I began my current job back in August. My kind of job is not the usual 9-5 Monday to Friday work. I work in healthcare, and depending on the particular department, the work hours and days all look very different.
For example, in the HR department, the work hours look very much like the normal 9-5 and Monday to Friday. But for the clinical department, work runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so the structure is different.
I work 12 hours a day, four days a week. And because of this, there are no weekend breaks for us. We can work any day of the week depending on the duty roster for the month. That means that we can work both morning and night shifts at any time of day.
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This work structure comes with it's ups and downs. One advantage is that I get three whole days of the week to myself, and sometimes I get four. I also get to rest during a typical weekday when other corporate workers are at work.
These rest days, in my opinion, allow us to obtain enough sleep and return to work feeling completely rejuvenated.
Another advantage is that we don't work more than four days or nights at a stretch. Well, this is only peculiar to where I work. After four work days, we are mandated to be given off days.
One thing I love about this is that I get to sleep in on my days off, and I also get to give attention to other areas of my life. I could also support remote work if I wanted to on my days off.
On the flip side, my job structure also has it's disadvantages. Such as, my work week usually clashes with the typical corporate work week. And while I don't work a corporate job, the majority of my friends do.
This negatively affects any social meetups that we plan. When I'm working, they're at home, and when I'm at home, they're working. Sometimes, it proves impossible to set up hangouts, and I often miss out on them.
I mean, the introverted part of me doesn't mind much, but when I see pictures of hangouts, I get major FOMO.
One more downside to my work schedule is the fact that I miss most holidays and big events. For example, weddings, Christmas holidays, and New Years. Thankfully I had a day off during a relative's wedding back in September; if not, I might have missed it. But as for Christmas, I'll most definitely be spending it alone, away from the family.
As far as getting freedom to do my own things, I think I do get freedom to do certain things for myself. My schedule is fairly flexible. And I also get ample time to rest.
I also like the fact that I don't always have to spend the weekends at home. Because in my house, the weekends come with a lot of chores and errands, which I am happy to skip🙂😅.
With all it's ups and downs, I actually don't mind my work schedule. I think it's mostly because I've grown used to it, and even if I didn't like it, there's not much I can do about it because I'm in it for the long haul.
But thankfully I love it, so I'm excited for what the future holds for me in my field and career!
Thanks for Reading🙂🤗