The key to working nights... and days for that matter, but to a lesser extent, is can you fall asleep relatively easily? If you struggle to settle with a normal body clock rhythm then you'll probably find it harder to settle with an unnatural sleep pattern. And do you stay asleep easily? There's more noise during the day and, unlike at night, you have no right to ask people to keep it down. Mind you, finishing at 3 gives you a good chunk or 'normalilty', but it's easy to go home, relax into 'evening' mode and finally settle just as the world's getting noisy.
I worked retail nights for a long time because it was a great place to hide from life, there was a certain calm about finishing just as everyone else was getting up, and I couldn't have tolerated working with loads of customers during the day. But sleep was always a problem for me... I settle badly and wake easily. The folk I worked with who found it easiest were those who could grab a nap in their lunch break and wake ready to go again, then sleep as soon as they got home for a few hours, then maybe a few more hours later in the day, before work.
Anyway... nights... if you're a nurse or power station worker or OcUK mod, with vital 24/7 work to do then it's an acceptable risk to your sanity. But the premium you get these days, especially low skill work, is usually pitiful. I think the Asda contract they're ramrodding through now means night pay is only between 1am and 5am or something similarly ridiculous. But that's neither here nor there. Big company does a number on little people is not news.
Bottom line is that as a short term stepping stone, nights can work for you. But nights have a habit of sapping your energy and resolve to get away from nights. I imagine skip cleaning is a wet, cold, miserable job at the best of times. Or painful enough to inspire you to get out of it ASAP!
Good luck anyway.
Night shift workers have a lower life expectancy too. Some research has linked night shift to increased rates of cancer.
I'm currently caring for my mother, with dementia. Living 'too long' is a problem we have yet to get to grips with, and having
things cut short might be a better option until some bright spark finds a way of sorting dementia out. Mind you, poor sleep throughout life is likely to be a contributing factor to dementia, so nights may be inducing a double whammy for some.
Nice to have something to look forward to.
