r/unpopularopinion 1d ago

Evening shifts are superior to day time jobs.

First notice how I said “evening”. Such as starting hours from 3pm-4pm all the way to 11pm-12am.

Overnight would obviously be difficult but still having similar perks to evening shift admittedly.

Day shift 9-5 grind or even 7am to 3pm is immensely overrated. Waking up is always a hassle. Almost always feels like you didn’t get enough sleep even if you did sleep 6-8 hours when you gotta wake up at 6am. Then get ready and try to leave on time with not even being awake for me than an hour or two. Then deal with traffic, burning up gas and time. Need to make an appointment for the dentist? Gotta take PTO or just not get paid for those hours you aren’t at work. Or sacrifice valuable time on your days off. Then guess what? Traffic again driving home.

Evening shifts you can sleep in, get your appointments done well before you have to go into work. Traffic is almost always way better (especially coming home) and you never have to worry about taking time off for petty things you can do during the morning or noon time. It allows for so much more freedom and flexibility than day time work hours while still feeling like you have a normal working schedule (to an extent). Management is also scarce during afternoon or overnight hours so you aren’t as micromanaged either in a lot of cases.

Now obviously you have people who have kids or whatever that want to be off afternoons for that, or people WFH or live 5 mins from work etc…there is always exceptions to the rule. But overall, evening work shifts run supreme.

300 Upvotes

142 comments sorted by

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95

u/Laz3r_C 1d ago

unpopular. upvote

49

u/Bravetrail 21h ago

The only thing I don't like about later shifts is waiting for the shift to start. Always looking at the clock and figuring out how much time I have left before going to work.

5

u/crumble-bee 9h ago

I used to work Monday to Friday 4-10. Woke up early, spend my morning writing, worked out, spent the rest of the day doing whatever I wanted and then left for work. Pretty sweet.

2

u/slugsred 4h ago

I did this, spent all day dreading spending 8 hours at work, came home too tired to enjoy anything. At least I quit drinking, couldn't do it before work and it sucked after work.

2

u/Championnats91 7h ago

I agree. I have a night shift tomorrow and when do i eat dinner? When do i shower and get dressed for work? At least if its early, you get up, do your business then time is free after work

20

u/BackupAccount193 23h ago

As a night shift worker, absolutely agree 3-11pm is the shift I want most

70

u/generic-username45 23h ago

I've worked first, second, and third shift. Second shift is by far the worst. Unless you just don't want to see your family and friends or enjoy life. Everything social happens while you are at work. The only people you are seeing is other depressed second shift people.

You're opinion is terrible and you should be ashamed. Have you every worked second or third shift?

33

u/LilLasagna94 23h ago

I’ve worked them all.

Currently I work 3pm-12am Monday through Friday. I haven’t had a better balance in my entire life. Still see friends on weekends just fine. Don’t have to wake up early, don’t have to take PTO for Petty things, management isn’t up my sleeve all day, and I have time to study for certifications since it’s so slow.

It’s literally the best.

12

u/mrw4787 22h ago

Damn you’d have to go to sleep like right when you got home. I would hate that. Either that or sleep until noon and miss most of the day. What a shitty opinion lol 

22

u/LilLasagna94 22h ago

Why do I have to sleep until noon? I get home around 12:30 and I don’t go to bed until 1:30am or 2am. Wake up at 9am. It’s not that big of a deal lol

3

u/Indy800mike 12h ago

That's like a day shifter going to bed at 5:30/6. One afternoon shift I always had a rule. Get to sleep before the sun comes up or your going to have a bad day lol.

10

u/vcwalden 18h ago

I'm so glad you found your happy place at work. On the other hand I so dislike the people who work 2nd shift where I work. They can't make it to work on time because they had other things they had to get done, there mad because they can't attend social affairs in the evenings - after work dinners/social time/etc, they never get to go do fun things - going to the beach/out door sports/etc, they miss all family functions - family dinners/after school events/etc, they can't go see their children's programs - sports/concerts/school holiday events/etc, traffic made them late, it always takes them longer at appointments, and the list goes on. 2nd shift people never are happy and they always tend to complain they are tired! I'm sure my comments are unpopular but on a daily basis I here complaining and excuses every single day. And the complaints I here the most, "why does everything happen on my days off so I have no time to relax?" or, "why does everything happen on the days I have to work so I can't go do anything fun?" or "why can't others plan things earlier in the day?"

Again, I'm happy you found your happy place.

7

u/Indy800mike 12h ago

I've done 3-11 as a single guy in my 20s it was amazing. As a dad with a kid... No deals. I'd never do it again. We're getting close to school age. I'd never see my kid once they are in school. Miss all the sports and dinners. Then cram everything into sat/sun. No way. Afternoon shift is for single people.

1

u/vcwalden 10h ago

It's the 2 single twenty-somethings I have the most problems with... Infact I've been known to go off on them because they can't make it to work on time for 2-3p. They are always late and complain pitifully about everything they can't go and do along with what they miss out on. And the snap-back to me is, "what's your problem? You don't want overtime?" My reply is, "No, I made it to work on time and I have a life after work!" Two guys, who used to love working 3-11, moved to 11-7 to get away from them and another guy moved to 8-4 to not have to put up with them.

I'm glad it works for some but it's not a good sit where I work most days.

0

u/LilLasagna94 11h ago

I have a good friend that has 2 kids. He works evenings and he and his wife have no complaints. Both kids are in sports too in middle school. He hates the day time grind and his wife supports him in how he feels

3

u/Probate_Judge 18h ago

Additionally:

You have daytime appointments like dental or health or legal?

You have to get up early, often by several hours.

Unless you're one of those freaks who goes to sleep immediately when you get home and still get up at like 8 a.m. (it's normal to stay up a few hours after one's shift, to wind down, and to sleep before work to be fresh instead of exhausted)

With graveyards(~12-8am) at least you can schedule your appts for 8:30 or 9 and it's not so bad. Even if you stay up till noon, you can get 8 hours and still see some normal evening socializing or TV.

Mids(afternoon-midnight) usually the worst that way. Graveyards can be the same situation if you don't get to pick your appointments and get like a noon-3pm mandatory safety training or some such. (Military was bad about this, though supervisors were often lenient when that was unavoidable and would give comp time, eg "You can still get your 8hrs sleep, Come in 4 hours late")

3

u/YodelingVeterinarian 22h ago

Dang who pissed in your cheerios

1

u/generic-username45 13h ago

Second shift

1

u/TricellCEO 7h ago

See, I don’t have a social life, hence why I enjoyed my time on evening shift. I, like OP, have worked days, nights, and evenings, and evenings were the best for sleep. However, nights were best overall.

-1

u/contentbookworm 22h ago

This is exactly it. You work and odd time and can't have any sort of social life, I only needed up hanging out with coworkers that worked the same time frame.

And then you aren't fully functional during normal hours. I only worked second shift so I could be in school during the day (I do not recommend it).

8

u/International-Okra79 23h ago

I agree 100% If I was single I'd work this shift all the time. Sleeping in hitting the gym and then going to work was the best feeling ever.

25

u/TheHumbleDiode 1d ago

I wake up at 5:30 AM feeling great. I'm usually in bed by 9, asleep by 10 at the latest.

I have 2.5 solid hours to work out, get ready, make breakfast for my wife and daughters.

I live 7 minutes from the office, so I get in between 8:30 and 9 and leave between 4:30 and 5. I'm home in time to help making dinner, eat, play with my kids.

I honestly love it. There is a reason why this became the norm for family men.

8

u/LilLasagna94 1d ago

That’s the big thing, living 7 mins from the office is a game changer for sure.

Though, I still wouldn’t want to be asleep by 9. Makes those nights when you are out having fun harder to stay awake and not feel tired. Plus it messes up the sleep cycle more imo then if you slept say 1am-8am or 9am

9

u/TheHumbleDiode 23h ago

True, but I'm at a different stage in life I guess. The little ones are up before 7 no matter what, so if I stay up past midnight I pay for it severely. I just don't do it lol.

I'm glad the evening shift works out for you btw. Someone's gotta do it!

1

u/LilLasagna94 23h ago

I’m in IT so yeah someone usually has to be there around the hours. But I see myself staying evening shift indefinitely unless I have kids. But then again that’s only cause society has kids going to school early which is a debatable issue on whether that’s good or not too lol

3

u/mrw4787 23h ago

Not everyone is “out having fun” lol. A lot of us prefer to chill at home 

2

u/LilLasagna94 22h ago

I prefer to be home. Which supports the evening shift life even more

1

u/crumble-bee 9h ago

lol now switch that to an hour+ commute.

1

u/TheHumbleDiode 7h ago

No. Short commute was one of my criteria when searching for jobs.

13

u/BrooklynNotNY 1d ago

I’ll take day shift any day of the week. I like getting up and taking care of business so I can do whatever the rest of the day. I don’t like having something impending on my schedule like that. I hated afternoon classes in college for the same reason.

4

u/LilLasagna94 23h ago

I never have that feeling.

Personally it feels so nice being able to wake up at 8am and then saying fuck it and going back to sleep for another hour. Then get up, eat breaky and go to the gym. Come home, shower, relax, then off to work when it’s quiet and not as busy. It hits

11

u/BrooklynNotNY 23h ago

I can’t relax knowing I have something to do later in the day. I would end up sitting around counting down until it’s time to do that thing.

4

u/surSEXECEN 23h ago

Do you have kids? I’d prefer to be a night owl and work the evening shift, but then I’d never see my family. Day shift allows me to spend more time with them.

0

u/LilLasagna94 23h ago

No kids. But if I did have kids I’d probably forced out of the evening shift life by the wife lol

1

u/mrw4787 23h ago

I have all those feelings of happiness and coziness but after I get off work at 2pm. Then I have a nice evening and a great sleep. Different strokes, I guess. I would die working night shift 

5

u/UsedandAbused87 22h ago

Sleep in? No, your schedule just adjusts. You are just off setting hours in one direction

3

u/eat_yo_mamas_ambien 20h ago

Depends on your living circumstances. If you're with roomates on different schedules, forget it. If you need to be there to take kids to school or make dinner for a spouse who works in the daytime, forget it. If you have frequent needs to deal with doctors or the bank or anyone else who isn't open past 6, forget it. If there's construction going on in your neighborhood or someone wants to mow their lawn or the mailman is throwing a package at your door or your upstairs neighbors are vacuuming, don't ask them not to do that at 11 in the morning because it's your sleep time, that's not reasonable and they can't be expected to change.

Unless you live alone in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, you need to take a lot of precautions to sleep through the day that amount to 1) sealing yourself up in a nearly soundproof chamber with ear plugs 2) having someone who will be responsible for waking you up if there really is an emergency (don't want to sleep through a fire alarm or your wife calling you from the side of the road, do you?) It's not viable for most people.

2

u/vcwalden 18h ago

You are very right. I'm awake about 4a every morning. I get to have quiet time to myself. Out the door about 6:05a. I never here the trash man, no mail man nor other deliveries, no construction sounds, no landscaping noise. I leave work at 3:45p, run a couple of errands and home by 4:45p. I can spend time with my So and children, do volunteer work, go to evening events - concerts/sporting events/etc, out to dinner with family and friends, go to the beach for a couple of hours, take the dog for a nice walk, have dinner at a reasonable time, wind down in the evening with a good book or movie, be in bed about 9ish. At the very worst of it all I make an appointment (Dr, etc) late in the day and take off from work an hour or so early. I really don't feel like I miss out on life at all.

5

u/Zestran 20h ago

Eh, it really depends. I worked 3pm -11pm for about 4 years and it got to the point where I wasn’t able to have any social life cuz evenryone I know was either asleep or at work when I’d have free time

5

u/schw4161 12h ago

Very unpopular, so upvoted. This is something I used to tell myself when I worked late night restaurant shifts (9pm-4am) to make myself feel better about it. Once I got promoted into a position that worked day time hours (7am-3pm), I never looked back when I realized how much better day shifts are.

1

u/LilLasagna94 11h ago

I’ve worked them all and evening shift is better by far.

Day time is better than overnight though. So, in order

  1. Evening shift life
  2. Day time shift
  3. Night time shift

8

u/huevosyhuevos 23h ago

Fuck yeah, any off hours shifts are good and they often pay more

5

u/LilLasagna94 23h ago

More relaxed too in many cases

4

u/coderedmountaindewd 22h ago

I’ve worked every variety of shifts possible and the swing shift (3:00pm-11:00pm) was my least favorite because it’s prime social time. 75% of get togethers, parties, dinners, game nights, along with concerts, sporting events, ceremonies etc, all happen in that time range. The only places that are open when you get off work are bars that are winding down and 24 dinners like Waffle House. Working evenings is one of the most isolating things I’ve ever experienced

3

u/Lostinthestarscape 22h ago

Honestly I always loved 11-7. Late enough start that I could literally have gone to bed even at 5am, and still manage a solid 4-4.5 hours of sleep (maybe even 5 if I don't mind rushing to get to work). End at 7 but no traffic home so only get back like 1.5-2 hours later than if I worked 9-5 (and get home at 6, maybe even later).

2-10 was a solid runner up, but then I'm going to bed at 5 or 6 am every morning and it fucks with my weekends.

8-4 sucks and 7-3 is terrible for me.

3

u/NeitherMixture2744 23h ago

I love my evening shift job and I only have to work 3-4 days a week. Morning would suck because I hate waking up early and the traffic from 3-6 pm is not worth it

3

u/Vincomenz 14h ago

I think it just matters what stage of life you're in. When I was younger and up all night anyways, then night shift was the way to go for me. Now that I'm older and have a family, day shift is a must. If I worked nights I would almost never see anyone in my family. Besides, my internal clock wakes me up at 5am no matter what, so waking up for a morning shift is no issue at all.

3

u/MmmmmmmBier 12h ago

I had a job once from 6am-3pm. It was almost like having a day off every day.

1

u/LilLasagna94 11h ago

I once had a job where I worked those same hours.

Didn’t like it because I felt like I had to be gearing up mentally and going to bed by 9pm-10pm. Hated that feeling 5 days a week

1

u/MmmmmmmBier 8h ago

I was young then, just living and partying.

2

u/Special_Hedgehog8368 23h ago

I liked working evenings when I worked in retail. I'm not a morning person, so being able to sleep in and wake up at the time I wanted to was great.

2

u/the_real_reddit0r 23h ago

I took 4 10 hour shifts at my job instead of 5 8’s. I felt like I needed a day to run errands because my schedule was 8-5 and I couldn’t do anything I needed to do without taking a day off. Also I save about 15 minutes in traffic both ways with my 4 10’s.

2

u/PrizeFaithlessness37 22h ago

I pulled several weeks of 3-11pm at a high school summer job. I hated every minute of it.

2

u/P1zzadoc 22h ago

I work evening shifts and I loathe them. Feels like I'm just waiting to work all day

2

u/jonnythefoxx 16h ago

Upvote because fuck that. Home in time for dinner everyday rules.

1

u/LilLasagna94 11h ago

Every morning feels like a weekend to me. Also, I WFH 1-2 days a week. So it really isn’t a big deal

2

u/DealerIllustrious307 14h ago

Being an hour or two off of the 9-5 schedule is amazing. Less traffic, less waiting in line at lunch time.

2

u/donaldxr 12h ago

I work 2-3am to 8-10am(it fluctuates depending on need) and the benefits are somewhat similar. I really enjoy getting off work and starting my day as normal. I like not having to deal with traffic to and from work. It’s basically a ghost town on my way to work. I live 10 minutes from my job so I just need to wake up 45 minutes before my shift. I’ve even messed up and woken up 20 minutes before my shift and still made it to work on time 😅. I also don’t need to miss work for any type of appointment and the stores are also quiet in the morning so I don’t have to deal with crowds.

The only abnormal thing is needing to sleep early(5-6pm) but I’ve gotten used to it. This means no late football games or evening holiday gatherings unless I’m off the next day.

My old job had shifts from 5am-2pm and I think that hit the sweet spot for good work-life balance.

2

u/OldSnazzyHats 22h ago

Nah.

This entirely depends on one’s lifestyle.

I’m a night person as it is, my most creative energies always peak in the afternoon - I sure as hell have zero desire to waste that at work. I’d rather get work out of the way right when I’m up.

2

u/lol_camis 22h ago

I'll admit, you made some decent points. Especially making appointments/doing things that are only open during business hours.

Here's my counter: waking up early becomes easy and natural when you do it long enough. Like for a few weeks or a month. My current job's official starting time is 8, but I start as early as I can (I'm a journeyman in the trades so it really depends on when my jobsite is willing to have me there). During summer months especially, I'll naturally be up at 5 or 530 and then have to keep myself occupied until 7 when I can leave for work.

Secondly, the biggest benefit, is that I'm off work when most other people are off work. Which maximizes my ability to hang out with friends and stuff. I remember being younger, like teens and early 20s, everybody had some different crappy job with different crappy hours and it became a real pain or organized time with any more than one other person

1

u/nahvocado22 23h ago

Unpopular opinion for sure but I absolutely agree. Love my 2nd and 3rd shifts

1

u/EcstasyCalculus 23h ago

I more or less agree with you on all these points, except there's one thing keeping me from committing to night work: everything fun that happens during that time, like a game on TV or a concert or a party, I'd have to miss because of work.

1

u/LilLasagna94 23h ago

Just watch it at work lol

1

u/Ayyy-yo 23h ago

I worked 4 to midnight for many years. I literally had two lives it was awesome provided I went to bed as soon as work was over. (Work from home).

I would go to sleep by 1230am and be up for 8am. Get a ton of stuff done, worked out regularly etc. good times

2

u/LilLasagna94 23h ago

Literally what my situation is. Only I WFH 1-2 days a week instead. Usually sleep between 2am and 9am ish. It’s such choice lol

2

u/Ayyy-yo 23h ago

Yeah my best friend was a nurse so often he was off work during the day too so we would hit the beach sometimes during the day after the gym then I would just power through work. Literally the best years of my life

1

u/RebeccaMCullen 23h ago

Eh, the commute home is questionable, as the bus that runs closest to my house runs once an hour and is a 10-15 walk or a $10 can ride. 

1

u/mrw4787 23h ago

Even when I was a kid I would wake up at 4am. It’s just how my body is. Not everyone is the same as you. 

1

u/Responsible_Lake_804 22h ago

Agreed. I’m a mid-morning person and if I’m tired in the afternoon, I’d rather be slacking off and getting paid to be tired. Then close up, go home and right to bed.

1

u/Sonic10122 22h ago

I loved evening shifts in retail. It was the absolute best.

Now in a more corporate environment (IT) and with a kid, weekends are preferred. I get a 4/10 schedule so I have an extra day off, the weekends are slow enough to where I can putter about and see my kid sometimes (work from home), and two weekdays make sure I don’t lose my edge and become completely useless like some evening/overnight people I’ve worked with.

1

u/Fists_full_of_beers 22h ago

Nope, I've worked every shift and I'll take getting off at 230 pm over anything lol

1

u/SpaceCowboyDark 22h ago

You get my upvote for being unpopular. My cousin has been on this shift for years and he hates it.

1

u/ExtendedMacaroni 21h ago

Thank you for your service. I refuse to work evening shifts so someone’s gotta

1

u/FatboyChuggins 21h ago

But they you can’t attend night events or concerts and the like

1

u/New_Solution9677 21h ago

Honestly. I kinda agree. It sucks the world revolves around the 9-5

1

u/jolliffe0859 21h ago

As a morning person I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. I bounce out of bed every morning when my alarm goes off at 630, and havnt slept past 8 in years

1

u/twizt0r 20h ago

at one time, my work shift was 12 (noon) to 9pm. and it was glorious. plenty of time to go out and party till the bars closed, or hit up all the stores since there were so few customers, or rven catch a late night dinner out.
then two things happened. 1. i got old and stopped partying until 3 am (and so did my friends). 2. COVID and all the 'late night' places started closing early.

1

u/oldveteranknees 20h ago

I’m with you OP.

However, the ONE downside to evening shifts is that if you live in an area where 75%+ of the population works a day shift, your social life WILL suffer.

I worked shift work when I lived in Vegas and it was awesome because every off day was like a Friday night and most Vegas locals work shift work. Things were catered to shift work (supermarkets were 24 hours, restaurants were open late/eary af, industry nights were ubiquitous).

However, living in the DMV is the polar opposite. Everyone here works the same day shift, so good luck meeting your friends to do anything lol. You’ll miss dinners, cool events, etc. all because you’re still at work.

1

u/softbum 20h ago

Do you have friends? Do you ever see them?

1

u/LilLasagna94 11h ago

Every weekend i see friends.

Working evening during the week encourages me to actually improve my skills in IT with studying. Since I have no distractions during the week.

Also, I typically don’t depend on social interactions as much as the average person. I need 1 day a week to hangout with friends and I’m fine otherwise.

1

u/Davey-Cakes 19h ago

I work 1-10 and don’t mind it at all. 12-9 is sweet spot though.

1

u/freakyoat 19h ago

Pros and cons to every shift . I personally liked my 6am-2pm schedule, and my 5am-1pm schedule i lovedd. Once i got pass pulling myself out of bed i was ready to tackle the day , and after awhile i just got used to it. I Also love getting off at 1-2pm and having the whole evening and night to do whatever. There are some percs to 3-4pm schedules it just feels so longggg for some reason!! With the morning shift by the time 11am rolls around feels like my days is already wrapping up.

1

u/madeat1am 18h ago

I loved the morning milking for cows so much

Easier fo sleep at 7am then 6pm

1

u/optmsrhyme 18h ago

I work 2-10:30 pm. It’s awful.

1

u/Manjorno316 16h ago

What's superior depends on you as an individual and how you live your life.

It might be better for you but way worse for others.

1

u/Anon419420 16h ago

If you’re single or have a social life that revolves around getting brunch then sure. Otherwise, I’ll stick to my normal hours.

1

u/morbid333 15h ago

Honestly, when I switched jobs and was working 8am-3pm, I found it more relaxing to have my nights to myself.

Then again, my precious job was a split shift, (9am-2pm, then 5pm-9pm) so maybe that's not a fair comparison.

1

u/igomhn3 15h ago

Damn, it must be nice to not have friends and family you want to see. Lucky!

2

u/LilLasagna94 11h ago

I see friends every weekend, and family every other weekend. This shift also encourages taking advantage of my free time since I don’t have social distractions as much during the week.

Your entire life shouldn’t be based on socialization. Unless you’re content with where you’re at in life I guess. But some people want to grind and build more skills to go further in life 🤷🏼‍♂️

1

u/igomhn3 10h ago

Your entire life shouldn’t be based on socialization. Unless you’re content with where you’re at in life I guess. But some people want to grind and build more skills to go further in life

lol yeah bro, your entire life should be about work 😂

  1. I'm fortunate enough to be able to prioritize friends and family over work at this point in my life.
  2. What does the shift have to do with building skills? If anything, day shift is better for climbing the ladder since you get more facetime with important people.

1

u/LilLasagna94 10h ago

You’re missing the point. Most people I know that complain about not having enough money or their shitty job are the same people who go out every other night and every weekend constantly.

Most people in life refuse to acknowledge that you have to go through phases in your life where you have to stop going out as much with friends, if you want to have what you want. So most never get there. But again, if you are willing to sacrifice that and prioritize socializing your entire life, that’s your choice.

  1. Good for you, but evening shift isn’t a death sentence to social life like you and others think. If it is, you don’t have a good group of friends.

  2. You work at a shitty place then. I’ve got promoted by managers I have only seen 4 times in the year I’ve been there.

1

u/RevolutionNo4186 15h ago

I mean the biggest difference is, do you want to go home straight to bed or go home and relax, I’m currently 7-5, if I happen to go to sleep early, I wake up early and it’s as if I did a evening shift

1

u/LilLasagna94 11h ago

I don’t know why people feel as if you got to go straight to bed right away. I’m home around 12:30am when I don’t work from home and I’m asleep by 1:30am or 2am. So I have an hour and half to do whatever. Up at 9am

Also, isn’t sleeping relaxing? Lol

1

u/RevolutionNo4186 4h ago

Because commute and getting ready in the morning, but that varies per person

Sleep is relaxing but that’s not me consciously doing an activity to let loose like catching up on reading or gaming or practicing the piano, etc etc

1

u/LumosNox116 15h ago

I prefer morning 7am to 3pm I get the ready of the day to hang out at home and with my kid after she gets out of school. When I closed all the time 11am to 7:30pm I did not get to hang out with her long.

1

u/se69xy 15h ago

I also work 2nd shift for much the same reasons (plus the shift differential pay is a bonus). The only thing I’d like to add is one needs to get to bed soon after their shift ends. No staying up all night watching tv, playing video games. I am asleep 39 minutes after I get home or end of my shift when I WFH (4-10’s hybrid schedule). My co-worker stays up until 5-6 am and sleeps the daylight away.

1

u/nyhm377 14h ago

I was on those 3 to midnights for over a decade. I couldn't fall asleep after work, so I was up until 6am, conducting my life as one would. Make dinner, maybe do some chores. Try and get tired. Then I'd sleep until 2ish and get up for work. It worked on some level, but it made ANY social gathering absolute hell to attend. Im glad I'm 9 to 5 now.

1

u/LilLasagna94 11h ago

Yeah that’s wild to me. Unless I have a random spout of insomnia I’m asleep by 2am generally and awake by 9am. Weekends I sleep more. But the insomnia isn’t tied to the shift, I’ve had random phases of that throughout my entire life

1

u/BeastieBeck 14h ago

Ah, I miss the late shift from 12-20 h.

1

u/malaka201 14h ago

Me and my wife work 4 to midnight and it's pretty legit.

1

u/NF_99 13h ago

I work night shift 7pm-7am and prefer them to day shift

1

u/Positive-Avocado-881 13h ago

My last job had a second shift and the guys who worked it always complained about missing everything social during the week. It’s good for people in school or who have kids and a partner who works in the morning.

1

u/Blankenhoff 12h ago

I realized that no matter which one im currently doing, i will always find a moment where i miss the other.

1

u/vanastalem 12h ago

In high school I was fine working until 1am or whatever and started work in the 4pm-6pm range. I'm not sure it'd work for me as well now.

1

u/glasgowgeg 11h ago

It allows for so much more freedom and flexibility than day time work hours while still feeling like you have a normal working schedule

Not really, it severly hampers your mid-week socialisation opportunities.

You pretty much only have Saturday/Sunday to socialise with any friends who work a standard Mon-Fri dayshift.

1

u/LilLasagna94 11h ago

Yeah, I see nothing wrong with that. Why do people feel the urge to socialize every day or every other day? I’m perfectly fine texting and calling friends during the week while I have no social distractions during the weekdays to study and better myself. Then dedicate the entire weekend to just seeing friends in person and not worrying about work or studying.

But if you need constant social interaction I guess you don’t see that perspective 🤷🏼‍♂️

1

u/glasgowgeg 10h ago

Why do people feel the urge to socialize every day or every other day?

I never said you had to, I said it limits your opportunities.

If there's an event on a weekday evening, you need to take work off, or miss out.

Someone who works dayshift or weekends doesn't have to. You have less opportunities than others.

1

u/brak-0666 10h ago

I worked 3-11 most of my career and while it's a killer on the social life it's great for getting enough sleep and getting things done during the day.

1

u/Aggressive-Share-363 10h ago

Found the evening person

1

u/Old_Goat_Ninja 10h ago

Evening shifts are the worst possible shift, but if you like them, well, that’s nice.

1

u/Alternative_Rent9307 10h ago

Because you’d never get to jam with the Sultans Of Swing

1

u/Unable_Oil_9326 10h ago

No I wouldn't get anything done if I know that I have to work at 2/3pm. I prefer starting early and leaving early. Then I can gym and avoid traffic

1

u/penguin_stomper 10h ago

Having it be already dark when I got off work was soul-crushing.

Go to bed on time and you get enough sleep. This is why so many adults go to bed "early" at 9 PM.

Having mornings "free" for appointments is not a lot better when you normally sleep until 11 AM, so you have to sacrifice sleep for them.

1

u/Brandwin3 10h ago

Yep this is unpopular lol. I love my current hours as a teacher.

Even when I was in college I disliked the evening shift. I worked at Jimmy Johns and when I was a manager we had two shifts, opening and closing. Open was 6-2 and close was 2-10ish depending on how quickly you cleaned the store. I was always more productive when I opened, because I would get off and be able to get all my appointments and stuff done before 5 and then have the evening to myself.

When I closed I would sleep in and then lay in bed so I wasn’t getting out of bed until 10, giving me 4 hours until I had to work. After doing productive stuff and getting food and factoring in the commute to work I would get like an hour or two max to myself.

I really felt like I had more time in the day when I worked early because I was forced to get up, where when I worked late I would spend an extra couple hours in bed

1

u/MichiganMayhem1981 10h ago

Unless you work piece rate like me. I go in at 4 am. And out by 8.

1

u/BoxcarOO62 9h ago

I don’t know how anyone could possibly enjoy nights over second. I’ve worked all three and it’s very clearly: days > second >>>>> nights.

1

u/not_will_mackenzie 9h ago

I used to work as a chef in a restaurant that was open all day but was busiest for breakfast and dinner, so I never worked a full day but was scheduled for either a morning or evening shift. Fully agree. Those evening shifts were so great

1

u/Present-Loss-7499 9h ago

LOL. An actual unpopular opinion. Congrats. Still laughing at “waking up is a hassle”. How old are you? 😂

1

u/Shigy 8h ago

I take your point on errands/appointments but what about socializing?

1

u/KristyCat35 8h ago

It does have advantages, especially not having to wake up early.

But I not that much like evening schedule. I feel like I cannot normally relax, I always count how many free hours left.

1

u/igomhn3 8h ago

Congratulations on finding your niche. Personally I wouldn't consider evening shift for less than double salary but to each their own.

1

u/LoneByrd25 7h ago

Worked all shifts in my time.

Night shift - worst for your health

Evening shift - worst for your soul

Evenings are when your family and friends are getting together to do things. Especially on Fridays. Working evenings suck

1

u/millos15 7h ago

Not biologically no

2

u/LilLasagna94 4h ago

You’re thinking night shift work. That does impact you biologically. Evening doesn’t.

1

u/millos15 4h ago

Oops.

1

u/TricellCEO 7h ago

I agree! However, I think nights are superior to both.

1

u/Angelskaya 6h ago

I've worked evening shift for 11 years and I really hate it. Been hard on my relationships and my health. Can't stand having a dark cloud over my head all day before I go to work. Sure, having time to get stuff done during the day is nice but it always becomes "do I have enough time to get this done, get ready for work, and get to work on time?" And then I get home late and don't have any energy left to do the hobbies I want to do.

I had to get a second job recently that's in the morning and God do I love getting work out of the way first thing in the day.

2

u/DaisyCutter312 3h ago

Spectacularly unpopular opinion.

Evening/swing shifts make you feel like you do nothing but work and sleep.

1

u/fondue4kill 1h ago

I like doing my grocery shopping after work. And can’t do that working that kind of shift

1

u/dragonsfire14 33m ago

Take my upvote. Second shift is the worst in my opinion. I had a great WFH job with 9-5:30 hours and left because they switched me to second. It felt like work ate up the whole day and I’d spend the whole morning dreading work.

1

u/Uhhyt231 23h ago

The solution to this is wfh not evening shifts

1

u/LilLasagna94 23h ago

Funnily enough I WFH 1-2 days a week

1

u/Uhhyt231 23h ago

So what are you talking about?

1

u/LilLasagna94 23h ago

Well WFH still doesn’t mean you have all the perks. You can still be micromanaged and it can still be busy if you’re working during the day.

1

u/Uhhyt231 23h ago

You can have a bad boss with any schedule

1

u/Naos210 1d ago

I don't drive, so shifts that end at night aren't great for me. Plus, I prefer getting work over with. I don't like having to think about work all day. 

2

u/LilLasagna94 1d ago

Interestingly enough a lot of people who have insomnia sleep better with having evening shifts.

I think knowing that you don’t have to get up at any specific time in the morning and not until afternoon really relieves a lot of the anxiety and “Sunday scaries” people have.

Your take is valid too

1

u/LordGrantham31 23h ago

Yeah not owning a car means you basically can't go out after 8 pm without relying on expensive private rideshares. If I don't leave my gym at 7.40 pm, I can't get home directly on a bus. I have to take another bus and then walk a mile to get home.

1

u/Specialist-Ear1048 22h ago

Nahhhhh I hated my life when I had an evening job. The money was great but the hours drained my soul. Fuck that.