I’ve spent the last 10 years of my working life doing shifts, usually an average 4 days per week, early 5am starts, afternoon/evenings and full night shifts. I used to have days off in the week, and either a whole morning or evening/afternoon to myself no matter what shift I was on.
For 2 weeks now, and for the next 6 months, I’m working normal Monday to Friday, 9-5 and having to commute right up to central London by train. Luckily this is just temporary and I’ll be back to shifts after 6 months.
How the hell can people do this for decades? Travelling at the busiest times, days off on the busiest days, barely any evening to yourself, not to mention it costs a damn fortune in train tickets, shops and amenities close about the time you get home, forcing you to the internet (which you won’t be home to receive), or the weekends when everyone else is out and about.
How, please tell me how you do this and stay sane.
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You can go to the shops and amenities during the work day, it’s handy as it saves from having to travel into town on the weekends
How long is your commute? I’ve worked 9-5 Monday-Friday in London for years but my commute has never been more than 45 mins so it’s manageable.
How long is your commute? The wife has been doing it since September, Christchurch to London, 106 miles, 2 & a half hours each way.
The sheer boredom of motorway miles gets to her a bit, but otherwise she’s managing OK.
I think it helps that it’s for a fixed 9 month period so she knows it’s not for a huge amount of time.
I don’t tend to do London these days but when I did I usually moved all my meetings late and did 10-4 with an hours lunch. Nobody noticed.
I don’t leave my home until 8:30am and I’m home by 6pm. Still feel like I have a lot of time in the evening to cook/watch tv/socialise and I don’t need to get up ridiculously early (well, before parenthood anyway). Also have the advantage of working in central London so can easily pop out to the shops during my lunch hour or meet up with friends who work nearby for a bite to eat.
You kind of just get used to it. Mind you I could never do shift work, I’m a habitual creature and need routine. I have no business doing anything at 5am.
I think a lot of Londoners liked it, being constantly on-the-go. Pre-Covid that is.
Did it for 27 years. Commuting 1h45 each way a day.
Fine when I was young, but between the service getting more crowded, work pressures, the escalating terrorist events (wife’s building was inside the Borough Market cordon) it started making me ill … getting panic attacks about getting on the train – not good when you work for TfL.
Live in the Yorkshire Dales as my own boss now. Life is MUCH better (albeit on 50% of the income).
When I was a lot younger I used to get up at 5, wash dress put makeup on, walk to train station, have two hour train journey then a short tube, same on way back, did a lot of eating by buying things at local shops open in the night which was super expensive.Did it for a few years.
Now when I look back I can’t imagine how I did it but at the time it was just a normal thing to do.
If it is a commute by rail or Underground you can switch off to an extent. Read a book, for example.
Before working from home I used to do 8.30 to 4.30, and that half hour made a difference as to the level of crowding on the train.
Did it for 12 years. Strictly speaking with a 9.30 start, not 9, which probably contributed to making it more bearable.
Things that made it more bearable: have a journey that can done with a minimum of changes, preferably on the subsurface underground lines (with bigger, airier trains, ie District, Met, etc); have easy alternative routes for when things go wrong (so live with several stations on different lines within walking distance). And know your way round the system, short cuts, station layouts etc
Shopping in the city centre was useful, but even in many suburbs a lot of shops stay open later than in other parts of the country