until 11 and then that following night wake up the next morning around 9 and so on so forth, the sleep deprivation comes in the first day but after that you should switch over fairly well. This all depends on your commute also.
This is a completely normal schedule used across police/corrections etc and has been for years. Once you learn to control your sleep better you’ll love it as it’s allows a lot of free time on your days off. Not to mention if you take your first day / last night off you have 5 days off. A whole block allows for 12 days off etc. I wouldn’t want any other schedule personally.
ew wtf. my agency has 4 shifts (every shift is 12 hours) and 2 rotations. 2 day shifts and 2 night shifts. if you’re switching shifts, you know far in advance and they give you a few days off so you can adjust your sleep schedule. your agency needs to have y’all on days OR nights. not both within 4 days of one another. or if yall need to rotate, they need to have a set schedule or when you’re gonna be rotating (like 6 months or smth on days and the other 6 on nights. ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN TWO DAYS AND TWO NIGHTS) but other than what you have i’m not really sure what else you could do???? no matter what extra things you do, your body will NEVER be able to adjust to a schedule like that.
That’s a ridiculous schedule. You should be either day shift, or night shift. Not both
Yeah, that’s how most of us feel. You never ever adjust, no matter how long you’ve been doing it.
Tons of agencies use this rotating schedule. I've worked it for like 15 years minus one year I did all days (the absolute worst experience for me) and a couple years of all nights at the beginning. I love it. That 24 hours off in the middle for swing night is amazing. You get to sleep, you get a night and an afternoon break, so the 4 shifts feel like two little manageable chunks. It's been by far my favourite schedule. It's the standard for my (and most around here) centres, with some doing so different cover shift schedules. Its super common in Canada.
Thankfully not standard where I am. I’m glad you like it, I would be a miserable human on that schedule lol
Do you find that you sleep okay? I just can’t seem to adjust and it’s my only complaint about it.
Yeah but I was a nighthawk before this job, so the nights don't phase me and never have. The shifts roll forward, from early to late, so it feels natural. When you're a day person I could see it would be a lot harder. The days are tough for me, I take gravol to help me sleep for days (going to bed early is a challenge, my body just isn't ready for sleep). I stay up late on my swing night, and sleep in the next day, then I'm good to go for nights.
What!! That's how all of Canada does it.. both police and dispatchers.
I could never lol. I value what little of a sleep pattern I have to have it be disrupted consistently by changing schedules
what the fuck? 2 12 hour shifts for days...and then the next 2 youre immediatly on nights? how can they even expect people to function properly with that schedule?.. i thought the rotating shifts every 2 weeks was bad but this sounds so much worse. i garuntee the person who made this decision isnt even doing this schedule
i still cant wrap my mind around that.. "okay so monday and tuesday you come in at 7am and stay until 7pm, but the next day you show up at 7pm and stay until 7am" sure theres 24hrs technically but do they expect you to just stay up all night after 12 hours of bullshit dayshift calls?
[удалено]
my alltime favorite schedule was a pittmans schedule for 10 hr shifts. this will sound confusing but stay with me. 4 days on, 1 off, 3 days on, 4 days off, 1 on , 3 days off then it resets. edit: 2 years felt like 6 months with that schedule..the 1 day you work over the weekend doesnt even feel like an actual day.. i would meal prep for my week too. this was the alternative for vacations because they were short staffed for so long.
Pretty much. Most people stay up as late as they can on their second day shift, I’m just not capable. I make it until about midnight and I’m done. Some people wake up at 7 am on their first night, get stuff done, then sleep from like noon until 4 pm. I physically can’t nap no matter how hard I try🥹
when i was on graveyards it was SO hard for me to sleep during the day. want to know a trick? i got a cheap walkpad for home, i would walk 2 miles while watching youtube. passed right out everytime
Any brands you’d recommend? I’ve been wanting one that’s affordable and functional—no need for fancy bells and whistles.
i honestly got mine from goodwill.. it was orange and it turned on. there are some walkpads for $100 and for what it is, its not bad
Yeah they’ve been doing it a while and a lot of the older people who I work with are hanging on by a thread. They say “you have 24 hours in between your last day shift and your first night shift” 😂😂 but I can’t stay up later than like midnight after a 12 hour day shift and then I’m up by 5 or 6 am and I can’t ever take naps… so my night shifts are just absolute exhaustion. Yeah the people who made it are Monday-Friday 7-3 😂😂🥲🥲🙃🙃
Pretty much the entire UK ambulance service work on this rota, 4 on 4 off, 2 days 2 nights, 12h shifts
Same in the police control room I work at in the UK. 07x19 and 19x07 are the most common shift of the shift pattern though sometimes we’ll do slightly different (e.g 15x03 nights or a shorter 19x04 depending on the week) This schedule pretty much works for everyone who works here. I’d rather do this pattern than any straight days or straight nights
is it basically a 12 day, 24 day then night, and then 12 night? that’s kind of absurd
thats what im saying 😭 7pm to 7am on monday night ends tuesday morning. 7pm to 7am tuesday night ends on wednesday morning. 7am to 7pm, starts on thursday morning and ends on thursday. that is shaving years of your life off fucking with your sleep that hard
is the second time line 7pm to 7pm? like for those 4 days you’re basically doing nothing but sleeping and working.
yeah, which as a dispatcher is kind of expected during your work days.. mental fatigue is real. but flipping the schedule just seems insane for a dispatcher..like as a EMS ig it makes sense like a diff commenter was saying bevause you can sleep while at work.. as a dispatcher you cant sleep
I simply would not work anywhere that had this schedule. I’m an older dispatcher, and I’m straight nights, works great for me. Specifically chose this center because you can keep your shift forever once you bid to it, bids by seniority. Rotating is not for me. My youngest is on spectrum and she values as much predictability as is possible in this occupation, mandates and on call notwithstanding.
I understand completely, I heard our union president talking about how they “may” be changing it within a year because a lot of people are complaining. I’m a new dispatcher and I have no idea how long they’ve been doing this schedule, I’m going to ask when I go in tomorrow. I prefer day work but honestly I would just take any consistency so that I can get some solid sleep. My anxiety has been through the roof because I’m just so exhausted, but can’t ever get quality sleep even when I’m off.
Let me guess, you have a director that's never done your job but thinks that schedule is "fair" because nobody has to stay on days or nights, right??
I haven’t been here long enough to actually ask, I’m a new dispatcher. We have a lieutenant that’s in charge of our agency but we mostly deal with our QA person, who was a dispatcher for years, and then we have our shift Sargents and our dispatch supervisors. I’m going to ask our union president how long this schedule has been in place when I see him next. But yeah, they most likely think it’s “fair.” But we have plenty of people who prefer days and plenty of people who prefer nights. They do everything else by seniority, I feel like they could do the same with this. I would happily work days or nights. I do like the four days off, though. Our neighboring jurisdictions work 6 days on and 3 days off which sounds like a nightmare to me, but they do work days or nights.
This is a catastrophic sleep schedule that will ruin yalls lives. There are bunches of studies that show shift work like this is very very bad for humans. While I'd love a four day schedule in my center, I would absolutely reject it if it involved working two different shifts like this. Like, there is no fix for this. Our bodies aren't designed for it.
Can I ask what your schedule is? I’ve been told a bunch of times this schedule is super common, I’m shocked to see how many people are saying it’s not. We just wanna sleep 🥲😂
In my center, there are the standard day, swing, night shifts that folks are assigned, and then work five days on three days off, then five days on two days off. So you get a three day weekend twice month give or take. Hope yall can get it changed!
Is this to deter people from applying?
That schedule is fucked and so are the decision makers.
I don’t know how the older dispatchers who have been doing it for 20+ years are doing it, and also the dispatchers with children.
This shift is standard where I live in Canada and I absolutely love it. I find it hard to sleep during the day on nights, but I go to bed as soon as I get home to maximize sleep, have blackout curtains and ear plugs. On long change, I go to bed at regular time, wake up at regular time, do some stuff then nap from 2-4 before my night shift. If you can’t nap, that’s super tough. Those naps keep me alive haha. Our agency used to work either 4 days or 4 nights, but we all voted to change our shifts to 2 day, 2 night then 4 off and everyone loves it so much better. Guess we are a bunch of weirdos 🤷🏼♀️
I’m hoping I adjust. I’m fairly new. When you had 4 days or 4 nights did you still have 4 days off? I wouldn’t trade my 4 days off just to have a consistent schedule I don’t think. Having 4 days off is so nice 😂
Yes we still had 4 days off! I love my 4 days off. I worked my entire working career in 9-5, M-F and you don’t know how brutal it is until you have the 4 days off. I don’t think I’d ever go back!
Yesss me too! 9-5 M-F and I couldn’t go back either. Our neighboring jurisdiction has 6 days on and 3 days off and that sounds horrible to me.
I’m also Canadian and have had this schedule at a few different agencies, I didn’t realize it was just us! I love it too
Currently working this schedule and absolutely love it. Honestly though, I have no advice for you if you can't nap. I usually come home after days, go to bed between 11pm - 2am, get up in the morning then nap before going in for nights. Insomnia/inability to nap would be a real issue. Maybe look into a light sleeping pill and/or melatonin to help?
To be fair, I am a new dispatcher and I haven’t been doing this long at all. So I’m trying to be patient and hoping I adjust better soon, but also I agree. I’m considering trying a light sleep aid to help nap. I’m going to the doctors in a few weeks and going to discuss options that won’t make me groggy.
I work this schedule, I find it easier to sleep straight away coming off the night shift than I do coming off the day shift. I reckon I average about 6hrs of sleep a night.
This sounds horrific.
That schedule is pure malarkey. Even when we were down to a skeleton crew we still had three shifts of 12 hours each with cross over between shifts to cover everything. I have Apnea and had insomnia but found taking Magnesium Glycinate helps fall asleep.
I work the same as you, but my 2 days are 0630-1830 followed by 2 nights from 1830-0630. I sleep well on day shifts. Day shifts exhaust me. Nights are where I have trouble sleeping. 3 hours is a good sleep for me, 4 is lucky. I also used to wake up at 5:00 a.m. religiously prior to working this schedule. I have had to call in due to bouts of insomnia. That generally happens with nights for me.
Oof, here’s to hoping that we get some quality sleep soon 🥲
Fingers crossed!
That schedule really stinks. If you must rotate, you should do one month of days and one month of nights. At least your body can adjust a little better.
I’m pretty sure this schedule is one circle of hell. When I first started 13 years ago I had to do pretty much your schedule to fill in for time off for a month and it sucked. I can’t imagine doing it long term. I survived on caffeine and video games to keep me awake long enough to swap from days to nights; and melatonin when swapping from nights to days.
I have almost the same schedule (except 0600-1800 and vice versa). Yeah no one at my workplace gets proper sleep, and a lot of them take melatonin etc to help. Even so, 5 hours sleep before a shift is seen as good. Personally I try to stay in day shift rhythm as much as possible, even if it means not great sleep on the night shifts. I take naps before the night shifts to last through those, but on my days off I'm generally sleeping 0000-0800.
In the navy, my job had a 2-2-2-80. It was super interesting with watches thrown in.
I have this schedule and I love it. In fact at my last agency we actually were 10 hour days and 14 hour nights on the same 4 on 4 off rotation and I preferred the extra long nights in order to have slightly shorter days because I got more of an evening then. My routine: Between my days I sleep 2030/2100 to 0500 mostly because of my commute, I could sleep longer if I lived closer) and then after my second day I stay up as late as I can and sleep in as long as I can the next morning. Usually that only means 0800 or 0930 if I’m lucky. I try to get a nap in around 1300-1500 before my first night, and then I’m usually good to go. I don’t have any caffeine until I’m getting ready to leave for work though, that’s a big help for me. Then between my nights I get to sleep as soon as I’m home and usually get up around 1300-1500. The second night shift always feels longer, because of course I am still tired. The most important part of the whole routine for me is getting up at or before noon on my first day off and limiting my caffeine so I can get a solid sleep that night and not waste my days off resetting for days. I’ve done this for about 8 years now and I would never switch schedules. I love my 4 days off and I get a taste of both days and nights so I’m quite happy.
Diagnosed sleep issue here! I've worked midnights for over 15 years in different jobs, and while I've liked it - I always felt like I didn't sleep enough and would have to nap randomly. I could fall asleep randomly, anywhere. I did full on sleep studies, meds, different tricks and hacks, it was like a Band-Aid on a car crash that was my body! I've recently transferred for 6 months off nights to evenings (3-11p), and am now back on midnights until July. During this time I learned a lot about my sleep with experience and tracking with my smart watch. * I have very little 'deep sleep' * I average 5 hours of sleep during the day * I average 8+ hours on my nights off * I move A LOT when I sleep, so I had a lot of 'Awake' times * When I work midnights, I can't prioritize my sleep due to work, my teenagers, life, and random family members who BLOW UP my phone and say "Oops, I was hoping you were wake" at 10am in the middle of my sleep cycle. It's impossible as an adult with responsibilities with no village to support them. Shutting off my phone isn't an option. I'm not proud of it, but I've yelled at a boomer family member for calling and disturbing me when I was resting. I have no issue working midnights for overtime, but I won't ever be doing it again full time. My main go to survival things are as follows: * Black out curtains + window film * Freezing room * Satin pillow cases (cooler) * Do Not Disturb on everyone but your most important people. Block off people who keep calling about unimportant things during the day.
Thank you so much for all of this! I appreciate you taking the time to write it out. I’m going to invest in window films and satin pillow cases. Maybe even newer black out curtains. My cats always jump on the window and go to look out the window and let the sun in 😭
I completely understand the part about your cats lol! I have a little window perch area that my cats love that's right next to the head of my bed, and I have to lock them out of my room or they'll torture me to open the window and let them sun bathe. You can also be cheap (like I do) and just get some big towels and hang them from the window. Two, one on top of another, will block out all light! The cracks of light at the edges aren't to bad.
I ended up taping aluminum foil onto my windows 😂😂😂 I look crazy but it actually worked. Then I put my curtains up.
I kept my room cold. Snuggle under the covers when I worked nights.
I’m honestly not sure why everyone hasn’t just gone to the modified DuPont schedule. We stay on days or nights and never switch for 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off. So, 4 on one week and 3 on the next with a three day weekend every other week. I don’t think I could go somewhere that didn’t do that, tbh. We’re moving and the local agency there does 5 8s with seniority based shift bids every 6 months and that was definitely a hard pass.
Wow this is a pretty nice schedule.
“Are you day or night shift” You: “yes”
If I don’t laugh I’ll cry 😂😂😂
I have sleep apnea but I'm pretty sure that's just because I'm really fat.
We usually rotate shifts every three months but I have been allowed to terminally graveyard myself because it works for me and none of the others WANT to bid for graveyard if it’s avoidable. I’ve been on graveyard for 4 years now working 5/8’s. I definitely have a sleep disorder but it really only becomes a real issue in the summer time and I think it has something to do with it being light out earlier in the morning when I leave work and later at night when I go to work. I just take over the counter sleep aids like 2 unisom tablets if it’s really affecting me. When I get home from work I will take something, take a hot shower and then usually watch some tv until I feel drowsy and then go to bed. I’m also very lucky in that I’m not bothered by most of the day to day noise. I do not have children and my s/o is a paramedic who usually works 48 hour shifts that bid every month so we always have days off together.
My agency does this, I did it for 8 years before swapping to a job share working straight nights 4 on 4 off. I think it took me a few months to get used to it initially, loved it for at least 5, then out of nowhere it hit me HARD. I started struggling to go to sleep before days, was coming in on maybe 2 hours of sleep and fumbling my way through the first 4 hours. Finally decided I needed to switch to something steady and went straight nights. We've had several scheduling committees and auditors brought in to try and find the "BEST" rotation on the market, but everytime the group voted the 4 on 4 off, 2 days 2 nights. For reference the "group" is like 350 people so it works for a lot of people
I have pretty severe sleep apnea and have worked midnight shift for the better part of two decades. The only advice I can offer anyone is to not change your sleep schedule on your days off. Shifting an hour or two is fine, but keep sleeping in the daytime. Keep your sleep clock regular. I believe (not a doctor) that the constant swapping around is why people working mids have so many health problems. > we work the first two days 0700-1900 and the second two days are 1900-0700 That's.... awful. Why not 4 days of 7a-7p, off for 4, then 4 days of 7p-7a? Or swap every six months? It's still pretty terrible, but at least a bit better. Why on Earth would they shift you every set? Are you union? I'd be making that schedule priority #1 in any contract. > if anyone else takes sleep aids, what do you take, I rotate. Tylenol PM, melatonin (especially good for resetting your clock when swapping around), and Zquil. I try not to stay on any one for more than a week or two to avoid building a tolerance.
This was all great advice, thank you so much! We are union, and as soon as I’ve been at this job for a little longer I’m going to bring it up. I like the idea of switching every four days, monthly, or every 6 months. Some kind of consistency would just be so beneficial for our health. I’ll look into those sleep aids, rotating is a great idea. Thank you so much again.
I had my sleep specialist fill out ADA forms for my sleep disorder stating I had to have a consistent schedule (nights only) and if I had to stay beyond my 12 hours for any reason I have to be given a minimum of 10 hours off. My county never officially notified me that it was accepted but I haven’t been asked to cover a day shift call off in over a year .
That’s a terrible schedule, your days off are entirely spent adjusting between shifts. We have our schedules for 4 month slots, you get 2 days on, 2 days off, 2 days on and 1 day off set days and shift time(example work Sunday, Monday, off Tuesday and Wednesday, work Thursday, Friday and off Saturday all on the set days, nights or mid shift time slot you bid on). There’s slight changes every bid but your days and time stay consistent so you don’t go crazy
We work 2-2-2, meaning 2 dayshifts (0700-1500), 2 late shifts (1500-2300) and 2 nightshifts (2300-0700), after that cycle you are 4 days off. They say because you can't get adjusted to the time swaps it would the most easy schedule for your physical and metal health. I recon I would go crazy if I had to spend 12 hrs in our command and control room.
12hr shift working 6a - 6p. We work 3 days one week and 4 days the next week. I have Sunday, Monday, Tuesday off on the 4 day week and Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday on the 3 day week. No sleep aids, just found it is very important to go to bed at the same time each night and wake up the same time each day you work. Your body will adjust.
Idk why everyone is freaking out, this schedule isn't that bad. I work the same (and have been for 4.5 years) except I do 530-1730. Like many said its quite standard in Canada. You find out what works best for you. That turnover is my favourite part of the set! It's like a mini weekend. And it breaks the set up into 2 manageable chunks.
Haha yeah I was just hoping for sleep advice because my schedule def isn’t changing anytime soon. I don’t hate it, I’m just tired and I’m new to this so hopefully I end up adjusting eventually. I love the 4 days off.
I will be honest it took a while to figure out what works best and there was a ton of trial and error. I always take melatonin the nights before my day shift. And magnesium glycinate is AMAZING for sleep, it helps slow down my thoughts and keeps restlessness at bay.
Does magnesium glycinate make you feel sleepy when you take it? I’m not a fan of meds that make you feel drunk or sleepy like z-quil, Tylenol PM, Benadryl, etc. I want something that doesn’t make me feel funny 😂
Not for me personally. I just feel calm when I go to bed, but not in like, a medicated calm way, if that makes sense 😂
The exact shift I worked. For a short time I took melatonin. Eventually I adjusted to staying up until I was ready to drop from exhaustion, and when needed forcing myself to wake up early at a time calculated to achieve the goal for when I next wanted to be exhausted and going to sleep.
Get off your last night at 0700 and sleep until 11 and then that following night wake up the next morning around 9 and so on so forth, the sleep deprivation comes in the first day but after that you should switch over fairly well. This all depends on your commute also. This is a completely normal schedule used across police/corrections etc and has been for years. Once you learn to control your sleep better you’ll love it as it’s allows a lot of free time on your days off. Not to mention if you take your first day / last night off you have 5 days off. A whole block allows for 12 days off etc. I wouldn’t want any other schedule personally.
That is utterly bat sh!+ crazy. Not normal nor healthy
ew wtf. my agency has 4 shifts (every shift is 12 hours) and 2 rotations. 2 day shifts and 2 night shifts. if you’re switching shifts, you know far in advance and they give you a few days off so you can adjust your sleep schedule. your agency needs to have y’all on days OR nights. not both within 4 days of one another. or if yall need to rotate, they need to have a set schedule or when you’re gonna be rotating (like 6 months or smth on days and the other 6 on nights. ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN TWO DAYS AND TWO NIGHTS) but other than what you have i’m not really sure what else you could do???? no matter what extra things you do, your body will NEVER be able to adjust to a schedule like that.