Shift work
What rotating schedules actually do to a life — the patterns, the sleep, the recovery, and the parts nobody warns you about.
4-on-4-off, explained
How the eight-day cycle works, why it drifts through the calendar, and the trick for working out which days you are on months ahead.
Read →Agency, bank and casual shifts
More control over when you work, and a schedule nobody else can see at all. The trade, and how to manage the second half.
Read →Common shift patterns, explained
4-on-4-off, DuPont, Pitman, Kelly, three 12s, 24/48 — what each one actually looks like, which industries use it, and what it does to a week at home.
Read →Driving home after a night shift
The most dangerous part of shift work is the commute, and the impairment is invisible from the inside. What to do about it.
Read →Eating on a night shift
Why timing matters more than what you eat, and the pattern that works when you are hungry at three in the morning.
Read →Going back to shifts after time away
Maternity leave, long-term sick, a spell on days. Why the first block back is harder than you remember, and what makes it easier.
Read →How rotating shifts affect families
What the research says about shift work and family life, what it misses, and the parts that are actually within your control.
Read →How your rota actually gets built
Understanding the constraints on the person building it changes what you ask for, and how often you get it.
Read →Living with 12-hour shifts
Three days a week sounds excellent. What the other side of it looks like, and what makes the difference between coping and not.
Read →Managing shift fatigue
The difference between tiredness and fatigue, why it accumulates faster than it feels like it should, and what actually reduces it.
Read →On call is not time off
Why being at home and being available are different things, what on call actually costs, and how to make that visible to everyone else.
Read →Predictive scheduling laws — what you may be entitled to
A growing number of places require advance notice of your schedule, premium pay for last-minute changes, and rest between shifts. Most people covered do not know.
Read →Questions to ask before taking a shift-work job
The rota matters more than the salary and gets asked about less. Twelve questions worth the awkwardness at interview.
Read →Reading a rota you have just been handed
E, L, N, LD, OFF, AL, and the codes nobody explains. A guide to the grid, and what to check before you rely on it.
Read →Rotating or fixed shifts — which is actually better?
Fixed nights versus a rotation, compared honestly on health, family life and money. The answer is not the same for everyone.
Read →Self-scheduling — how it actually works
You request, the manager reconciles, and what comes back is not what you asked for. How to get more of what you want out of it.
Read →Shift swaps and picking up extra — the hidden cost
Swaps and overtime are the flexibility that makes shift work liveable, and the thing that quietly makes your schedule unknowable to everyone else.
Read →Sleeping after a night shift
What actually helps — light, timing, temperature and the household — and why the day after a night is not a day off.
Read →The DuPont schedule, explained
The four-week cycle, the famous seven days off, and why a rotation that averages 42 hours a week is still one of the hardest to live with.
Read →The Kelly schedule, explained
On, off, on, off, on, then four off — the nine-day fire service rotation, and why it is the hardest of all for family to predict.
Read →The Pitman schedule (2-2-3), explained
Two on, two off, three on — the fortnightly rotation that gives you every other weekend off and is the easiest of them all for family to follow.
Read →What is a clopen, and why they are worse than they look
Closing one night and opening the next morning — how much sleep it actually leaves, why it is legal, and what to do about it.
Read →What is a rotating schedule?
A plain explanation of rotating shifts — what rotates, why employers use them, and why a rotation that fits the workplace perfectly is so hard on everyone at home.
Read →What is a split shift, and why the gap is not free time
A morning run, a long unpaid gap, an evening run. The single most misread pattern in shift work.
Read →What to do about a rota you cannot live with
Before quitting — the requests, the conversations and the formal routes that people usually skip.
Read →Working nights long term
What years of night work does, what the evidence actually supports, and the things that measurably reduce the cost.
Read →Your body clock and shift work
What the circadian system actually does, why it resists night work, and which parts of the problem you can and cannot influence.
Read →Other topics
Free… ish. Ready when you are.
Now on iPhone — Android coming soon. Free to start. Free to share. It just wants your week to be a little less of a mystery.