10 Reasons Why Weekend Shifts May Be Good For You
It’s all in the mindset
1 Routine Errands made easy without crowds
Let’s be honest, nobody likes crowds – people trying to squeeze in and aim for the same thing you are there for. Intrusive. Not fun. It makes everything more stressful. One of the things I like forward to when working weekends are your days off days during the week -everything is generally quieter on. Thursday morning! A simple yet mandatory grocery shop become more enjoyable in a (relatively) empty supermarket. You can take a more leisurely browse around the aisles, looking at the deals and seek your meal prep inspiration out of what is in front of you. You can think more clearly. On a Sunday afternoon however, its bumper trolleys! It sounds fun but it absolutely IS NOT! Try checking off my items on the shopping list whilst trying to navigate you shopping cart around a slow-moving family with crying kids. Or doing a long jump across three separate people who have decided they will just stand in front the cheese aisle and not move!
It not just the supermarkets that are quieter – my day off interests you would be pleased to know does extend the boring, necessary and the mundane. A food court spot in your favourite shopping mall is much better on a weekday! The cinema parking lot to watch your favourite new release movie – also a lot freer on a weekday and you are more likely to get your choice of seat especially if it is a spur of the moment decision. Or you know that popular Italian restaurant where it is impossible to get bookings? Yes, you guessed it right that is more likely to have a table available on a Wednesday compared to a Sunday. It’s a no-brainer, why would you not go on a weekday for a quieter more pleasant dining/ shopping or whatever other experience you are seeking?
But then you might say but what the point of having the day off when you don’t have people to enjoy it with. Valid point. I guess being a doctor, whose partner is a doctor, and whose sister is a doctor, and whose friends are primarily doctors, it does make it a lot easier that there at least some people who your zero days align with. Not only that you’d be surprised to learn how many others can squeeze a mid-week lunch meet-up. When month after month I was unable to meet my corporate friends, one of my friends once said “I’m in between projects, and its quiet these days, so I could do lunch somewhere close to my office” – and then the rest was history, we always now choose those kinds of days for meet-up to tickle our culinary taste buds in a less noisy, more agreeable setting. So, do explore and enjoy your midweek days off – they can truly be bliss.
2 Cheaper Midweek Activities and Staycations
It not just that activities are cheaper on a weekday off that you get by working a weekend, they are also cheaper. And a lot of the times significantly cheaper. It’s a simple case of supply and demand. Less free people, less demand, cheaper activities. I have an absolute soft spot for spas and massages and that is my go-to to relax. And lo and behold my midweek spa break are so much cheaper on a Wednesday morning compared to a Saturday afternoon. It is not just spas, whether you be an active “go-ape” kind of person or a lover of musicals and theatres, chances are you will get a more value for money ticket on a weekend.
My weekend getaways have been transformed to mid-week staycations. I could book a lakeside chalet in Chichester on for a Monday evening post long days working the weekend, unwind and relax, splash around on West Wittering beach. The long weekend Europe city break? For someone who regularly works the weekend, I take the opportunity to do a cheaper, less tourist saturated Monday to Thursday breaks. Your money can be stretched further, and you can take multiple number of those holidays for the same amount of cash!
3 Good for Scheduling Appointments – haircut or doctors!
Mid-week off days are good for scheduling routine doctor/ GP appointments. Imagine the hassle of contacting your employer/rota co-ordinator every time you need a doctor’s appointment – they may start becoming aware of things, you may don’t want to know. Having said this, you are not obliged to disclose your health provided it’s not impacting your work. If it is, highly encouraged you must so you can be supported in the best way possible. Some of my colleagues in previous workplaces had chronic medical conditions and needed to attend hospital appointments. Anyone who works in a hospital or otherwise know these are difficult to come by and is not even up the individual when they receive it for. Despite this one of the rota coordinators to take annual leave for those dates or schedule them on their days off! I found this unacceptable and thankfully was raised and addressed. Doctors’ experiences can be very variable depending on who their line manager is and which NHS Trust they work for – just know your rights and if not sure you can always double check with the BMA!
For me it’s the other stuff – like an appointment with a bank, or a house viewing if you are moving accommodation, or venue viewing that you may need for a whatever life event you are planning – weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, charities they all tend to only be available on weekdays.
4 Better Commute
Weekend commutes are so much more pleasant, and you beat the traffic! Instead of it taking 50 minutes in the morning and me having to leave earlier to make sure you get the parking spot on busy weekday, weekend commutes are a breeze – quite literally. You zoom pas the roads and could take up to half the amount of time to reach work, which means more morning sleep which is an absolute blessing for me. You can park right closest to the entrance and don’t need to brave the cold or rain to actually get inside the hospital doors the same way.
It is not just car commutes which are better. I never get a seat in my morning train to from Zone 5 into central London, I very rarely get a seat and have to stand most of the 25 minutes. Weekends, the train is your oyster, and you can take you pick of seats and decide which four of the you want to claim for yourself. Yes, I know trains can be am absolute pain on the weekends too, reduced schedule, some lines don’t works or engineering works but hey you can only do what you can do. I try timing leaving hospital so it’s just in time for the train and get some extra chat time with my colleagues/work friends or you know it’s the weekend, guilt free treat your self to some nice food on the way back home from work. If in doubt, LEON’s baked chips with the garlic aioli sauce is my go-to!
I am more of a ‘Baptism by fire” kind of learner. I need to do things, try it myself to learn something – the kinaesthetic type. May be a bit a controversial, but no learning happens when you are entirely comfortable – you have to be slightly stretched, a little bit out of your comfort zone, almost forced to make decision rather than hide in the protective shadow of a senior. My best development as a doctor happens has happened on the weekends. When you are ‘on-call’ and juggling multiple things, covering multiple wards your learning is expedited. You learn how to prioritise, made decisions on the spot and triage your calls and give advice over the phone as necessary.
Also, have you ever noticed why some of the more interesting patient cases turn up on the weekend? I’m sure that is not strictly true but for some reason it feels that way. Perhaps, because your team is smaller you have a better grasp of what is coming in through the door on weekends rather than weekdays where the parent speciality team claws onto their interesting case and whisk them off to their wards or clinics. Maybe, it’s because the team is smaller, so they are more likely to talk about and direct you to an interesting patient case for your learning. Weekends where you have more responsibility tend to be better places for learning provided you are well supported.
6 Better team morale – your consultant may even buy you coffee!
The friendliest shift I worked on ever was Christmas Days. Everyone was in a good mood, a little band went round rom ward to ward playing Christmas carols, and there was free Christmas dinner for all staff! I guess that’s the least that one can do for having to work Christmas.
I’m not saying weekend shifts have the same light-hearted mood, but they are still vibes compared to a weekday shift. Consultants are more relaxed; they may even decide to do a costa round for the team after handover. Or your team would order Pizza for lunch. Although to become a doctor, it’s a huge competition to get to medical school and get your grades etc but once you are a doctor, the sense of competition just dissipates. You all need to deliver the same standard of care, being better doesn’t let you be “early promoted.” Yes, of course there is competition to get into a training programme, but that is National, at the local level you help each other out. Maybe it’s because of this, sometimes doctor colleague relationships doesn’t feel like “work colleague relationships”- It is more like an extended medical school and a quiet weekend on-call can comes as a true blessing when you just a laugh.
7 Shifts go quicker
If you are busier – time goes quickly.
If you are not the free but tend got have a good friendly on call team which is most of the times on a weekend – time goes quickly.
In either scenario, weekend shifts tends to feel like they have gone quicker for the same duration on shift on a weekday – you might as well work a shift which feels quicker.
8 Perpetual Excuse to come out of weekend commitments you can’t otherwise say no to
Alright, I sound horrible saying this – but it’s true. Some days you just want to stay in, organise your house, meal prep, get cosy under your duvet with a hot chocolate and a movie. It’s not like you “can’t make it” – you can, and you are technically free in terms of schedule, but you just don’t fancy that rowdy house party or that family friend’s lunch. It is not just weekends but post work dinner or drinks – it’s a quick easy excuse/alibi to come up with. In addition, you are going to get a more sympathetic response – after all who would argue with some poor chap who’s working.
But let’s be honest, pretty much all the time you use this “excuse” it’s not an excuse it is true. The chances are you are more than likely to be working on a random weekend someone somewhere has planned something. But apart from the misfortune of sometimes needing to work Christmas or New Year’s Eve, you know your rota in advance and know which weekends you are working and which ones you are off. The chances are you have requested special events like a friend’s wedding or hen party or a nephew’s birthday to be off in advance or swapped out of the shifts to make sure you are free. You have organised your holidays and catchups arounds the weekends you are off. So, the weekends you have off, you already have plans. And the weekends that’s you don’t – you are probably working. Excuse not an excuse after all.
9 More time for hobbies and Side Hustles
When you are off on the weekend – there is something always going on. A local fun fair, a concert, something to occupy you. Your family and friends are usually free. Your time gets occupied.
But your weekdays off, is pretty much what you make of it. The chances are there will be less distractions. So, you are almost guaranteed you can have some undivided attention for a side hustle or equally a hobby – be it gym, painting or (for some nerds, me included) learning how to code or learning a new language. Also it is a weekday, you are psychologically prepped to work – so your “side hustles” aren’t even cutting in to your social time.
10 Pamper Days and Me Time!
A whole some home day in reading a book, a Netflix marathon or other useful things like a deep clean. What if you just want some “me” time. I wouldn’t say I am an introvert, but you still have to enjoy your own company from time to time. On regular back-to-back on-calls I barely get time to put conditioner in my hair, but mid-week zeros – the hair treatment goes in, and you spend time focussing on yourself. Whatever floats your mindfulness boat- you are more likely to get that done in the quiet of a mid-week zero day.
For those who have children, nieces and nephews, most cute school activities like fancy dress of a Christmas play tends to happen on a weekday so you are more likely to be able to attend those.
This is not at all condoning or encouraging weekend shifts, but you know what they say about finding a silver-lining in everything?