Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, meaning we receive a commission if you decide to make a purchase through our links, but this is at no additional cost to you. Is this a thing? Is working shift work really a deal-breaker when looking for love and trying to find a relationship? How to date as a single shift worker? Dating a shift worker does require a little more preparation, communication and creativity when it comes to activities.

Research shows shift work has a negative effect on health, relationships, marriages and children, and increases rates of separation and divorce. When partners work different shifts there is often little face-to-face interaction. It becomes difficult to plan any family activities, maintain healthy communication, and sometimes even a regular sex life. As a result, many people are taking whatever jobs they can find — even undesirable jobs such as shift work. Shift work jobs can leave both partners with very different feelings. For example, the partner working the job may experience feelings of guilt regarding being away from the home.

It can be difficult enough for couples to find enough quality time together but doubly hard if one or both are shift workers. Its necessary to be mindful that you eat, rest and play together. In ordinary relationships these things happen organically, without thinking about it; not so when one is getting up as the other is preparing to sleep, and timetables keep changing.

I've been with my girlfriend now for 8 months. I met her when she was finishing up one of her certificates at school, and she wasn't working. So from the day we met, we literally spent every single day, and most nights together for 4 months straight. When I say every day, I mean it. There wasn't a day that went by that we didn't see each other in person.