Every Minute of Every Day

How are you finding working nights?

I’m a night person so I really enjoy them. I love having the whole night for myself - no one bothers me, and I can just get on with whatever I have to do. I’ve always been a night person so when I saw the role was available, I knew I’d enjoy it.

What tasks have you been doing during your shifts?

Between 10pm and 6am, I’ve been doing various check ins for the night shifts – some staff start at midnight others at 3am, so I need to be available for any questions and issues they have. I’ve been going through emails and responding to people on the chat, as well as working on recruitment admin and guiding people through the process. I basically just do any jobs I’m asked to do, the other day I did some research for the management team and I’ve sent some reference requests as well.

How do you motivate yourself while working nights?

The trick is to switch jobs quite often. I mix the tasks up that I have to do, and any long jobs that will take 1 or 2 hours, I’ll break it up with other smaller jobs in between. That way it doesn’t get too boring.

What do you like about nights?

There’s a lot to do and because not many people are awake at the hours I work, you can actually finish everything. If my job is to monitor the emails and chat, I can finish the shift with all unread emails being replied to and marked as complete.

Who do you deal with and speak to during your night shifts?

It’s mainly staff members about their shifts, but I also speak to clients to update them on the staff that are arriving, any last-minute changes and any issues that may occur.

Before about 10pm, when I’m sending emails I speak to a few external people as well about references and other queries.

What advice would you give to others doing night shifts?

Bring snacks! Have a checklist to work through. The worst thing is when you finish a task and don’t know what to do next. Keep yourself occupied so you don’t fall asleep and give yourself breaks when you need them.