Burning the Midnight Oil

[scrivener]

Hello, fellow money-earners!

It's coming up on 3:00 a.m. and I'm still plugging away in my classroom at beginning-of-the-schoolyear stuff. This weekend, I've spent pretty much every waking moment in my classroom. I've had my meals here, I've showered here, and I've taken short naps here.

It's not a regular thing for me; I can usually get done everything I need using some combination of evening hours and weekend days, but the beginning of the year is just crazy for me. Experience has taught me not to stress out too much, because even if I had twice as much time, it would never be enough to accomplish EVERYTHING I'd like; yet, I also know that the more I get done before the students walk through the door on the first day, the easier everything is for the rest of the year. So I press on.

I'd love to hear about how frequently your work requires you to toil into the wee hours, long after your normal workday is supposed to be complete. What do you do to keep yourself energized, physically and mentally? Do you have external stimuli to keep you company, such as a television or the boombox? Is it lonely, or is there a sense of camaraderie because you're working with others? How do you deal with the NEXT workday when it immediately follows your late hours? How do your loved ones deal with it all?

Any cool stories or memories about cold pizza at sunrise?

[Pomai]

One of the managers at The Shack Hawaii Kai ritually drinks a pitcher full of Red Bull (sometime several) on the closing shift, where the joint closes at 2am daily, meaning he's not out of there until 3am.

Too much coffee certainly give me a headache. I'd probably go the Energy Drink (http://www.hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?t=9251) route as well. Heavy foods would put me to sleep.

[acousticlady]

I think the academic world works that way. From kindergarten through college. My sister-in-law is a kindergarten teacher and during the school year (especially in the beginning of the year) she spends many, many hours in prep time. In colleges, we (the profs) always joke that the college school year is set up the way it is so that we don't burn out. Generally, I work 24/7 during the school year and it takes me all summer to get back on track. I've been at it for 15 yrs not including being an actual student. How do I handle it? I guess you just get used to the ebb and flow of the semester life. I couldn't imagine doing a job where you have to be at a certain place for 40+ hours a week, 50 weeks a year. That would drive me crazy.

Sunrise, cold pizza memories? Ohhh - as an undergraduate, we were in the electronics lab late one night and thought it would be cool to string a bunch of capacitors together and plug it in to see what would happen. Not a good idea. We blacked out the science building. Luckily they just had to reset the circuit breakers but we weren't allowed in the labs after hours after that one. I guess we were lucky that's all that happened!

[Pua'i Mana'o]

it is seasonal for me. My family life suffers when it happens--I won't lie. My husband has to pick up the slack. Sometimes this has a good side effect in that he realizes (again) how much I do for our family.

I enjoy those times, though. I get to pull on all sorts of my brain and troubleshoot and get stuff done and feel a rush of accomplishment over grand/manini things.

Then I take a good break and stay home for a while, doing my Mommy thang.

What is important is to eat really healthy. I also am an a.m. gym fanatic, and that is a routine I do not break, no matter where I am. Fresh water, fruit, coffee, salads, brown rice and steaks will see me through those times (because when I need to pound food, I make sure that I find a hearty/healthy meal).

[timkona]

Makes me laugh when I see people talking about how to stay up late, get more work done, be more productive, etc etc, mentioning energy drinks, coffee, etc etc.

Just more evidence of why the war on drugs is a farce. Speed is the drug of Americans, who admire hard work, goal attainment, finishing the job, and working late at night.

It's a little paradoxical, don't you think?

[Miulang]

People who work in the high tech industry do it all the time, because many of the critical upgrades that have to happen must be done during the wee hours of the morning ("we can't inconvenience our customers"). So you put in your 8 hours during the day, go home for a couple of hours to eat and take a nap and then show up again around 8 or 9 p.m. to set things up prior to taking the system down a few hours later. If you're lucky, that "minor" upgrade will only take a couple of hours.

But if the thing goes south on you, then be prepared to be there for as long as it takes to get everything up and running again. There have been a few times when I've stayed up for more than 24 hours straight because of a bad upgrade.:( The facility I used to work in had a cafeteria with vending machines, but at 3 or 4 a.m., a package of pretzels and a can of soda just didn't cut it. Because I was a salaried employee, there was no overtime, but I usually was able to take the next day off as compensation for the extra time I had to work. The window for most of the upgrades I did was between 2 a.m.-5 a.m.

Miulang

[infinitypro]

Sleep has never been a friend of mine, we have a love-hate relationship.

I've never taken to the taste of coffee, too sensitive to Red Bull, and grouchiness seems to be unpopular these days :D so a multi-vitamin has helped me during those sleepless days. I've read, and experienced that a green apple is the equivalent to coffee so I'll eat a lot of fruit and/or protien. But, I don't want to be misleading, my lifestyle has been spiraling down the unhealthy staircase over the years, I've just learned of a few tricks that work for me.

And, I cannot complete this post without saying that it's necessary to have a supportive partner, one that encourages all that you are and compliments all that you're not. And, NOE is just that. With a full-time job, trying to run our business, volunteering as a youth coach, two children, family time, extended family time, and all of my 'net hobbies, there's ne'er a mumble or a grumble from NOE. Only gentle reminders of logging off and stepping away from the desk or jumping into the pool with the kids or a good card game of Rummy.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Makes me laugh when I see people talking about how to stay up late, get more work done, be more productive, etc etc, mentioning energy drinks, coffee, etc etc.

Just more evidence of why the war on drugs is a farce. Speed is the drug of Americans, who admire hard work, goal attainment, finishing the job, and working late at night.

It's a little paradoxical, don't you think?

stretching like hell there, Tim. Usually water and coffee are the only liquids provided when working in strange locations. People like me learn to consume them and think of them as food, not drugs. Considering that your response immediately follows a paragraph in which I emphasized healthy habits, your headspace appears pretty obsessed with druggin' yourself.

[timkona]

Good. Now that we have established that caffeine is NOT a drug, I am feeling more enlightened by the minute. Thanks Pua'i. I can imagine, along those same lines of logic, that ciggy's are not a drug either. But for a double standard, we would have no standards at all.

As for my headspace, a cup of coffee in the morning is essential. And a beer or three at the end of the day is too.

[WindwardOahuRN]

I do 12.5 hour night shifts. Thanks to our union contract the hospital can no longer pull the mandatory overtime trick that sometimes had me working 16 hour shifts.

When we work without a break (not uncommon, due to the unpredictable nature of the job) we get compensated monetarily but it's still a killer.

I think because what I do is such a combination of physical and mental activity I manage to stay quite awake and alert. If I am the code nurse that night and have to run to a code even that little boost of adrenaline is enough to keep me going for quite some time. New admits coming in, crashing patients---all the activity helps to keep me awake.

Mountain Dew and coffee fill in the gaps. I can't do those energy drinks. Now I indulge in plenty of caffeinated beverages but I've never had the awful reactions I've experienced when I've tried the energy drinks. Palpitations, headache, trembling hands and tachycardia. It's NOT the caffeine. Whatever else is in those drinks is the culprit.

I couldn't imagine trying to stay awake while doing paperwork or desk tasks. You'd find me face-down on the desk in a puddle of drool.

[KeleiGrrrl]

Another academic chiming in here to say I couldn't imagine my work life any other way. I'm a second year PhD student but since we actually produce what we study we are even busier than if we were just scholars. I teach, take classes, serve on a curriculum committee, put in 20 hours of work for the department (in various admin capacities), then there's 20-30 hours of production work (directing, dramaturging, etc) and that's before I even get to homework, research, grading papers, prepping for class, etc. It is not unusual for me to be up till the wee hours of the night several nights a week, no matter what time of the semester it is. This is not to mention the many shows, rehearsals, production meetings, and readings that take place on evenings and weekends as well. Nothing makes me more angry than when I've plotted my schedule for the week and have planned to devote an evening or two for research and writing, only to find out at the last minute that I have to attend something that wasn't properly announced. :rolleyes:

I honestly don't know how I do it. I actually have very little stamina and would give anything to be able to do what I do and get more sleep. Somehow, I don't think it'll get any better when I become a professor either. I love what I do, so I guess that makes the difference because I couldn't put in these kinds of hours for something that I wasn't passionate about.

[shaveice]

as grad students, we all know what that's like and i did it twice. when i moved to japan to teach, it was the norm for me to stay in my office from morning, take a break for lunch and dinner but to be back in my office till 1 or 2 am.

like others have said, i loved teaching so it wasn't a big deal. the hours were flexible so if i wanted to take a swim during the day, i could drive to a fresh water river and freeze my butt off in a river that was fed by melted snow. i suspect that others didn't have to stay late if they really didn't want to. i mean, if you wanted to put in the very bare minimum, you could do that but i doubt anyone posting here was like that. as teachers, we have a tendency to think of all the great things we could do and it just takes a whole lot of time.

there's always the internal debate about whether it's worth doing X or Y or Z and that has to be decided on a case-by-case basis. for myself, i don't have any major regrets about putting in those long hours, but i will add that i was close to burning out when i decided to leave japan. my wife was in tokyo and i was about a 1.5 hour bullet train ride away so my long hours didn't interfere with our marriage but physically i was getting tired and decided i'd rather change my lifestyle vs burn out. (10 years was enuf for me.)

as far was ways of keeping awake? i was never a coffee fan so that wasn't an option. i think the main thing for me was some background music. i also had a bunch of group photos of my students on my office wall (swimming at the river, bbq's, tennis, etc) and looking up at those photos gave me the kick in the pants to keep going. grad students in japan at that particular school were a teacher's dream (hard working, disciplined, etc) and so those photos always reminded me of why i was doing what i was doing and put a smile on my face...

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Good. Now that we have established that caffeine is NOT a drug, I am feeling more enlightened by the minute. Thanks Pua'i. I can imagine, along those same lines of logic, that ciggy's are not a drug either. But for a double standard, we would have no standards at all.

As for my headspace, a cup of coffee in the morning is essential. And a beer or three at the end of the day is too.

Dude, when you can point out where I said anything about caffeine not being a drug, you'll get your cookie.

You jones too much.

[timkona]

Pua'i said

Usually water and coffee are the only liquids provided when working in strange locations. People like me learn to consume them and think of them as food, not drugs.

Ay yai yai :cool:

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Pua'i said

Usually water and coffee are the only liquids provided when working in strange locations. People like me learn to consume them and think of them as food, not drugs.

Ay yai yai :cool:


ooooh, ok (even though the context of that statement was about healthy consumption, not banging drugs).

Here's your cookie. You got me on technicality.

**long, sweeping curtsey**