kibbitz said:
With regards to your work, does scheduling software feature much? Or do you do your scheduling the old-fashioned way [pen(cil) and paper]?
I usually use Excel. Scheduling software can be useful when printing out master schedules, but it is usually not the easiest to use while designing.
A lot of what I do when designing shift schedules is like solving a puzzle, if each puzzle piece had certain variable criteria about where they fit in to the picture. Some interesting math, too.
Which remind me - Painfully! I owe you information! I'll track that down for you ASAP. Kid Charlemagne, if Painfully doesn't see this, will you please mention it to him?
Incidentally, Kid Charlemagne, I've seen much worse schedules. The 8 hour one you listed (N = night shift, E = evening shift) -
M T W T F S S
-----------------
N N N - - E N
Is really odd from a production standpoint. Looks like a semi-fixed schedule, and not a great one. I'd be curious to see the schedule of the people who covered the nights you had off.
The trick to surviving this shift pattern would be to stay up late Friday night and sleep as late as possible Saturday morning. Same thing with Saturday night and Sunday morning, before you go into work on Sunday night. The real bear is adjusting back to regular night time sleep on Thursday night. I'd probably recommend that folks stay partially adapted to staying up late and sleeping late, even on their days off.
This is a good example of a schedule which is moderate in terms of health, but which suh-hucks in terms of social life. Working the weekend, every weekend, isn't great for family and social responsibilities. I know that there are schedules I'd rather work.
