The Shift Work Feeling

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Have you ever woken up from a sleep, looked at the clock, and you've been unsure is it a.m. or p.m. and genuinely also had no idea what day it was. Or you've walked into a supermarket at nine o'clock on a Tuesday morning and thought, where is everyone? Everyone's at work. Or you've tried explaining to someone that just because you're home during the day, that doesn't mean that you're available to do the honey to-do list, mow the lawn, accept deliveries, have a bloody conversation. Welcome to the strange little world of shift work. After more than 40 years of working shifts, I reckon there's a whole collection of things that only another shift worker could ever truly understand. Things that seem completely normal to us, but absolutely bizarre to someone working Monday to Friday. And today I thought we'd have a bit of fun with them. Because we've spent plenty of time talking about the challenges of shift work. Let's turn it around. Sometimes you've just got to have a laugh at the ridiculous situations that the roster puts you in. And I reckon by the end of today's episode, you'll recognise yourself in at least a few of these. Let's see how many, because it doesn't have to be this way.

Why Healthy Shifts Matter

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For far too long, we've accepted fatigue, poor sleep, burnout, and declining health as simply part of working in a 24-7 environment. I don't believe they are. Whether you're a shift worker, trying to feel better, or a leader responsible for the people who keep your organisation running around the clock, you're in the right place. Welcome to a healthy shift. I'm Roger Sutherland, and after more than four decades of working 24-7 shifts with Victoria Please, followed by years of studying nutrition, circadian biology, human performance, and working with literally thousands of shift workers, I've made it my mission to change the conversation around shift work. Because healthier people create stronger teams, and stronger teams build better organisations. And it all starts by understanding how to work with your biology and not against it. Let's get into today's episode.

A Lighter Look At Roster Life

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And welcome back to a healthy shift. Today, again, something a little different. No research papers today, no stats, no discussions about the long-term health consequences of working nights. Smile, it's a good one today. We're just going to have a good old-fashioned conversation about the things that make shift workers a very different breed indeed. Because after spending more than four decades working shifts with Victoria Police, I can tell you that shift work creates some pretty unusual habits. And unless you've actually lived it, some of them are almost impossible to explain to a regular day walker. Let's

What Day Is It Again

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start with what day is it? Let's start with the one that I reckon just about every shift worker will recognize. You wake up, you look at the clock, and for a few seconds you have absolutely no idea what day it is. Sometimes you even look at it and you think, is it a.m or is it PM? Is it Monday? Thursday? Saturday? God, am I supposed to be at work? Have I just finished nights? Wait a minute. Am I on afternoon shift today? And then you reach for your phone to work it all out. Now for someone working Monday to Friday, the week has a very, very predictable rhythm. Monday, it's back to work. Monday itis. They all know it. Friday means pants off Friday. Kick back, casual Friday, take it easy, work from home. You get to four o'clock, boom, it's the weekend. It's time to party. Saturday and Sunday, they're days off. But when you work shift work, particularly in frontline health or emergency services, those days mean absolutely nothing. Your Monday might be a Thursday. Your weekend might be Tuesday and Friday. And sometimes you find yourself having to check your roster, not only to find out what day it is, but what you're supposed to be doing. Now I reckon shift workers have a completely different relationship with the calendar. We don't ask what day is it? We ask, Am I working? And that's all that really matters.

The Callout Without The Dog

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I remember I can I when I worked at the canines, I was on call. And I can honestly remember coming home, going to bed, and next minute the phone is ringing, and I could hear it ringing, and I would think, what is going on here? And I realize then it's a phone, I'm on call. So I'd answer the phone and it's a call out. And I'd have to go. I can tell you, as long as I'm standing here telling you this story today, I will kid you not that I remember being called out at the K9s one day, jumping in the car, getting dressed, getting organized, jumping in the car, screaming off, and getting about five blocks away and remembering I'd forgotten to grab the dog. I kid you not, that is a true story. I also know handlers that have turned up at a job on a call out and they've left their dog at home. That is a true story. And I know you think that could never happen, but it absolutely has and does. And handlers will tell you, dog handlers will tell you weird and wonderful stories about things like that. Classic. Confusion. No idea. Now, the beauty is a Tuesday off.

The Joy Of A Tuesday Off

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And this is something that I absolutely loved. Having a day off in the middle of the week. How good is it? The shops are quieter, the gym isn't packed, you can get a coffee without standing in a queue. And everyone says, Oh, you're off work again. How many times have we heard it? And if you want to go somewhere for the day, you're not competing with half of Melbourne. Now, I used to love being able to get things done while everyone else was at work. And there's something almost satisfying about driving past people, heading off to their jobs when you're on your way to do something you enjoy. Nothing gives me more of a buzz than being in gym clothes, driving to the gym with seeing people in suits driving to work. You almost want to give them a little wave. Hi. And of course, the trade-off is that sometimes you're the one heading to work on a Saturday night while everybody else is in their Ubas heading out. But that's the arrangement. And for me, those quiet weekdays were one of the genuine pleasures of shift work. And I reckon we don't celebrate them nearly enough.

Home Does Not Mean Available

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Now, when people think being home means you're available, that's a point. Now, this one used to get me all the time. You finish a night shift, you get home, you've been awake all night, you've worked your shift, and all you want to do is get to bed. Then someone rings. Hey, you're home today, aren't you? Yep. Any chance you can give me a hand with something? And you're thinking, mate, I've just worked all night. There's this strange assumption that because you're physically at home during daylight hours, you're somehow on a day off. And I reckon every shift worker has experienced this. What about your family? Mum, your sister, your brother? Oh, you're home again. Beauty, can you? I'm coming around many times. That parcel delivery, the tradie that wants to come around, the phone call that starts with, oh good, I caught you. And then there are people who say, can you just have a quick sleep and get up? A quick sleep. Would you ring someone working nine to five at two o'clock in the morning and ask them to get up and mow your lawn? Of course you wouldn't. But somehow when you're a night shift worker, your sleep becomes negotiable. And I don't understand that. Now we're keeping things light today, but this is one of those things that can be genuinely frustrating. And sometimes the only people who understand it are other shift workers. What about this one? How many times would the family see you or know that you're home because they ring you and they want to know why you didn't look after their kids or turn up here or go and do this for them? Or how come you couldn't go to that event? Or why aren't you visiting them? Or why aren't you doing this? Well, I'm recovering from the shifts. Yeah, I know, but you got a day off. I know, but I've just worked nine straight and nights and afternoons. I'm trying to recover here. How many times? And it causes conflict in families often, but that's you just recovering. Here's another

Eating At Weird Times

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one. Eating at times that confuse everyone else. Put your hands up. Now I remember in the early days, not so much in the latter years, but in the early days, getting home and having a couple of stubbies of beer at seven o'clock in the morning. And people look at you like, what? Or there'd be a group of you walking into early openers at a pub, and people will be looking at you on their way to work thinking, what on earth is going on here? That's sad. Well, we've been awake all night. Food. Shift workers have some pretty interesting relationships with mealtimes. And I mean, what's breakfast when you've just finished night shift? Is it the meal you eat at seven o'clock in the morning, or is it breakfast the meal that you have when you wake up at two in the afternoon? I don't know. And what happens when you finish afternoon shift at 11 or midnight and you're absolutely starving? Now, tell me, is that dinner or is that a late-night snack? Or is that breakfast for tomorrow? I reckon we've had moments where we've been eating something completely normal to us at a time that makes absolutely no sense to anyone else. And then someone looks at you and says, You're eating that now? Um, yep. I've just finished work. I always found it amusing how people could be so attached to the idea that certain foods belonged at certain times. Breakfast at seven, lunch at twelve, dinner at six. Well, good luck fitting that random neatly um rotating roster. See, the thing is, we still need to try and do that. And what we eat at what time doesn't really matter so much as long as we're eating at those times. Your body doesn't understand that you're eating breakfast at 6 p.m. at night. It just sees proteins, carbs, and fats. And when you have that at lunch, it just sees proteins, carbs, and fats. And whatever you have for breakfast, it just sees proteins, carbs, and fats. It doesn't look at breakfast at 7 o'clock in the morning when you're sitting down to steak and chips and go, oh my God, no, we're not having dinner now. I'm gonna make you fat because of that. It doesn't work that way. It just sees protein, carbs, and fats. That's all it ever sees. Now you know I'm a big advocate for understanding nutrient timing and how eating at different biological times does actually affect us. But this is a conversation for another episode, and I've covered it heaps of times. I'm just talking about and acknowledging that shift workers probably have more unusual meal combinations than most people could imagine. And at the weirdest times, I'd love to know what yours would have been.

Social Life On A Rotating Roster

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What about the shift workers' social calendar? Here's something else. Trying to organize a social event with a shift worker. Have you ever tried getting six shift workers together for dinner? It's like organizing a bloody military operation. Someone's on night, someone's on afternoon, someone's just finished a run of early nights, someone's on their first day off, and somebody else just swapped the shift and forgot to tell everyone. And you finally find a date that works, and then the roster changes, and you're back to square one. Now, I reckon shift workers deserve some kind of qualification in logistics just for managing their social life. And then there's the other side of it. When someone invites you to something six months away, can you come to our barbecue in April? And your first response is, I'll have to check my roster. Not because you don't want to go, but because you genuinely have no idea whether you'll be working or not. And sometimes people think that you're making excuses, but you're not. Well, maybe sometimes you are, but anyway, you're just living by a calendar that doesn't match everyone else. Now, from a personal perspective, you heard me say it, but I just want to say, how good is it being a shift worker when someone invites you to somewhere that you don't want to be? I'm sorry, I'm working. Put your hand up. I know you've done this. I know that you've done this as a shift worker. Every single shift worker has used their roster as an excuse to get out of going somewhere where they didn't want to go. Everyone. Now trying to organize around rosters is a living hell. But it's also a fantastic excuse as well. As a positive, remember that. Always. And what about our special relationship with those public holidays?

Public Holidays Feel Like Tuesday

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This one always makes me smile. Public holidays. Public holiday means a long weekend. I sleep in, barbecue, triple way. For a shift worker, it's just Tuesday. And you're working. I reckon we've all had that moment where someone says, Are you doing anything for the long weekend? How many times? And you look at them thinking, What long weekend? Because you genuinely don't realize that it's even a long weekend. You don't. Because it's not like it's something that you look forward to. Oh, next weekend's going to be the long weekend. What are we doing? Because your roster doesn't suddenly stop for Easter, for Christmas, for New Year's Day, or the king's birthday. The work still needs to be done. And you're rostered on and you're turning up. You when you look ahead to your roster, I can tell you now the roster sergeant didn't look at it and go, oh, it's a public holiday, who will we put on? They just say it's Monday, so we'll put someone on, and you're it. And you don't know that it's a public holiday because you're just working, and that's how it is. So public holidays mean nothing. So we don't look at, oh, I'm missing out. Now, depending on your workplace in the agreement, there can be some financial benefits to working public holidays. I know in Victoria Police there's four public holidays where you get extra coin for it. Not all of them, but some. And I know plenty of shift workers who are more than happy to put their hands up for those shifts, but it does create some funny conversations. Especially when someone says, Surely you don't have to work on Christmas Day. We don't close. Somebody's got to work it. We don't just shut the doors because it's a public holiday or it's the night or whatever. Hospitals don't close. Emergency services don't stop. And factories, a lot of factories, maintain production. They don't shut. And the world suddenly doesn't stop needing people just because it's a public holiday. And that's something that we as shift workers understand very well. It makes no difference.

Friendships Built On Strange Hours

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And one other thing that I really want to talk about here today is the friendships that come from working those strange hours. And I want to finish the main part of today's episode with that. It is something that I genuinely value. The people, we're all in the same boat together. Because when you spend enough time working shifts along the same people, you do develop some pretty unique relationships. You're working when most of the world is asleep. You're sharing meals at strange hours. You're having conversations at three in the morning that you'd never have during the day, and probably where you shouldn't go half the time as well. But anyway, and sometimes you're dealing with situations that only the people standing beside you could possibly understand. During my time in Victoria Police, particularly in the operational roles, I worked alongside some absolutely awesome people. And I reckon there's something about working those unusual hours that creates a different kind of connection with people. You get to know people better, their habits, their sense of humor, their little quirks. You know who's going to be cheerful at the start of the shift. You know who's best left alone until they've had their coffee. You share the good shifts, you share the difficult ones. You create memories of ridiculous moments, many of them. And sometimes the sort of stories that would make absolutely no sense to anybody outside of that workplace. And I think that's something that is literally worth celebrating. Because while shift work can sometimes make maintaining relationships outside work more difficult, it can also create some really special friendships inside of it. And I know I'm not the only person who feels that way. Now we're a different breed, and that's okay. So when you put all of those things together, I reckon shift workers really do live in a slightly different world. It's an alternative universe. Our weekends don't fall on weekends. Our breakfast doesn't happen at in the morning. Our days off can be in the middle of the week. It can be split days, and sometimes we genuinely have no idea what day of the week it is until we open our phone and check the calendar. But that's part of the experience. And while there are absolute challenges associated with working shift work, there's also plenty of moments that make you laugh. Plenty of things to enjoy, and plenty of stories that only another shift worker will understand. I spent more than 40 years living that life. And while there are certainly things I do not miss one bit, there are also things that I look back on very, very fondly. The quiet weak days, the freedom, the friendships, and those ridiculous little moments that seem completely normal at the time. And I think we need more conversations like this. Because working shifts isn't just about fatigue, sleep, health risks. It's also about the people, the experiences, and the opportunities that come with living outside the traditional nine-to-five world. And sometimes it's just simply worth having a laugh about it.

Share Your Shift Worker Stories

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Now, here's where I want you to get involved. What is something about shift work that only another shift worker would understand? Maybe a strange habit that you've developed. Give me a funny story, something that your family's never quite understood. Or one of those moments when you've thought, yep, only a shift worker would get this. What came to mind as you were listening to this? Two choices. If you go into the show notes, there's a text me what you thought of the show. You can send it through there. Or just go to the post relation in relation to this on my Instagram account, a healthy shift on Instagram. Find the post for this episode, tell me about it. Because I reckon there'll be some absolute crackers out there. And who knows? If we get enough stories, we might even put together enough episodes sharing some of the best ones. And if this episode made you smile, can you do me a favor? Could you please just like send it to a workmate? Preferably the one who just never seems to know what goddamn day it is and always turns up a mess. Until next time, look after yourself. Have yourself a healthy shift.

Send It To A Workmate

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If today's episode resonated with you, don't let the conversation stop here. Share it with a colleague, a manager, a friend, a leader, or someone who has the opportunity to improve the lives of people working in a 24-7 environment. Because real change starts with awareness. And awareness changes conversations. And conversations change organisations. And organisations change lives. So thank you for spending this time with me. And until next time, I want you to remember this. It doesn't have to be this way. Take care of yourself and take care of each other.