My current schedule is: work 5 days, weekend off, work 5 days, weekend off, work 10 days, 4 days off. Then repeat.
Pros: sleep schedule not all out of wack, paid really well, workplace environment finally improving after 4 years because a few people are retiring (working for a large retail chain has a lot of BS to jump through before you could fire someone, especially when they know how to work the system), getting more help which means a lighter workload
Cons: manager right now so basically on call everyday all the time dealing with stuff that comes up, been busier lately with a shortage of staff which means I end up staying to midnight catching up for the next day, some days I don't even see my oldest.
My possible schedule if I change jobs: 930pm to 730am 7 days in a row, 7 days off, repeat.
Pros: will never miss dinner with the family, 7 days off every other weekend which equates to a mini vacation half the year, won't have to deal with management responsibilities anymore
Cons: working overnight will mess with my sleep cycle and will eventually take a toll on my body over time is what I hear, 25-30% salary decrease is a lot to swallow (don't know the exact pay rate yet, just an estimate now), don't know if I will be walking in to a work environment with a bunch of lazy people that I can't do anything about (I hate lazy people in the workplace), working 7 nights in a row means I might miss some kids' events.
My kids are 2 and 4, and they say hindsight is 20/20, looking for some advice from older guys with kids all grown up, would you guys make the switch?
Or for those people with experience with 7 overnight shifts and 7 days off schedules with kids, is it worth it?
I am leaning heavily towards the switch, my wife is 50/50 because she's worried about my health, she says "it's called the graveyard shift for a reason", and she handles the bills so I know the decrease in funds is worrying her a bit (we will still live comfortably, just not as comfortable).
Ultimately the way I see it is, I will be trading in the ability to buy more, to the ability to do more.
So what do you guys think?
PS: it is currently 3am so I think I could make the adjustment just fine lol
Let me be serious for a minute and tell you a bit of my story:
"19 years ago I had a choice because I was at a major crossroads in my career. At that time I was chief of my department which contained a bunch of engineers. I was offered a position to be over ALL the engineers in our company. The catch? I hated middle management. Moving up just meant another position in middle management, albeit higher. I was still kind of young (32 yo) and at that time my job was crazy. I was in the air 3X/week at least either on a commercial flight going somewhere or on our private plane going to customers and plants. My son was one year old and my daughter was four years old. Taking the new job would have meant a LOT more money and even less time with them. I had a choice: Take the job and have bookoo money or find a new job.
I started looking. I was offered many jobs from vendors who knew my work as I was pretty prominent in my area of expertise (medium fish in a small pond). After long discussions with my wife of now 32 years, I decided to take a new job. Why give up the money and "prestige?"
1. Time. My new job gave me a bunch of time and a lot of it was working from a home office.
2. Creativity. I had full control of my designs
3. Children. This job assured me of never missing a ball game and I would be able to put the kids on the bus in the morning and be there for them when they got off the bus. Every day.
4. Money. I would be making less. A lot less. How is this a good reason you ask? Let me explain what I had learned by that time:
Let's say you make 100K/yr (you could use 40K/yr or 60K/yr but I just chose 100K as a number) in your job. You have a decent house, a few decent cars, go on vacation once a year and only work 50 hours a week. Okay?
Now let's say you jump up to 150K/yr. You have a bit bigger house, a few new cars and go on vacation twice a year. You are now working 65 hours a week.
Now let's say you jump up to 250K/yr. You have a much bigger house, a few really nice new cars but still only go on vacation twice a year. Why? Because you are now working 80-90 hours a week and traveling all the time. Is this better?
I could go on but you get my logic right? I know (and knew) several people who were in those different income brackets. The only difference between them was how nice the stuff was and time. The guy who had time to spend with his family had decent stuff like cars, house, etc. The guy who made a bunch of money working had no time to spend with his family but they were enjoying some really nice cars, house, toys, etc. What I am saying is it's all proportional. Unless you somehow get lucky you will follow the same formula that most people follow and that is Time = Money. The more time you spend to make it the more of it you will have but that means less time to spend it and be with your family.
Now my daughter has her BSN and is a nurse in a SICU and is making good money. We had a great time with her growing up and we were with her (whenever she wanted us to be there) every step of the way.
My son is now 19 years old, is a junior working on his BSME and is registering for his MBA this fall. He has played soccer since he was five and now plays for his university. We haven't missed many games.
You see, somebody HAS to raise and influence your kids. It might be your spouse or your parents or your children's school teachers or your children's friends. Your child will have to learn stuff from someone right? I wanted that someone to be my wife and I.
It sounds like you have a choice here. Think it through and choose whichever one is best for you. I chose 19 years ago and never looked back.
