And my department is pretty flexible if you've got a problem. Janie O'Connor, a shift-work specialist in St. Paul, Minn., finds that couples who succeed with shift work make a concerted effort to communicate. There's no nurturing of the partnership. The shift schedule gets blamed for a lot of things. It's like they're single marrieds.
People have to come up with their own systems.
To help them do that, his company publishes a Working Nights Family Calendar, with colored stickers to paste on, indicating Night, Evening, Day, 12-hour, Off, Holiday, Vacation. The Gavins use four magnetic boards on the refrigerator for messages. The Griffithses rely on phone calls, voice mail, and notes. If he's not too tired, we'll talk when I get home. I'll say, 'Yes I did.