"Getting Through the Night"

I just survived my first "pokpok shift" (1 AM to 10 AM) in my new job last week. The key word in that sentence is survived. I practically had to will myself to stay awake during the whole 9 hour ordeal of lectures for 4 days. There were times when I was tempted to treat my table as a temporary resting place for my head while I journey to dreamland. No amount of coffee, soda or quick naps in my break periods helped.

I just find this strange since I didn't feel the same way when I worked in another call center (eTelecare) before. Perhaps youth does have its advantages, perhaps knowing the material before it was discussed somehow made it a little less interesting for me (I handled the same account when I worked in eTelecare), or perhaps I didn't have to work a similar shift when I was with eTelecare (My worst shift was 10 PM to 7 AM). For whatever reason it was, my body clock had a hard time coping with my schedule. It was surprising since I adjusted more easily to changes in schedule when I was with my previous employer. It was changed as often as 2 weeks and I didn't have to go through a very hard time in those changes.

Today is the start of another week with the same schedule for me. I like the fact that I'm still up 5 1/2 hours into my shift. By this time last week, I would have been taking my hour-long nap in one of the snooze boxes. It appears that I've finally adjusted to my schedule. It took some time to get used to, tons of coffee and soda, lots of sleep during daytime and some discipline, but I finally got to get through the night.