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Working in Night Shifts: To Be or Not To Be

As the big wide world comes to work together, time zones merge into one another and the workplace becomes a twenty four hour on center of activity. In the opportunity to choose your hours of work besides the traditional 9-5, lay great advantages as well as several disadvantages. Let’s have a quick look into both. Knowing this one can conclude if he is prepared for working in night shift or not.

pros and cons of working night shift
Image Courtesy: Jcomp / Freepik

 

yes The Pros of Night Shift Work yes

 

1. Respite from Typical Rush Hour Traffic

If you happen to be in the category of people that are worn out by spending long hours on the road in slow moving traffic, working in a night shift would take one major stress factor out of your life.

2. Greater Freedom and Independence at Work

Hate being micro-managed? Pick a non-conventional work shift and you might be able to escape the supervision of that annoying boss who’s around during the day.

3. Fills Up Your Money Bags Faster

Well, let’s face the truth: a majority of people are reluctant to work at ‘odd hours’. The result – companies offer more money for night shifts as an incentive. So if you are at that time of life when you need to make money fast, or simply if money motivates you immensely, go for a shift that pays more.

4. Free Time During the Day for Pursuing Studies

If work is a necessity while you pursue your education, a night shift will leave your day free to go back to school.

5. Wider Range of Available Jobs

A lot of job openings are solely intended at workers open to shift work. If you start taking them into account, the pool of jobs available to you naturally widens.

6. Lesser Liability towards Attending Meetings

In some workplaces, meetings can be a real waste of time. And if you happen to be an introvert, you may not be very fond of them anyways. Shift work can offer you a legitimate way to avoid them!

7. Lesser Competition

It’s easier to be the star when there are fewer people around to compete with. So grab that shift at work and enjoy the perks of being the best there.

8. A Chance to Take Up Work Outside of Your Domain

Since there are so few people working in the office at night, you can use those hours to your advantage by picking up a new role you always wanted to try your hand at. Therefore, you get an opportunity to grow faster in your career.

9. Free Time for Other Interests and Chores During the Day

With hours of work limited to late evenings and nights, you can find it easier than day workers to attend to hobbies and interests. Once you get accustomed to your shift hours, you can utilize your day very well by squeezing in activities like gym, sports, music, art etc.

10. Fewer Distractions at Work

The silence of the night and the absence of a big crowd of co-workers and bosses at the office may make it easier for you to concentrate on your work and increase your efficiency.

 

no The Cons of Night Shift Work no

 

1. Unnatural Routine

The greatest disadvantage of working in shifts is that it forces your body into an unnatural routine of sleeping and waking up. If you are naturally a late riser, it may not be a big issue, but if you happen to be someone who loves early mornings, shift work may not be the best choice for you.

2. Work-Life Imbalance

If you are not in sync with the regular timings of how the world around you works, your social life may suffer. You may not get to hang out with your buddies in those typical after-work hours on weekdays.

3. Possible Negative Effects on Health

A disturbance to the natural biological cycle of work, rest and eating entails numerous other health problems like an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, depression, heart disease and breast cancer.

4. Familial or Relationship Conflicts

If a couple is working in different shifts, it may become practically impossible for them to spend some quality time together on the weekdays, thereby leading to a bit of a communication gap.

5. Diminished Concentration

This may sound contrary to one of the advantages we mentioned above, but for a lot individuals, staying awake and working at night may lower concentration instead of enhancing it. If you happen to be in the lot, then it’s not just your work that will be adversely affected; every activity that requires you to be fully vigilant will be affected, including driving.

6. Security

Not all cities and not all routes of an otherwise safe city are safe enough at night. Even your office may be at a risk of intrusion if the security is not very strong.

7. Limited Access to Fresh Food

You might have to make do by reheating that sandwich you bought six hours ago when you are working at night and there’s no round-the-clock restaurant or cafe in the vicinity of your workplace.

8. Workplace Boredom

Conversations at the water cooler do more than just spread silly gossip around the office; they refresh you and keep boredom at bay even if your work is of the most monotonous nature. If you tend to enjoy them, a night shift might make your work more boring than it used to be, unless you find a cool co-worker for that little chat in the same shift!

9. Risk of Stagnation in Your Career

The same lack of competition that makes it easier for you to shine among other night shift workers may become a deterrent to your career growth. It may keep your work from coming into the notice of your supervisors or office administrators. So you may have to make an extra effort in order to be recognized at the workplace.

10. Decreased Productivity

Statistics do show that working at night lowers ones productivity by a certain factor.

In conclusion, whether you should or should not choose an unconventional period of the day, aka the graveyard shift for working, depends entirely on your personal makeup. Hope the above mentioned pros and cons help you decide if shift work would work in your favor.

 

Resources:

http://www.frms.co.nz/_literature_173650/Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_12_Hour_Shifts
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/publication/wcms_170713.pdf
http://www.krh.org/data/content/Shift%20Work.pdf
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/shiftwork 

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