The pros and cons of working the “early shift”

Since most actions that I take are based on a quick “pros/cons” or “opportunity cost” analysis, it would only make sense that “working early” would be one of those things. I can understand that there are those out there that are pigeon holed in to a shift – business needs – family needs – a yoga or dance class that meets 3 mornings a week, etc. But not me. No pigeons and no holes for me – yet.

So for the rest of you – if it is available, and you live in the Seattle area like I do (read: TRAFFIC) then why not? Hopefully my silly list of dashed points will help you change your mind on getting up at “dark o’clock”. I think that most people like to hear the bad before the good, or at least I do, so we’ll start with those. And I think I like to read the bad first because it makes the good that much sweeter. If the good were to go first, the bad would kind of sour the taste in your mouth afterwards. Like doing the chaser before the shot.

And as a definition of early, many of you would think “7 am”. So I’m just going to say that early is any time before that. (I get up at 5:45 am and start work at 6:30 am as of currently).

CONS of working early:

-It’s really freaking early (this is the most obvious). Most people my age can’t handle waking up before 6 am.

-It’s dark outside when you wake up (during the winter months). I associate darkness with sleep. And the world is a much colder place in the early morning. The bed is that much warmer in the winter months.

-I don’t get to “take my time” when I wake up. In order to get more sleep during the early shift, I wake up as late as possible and then rush through everything. When I used to work the “later shift”, I could slowly take a shower, cook myself breakfast, even sit down and enjoy some morning TV. I tend to forget things when I’m rushing out of the house.

-I’m sleepier earlier. It’s hard to go out on those Friday nights and even stay up until 1 am. By 11:30 pm I’m yawning and looking for my bed. Add in having a few drinks and s’ova.

-I sometimes miss important afternoon meetings or announcements after 3 pm. Most people work until at least 4, so sometimes that “last email” goes out by the time I’m already enjoying the comforts of my home.

-I crave lunch and dinner at weird times. Most people would associate lunch with noon. Usually I eat at 10:30-11:00 am. Which means that I’ll be wanting dinner by even 4:30 pm, when most people would associate dinner with 6 pm or later. Most places aren’t open at 10 am for lunch, nor are any non-24 hour places open before 6 am.

-A normal “night” activity, for example a basketball game that starts at 8:30 pm completely crushes my schedule, and I feel extremely tired the next day. I get home at about 10 pm, then have to shower, have to calm down a bit, and suddenly I look up and I’ll be getting 4 and a half hours of sleep for this night.

-Once you get your body properly waking up early everyday, it’ll want to do the same thing on the weekends. Being up at 7 am on a Saturday morning with nothing to do is not fun at all.

PROS of working early:

-Traffic. I did mention that most people my age can’t handle waking up before 6 am. I guess I should just say it’s “most people” and cut out the “my age” part. With less people awake, that means a lot less people on the roads. People who work the early morning shifts see how traffic is supposed to be: Nonexistent. As a side note: I think that early morning drivers are better drivers because they don’t want any hassle at all. They have a destination, they’re going to get there – there’s more focus on driving because there’s less focus on everything else – other drivers included. For those of you that haven’t seen the freeways at 5:30 am, wake up early one morning and go for a drive. I’m a much more calm person (by about 30-40%) ever since I got out of traffic. Not only that but I gain an extra 30 minutes to 2 hours every day that I would’ve been stuck in traffic for. TWO HOURS of my life back every day! Assuming a 50 weeks of work per year, and saving 45 minutes of traffic on average, you’re looking at almost an extra 200 hours a year (almost 10 whole days!) that are available for you to use how you’d like – since you’re not stuck in traffic anymore. I should just end the “pros” list here. This is really all that should need to be said.

-Most of the months (7+ months out of the year) there is light out (if not sun – shocking) at 6 am. What brought about this blog post was that I was noticing I could actually see the road without having to turn my lights on. Was it the full moon in a cloudless sky? Probably. But with daylight savings time coming soon on the 11th, I don’t even thing I’ll need to use my head lights. In my opinion watching the sunrise (for those of you that have windows at your place of employment) is one of the most calming and spectacular ways to start the day.

-Starting work early means getting off early. Every day I get off of work, there is that small taste of satisfaction looking at the faces of my coworkers, jealous of me “getting off already?” and then looking at their clocks and saying, “I’ve got at least another 2 hours to go!”.

-Activities after work are much more accessible. Working until 6 pm gives you very limited ability to see the “sneak preview” of “300” showing at Pacific Place at 7 pm. Good luck getting good seats when you show up at 6:55 pm. Happy hour. I actually get off work in time to enjoy the “real” happy hour. Not the one from 9 pm to close. Getting places before everyone else is like being given the secret code to a concert ticket presale. You’ve got the head start on everyone else.

-Along with the nonexistent traffic, it’s a lot like running errands on a vacation day. If I’ve got to go to the bank, pick up something at the grocery store, get my oil changed etc. I can do it right after work. And I can almost guarantee there will be no line when I get there. Or possibly the “stay at home mom” with her two kids in tow. And I can handle that. Skipping out on all the disgruntled employees who just got off of work is great on my psyche when it comes to my outlook on my community. And the same thing goes at the gym. About a fourth of the “usual” crowd that shows up around 5:30 pm to 9 pm is there. I can work out without having to wait for things.

-I take more advantage of my time after work. While working the late shift, there were days during winter that 100% of my time after work it was dark out. And I like to be outdoors. Shooting hoops, throwing the football around, going for a run or walk. It’s hard to do those things in the dark. And working the late shift, “prime time” comes right after you get off of work. After the 8 pm to 10 pm slot is up, you’re kind of scratching your head and looking for something to “waste” time from 11 pm to 1 am since you’re not sleepy yet. While I’m working the early shift, I can go to sleep at 10 pm without feeling guilty about sleeping “early” because I’ve already had 7 hours of “leisure” time after work. Getting more daylight in after work makes me more productive and also puts me in a better mood.

-I sometimes miss important afternoon meetings or announcements after 3 pm. (Since some of you would say this is a pro)

-Although I hate waking up early on the weekends (because both my dog and my body force me to) by 11 am each weekend day, I look at the clock and say, “Nice! It’s only 11 am, I’ve got the rest of the day ahead of me”. Where as before, I would sleep until 9:30 am or even 10:30 am, and by 3 pm, I’d be depressed by how much of the day had already passed me by.

I have more “pros” but they seem as substantial as previous points I’ve made. Hopefully by writing more in the “pros” section I can persuade (yeah right) those of you reading this to switch to an earlier shift. Weakest end to a blog post ever.