Halo to all.
Our human minds think alike. Not the same though. We may pursue the same lifestyle, but our ways of living them out may differ. Take Shift work vs Non-Shift work as an example, which I will talk you through in this blog. As someone who already had gained experience from both sides, let me convince you as to why I prefer doing Shift work.
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1) AVOIDING THE CROWD
The fact that my shift work schedule is never fixated on a 9pm till 5pm work time means that I get to easily stay away from large crowds of people who are making their way to work or back home. Not just that, I won’t get stuck within a long line of vehicles along the roads during peak hours, whether I’m in a taxi or bus. Moreover, if I happen to be working at night, I would be travelling in a direction opposite to many people (I go to work, they go home, and vice versa). Hence, if I am travelling aboard a bus in the hours nearing midnight, there would be little to no passengers inside. Indeed comfortable without the feel of rushing to places.
2) WEEKDAYS BECOME WEEKENDS AND VICE VERSA
What can really make your off or rest day better? If it falls on a weekday. With a lot of non-shift workers busy doing tasks during the weekdays, this leaves to many areas of interest ‘open’ for opportunities. For example, you can do groceries or shop for goods in malls without expecting long queues. You can go to the swimming pool without expecting so many people to ruin the serenity you need just to relax. You can also call out your love to a date (If they are not working on that day) at a restaurant without expecting so much noise just because all seats are taken. To summarise, you make more of your life without worrying of many people getting in your way.
3) MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
Follow through the chorus of the song ‘Paper Planes’ by M.I.A.: “All I wanna do is ‘Bang, Bang, Bang’ and ‘Ka-Ching’! and take your money.” Nope, I’m not asking you to go and start a robbery, but rather let you know the satisfaction of getting more than just one ‘Ka-Ching!’ just because you do shift work. Based on where I currently work, I am entitled to a lot of bonuses. Firstly, 2nd Shift & Meal Premium bonus, whenever I work during the afternoon (1:30pm - 10:30pm). Secondly, Night bonus, obviously whenever I work during the night (10:15pm - 7:15am), with an increase on weekends or public holidays. Lastly, Overtime bonus, whenever I work during public holidays, or beyond the official work time, or during my off and rest day. Cumulate all these in one month, and I’ll be getting 30% more than the basic salary.
4) DIFFERENT TIMES, DIFFERENT TASKS
Based on what I experienced during my non-shift work internship at a company 4 years ago, I noticed one thing, and it’s that I’ve been doing the same routine of tasks day by day. Of course, it was boring just to grind through it over and over again. Compared to where I work today, the tasks that had to be done differs by our shift times (Morning, afternoon, or night), or even by the day of the week. This gives me a freedom to rotate to accomplishing multiple different tasks within just a period of days. Now this is what I call flexibility at its finest, while not expecting to do the same thing.
5) GIVE ME A CHALLENGE
Shift work does give my mind a challenge of endurance, especially during the night. When majority of the people are tucked up at their homes sleeping, cuddling, or even doing it (Pardon my innuendo), I’m here exercising my mind to be capable of making production at work, even when the night begins to shine. Let’s be real with myself. My sleeping times have been all over the place since I was young. Which means, I am flexible in terms of my body clock. Even my days during National Service, I had to be prepared to undergo tasks beyond midnight.
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And there you have it. The reasons why I recommend you to go for shift work if you happen to go job hunting. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide which is best for your preference, but seriously, the one thing you only need to adjust for shift work is your sleep schedule. You’d still be sleeping at least 8 hours a day.
Anyway, gotta get back to work, cause you know, money money money! Till then, see you starside.
"Life is never about looking into someone's script and just blindly follow it. Life is about you taking a pen to write down the many scripts of what you want to do. That is what I call leaving your mark on this world."
