What is the longest amount of hours you have worked in a row?

[quinnox]

Just curious, I worked a 16 hour shift recently. I was just curious what others have done before. I know that nurses can do 24 hour shifts, which is mind blowing to me.

[Puzzledtraveller]

1. I sometimes worked double shifts of about 17 hrs

as a corrections officer then a police officer. This usually occurred when there was a shortage due to a call in and you got "forced" as we called it.

[Blue_In_AK]

50. I worked Corrections, too, for a while.

Our shifts were 12 hours -- seven 12's is what we did, then we had a week off.

[Turbineguy]

2. 96 hours straight.

several times.

[quinnox]

6. Ok, I have to call bullshit

You are telling me you worked for four days straight with no sleep breaks? A young 21 year old guy just died from working "only" 72 hours straight.

[Lurker Deluxe]

8. I agree

I would like to know what kind of "work" was being done.

[Turbineguy]

68. Boiler repair

removed several tons of furnace refractory, found and plugged leaking boiler tube (the tube was egg shaped so we had to hand grind a couple of plugs to fit). Replaced refractory and made some other minor repairs and got ship underway at 0800 on a Christmas morning.

[Sissyk]

38. Sleep study??

lol!

[Turbineguy]

49. I worked 72 hours straight too a few times.

Obviously I took time out for meals. Also I found that a shower and a change of clothes every 8 hours was needed. But yeah, after a while you are working on rote and are a zombie.

[Brother Buzz]

85. I worked 78 hours straight

It took me six-eight hours to fall into an extremely restless sleep; I continued working in my dream. Never, ever, again.

[Gothmog]

112. A shower and change of clothes helps

You feel a great deal better with a hot meal after a shower and change of clothes when you are working these hours

[haele]

93. You have to keep hydrated and nibbling. And yeah, you have to be young and healthy.

Healthy being the operative word. Any problem like asthma, or diabetes, or even just a nasty cold or virus can become deadly after 52 hours without sleep.
Young is also very important.

I've done way too many 24 to 48 hour cas-rep repairs, and learned to keep a couple/half dozen or so containers of pretzels, dried fruit, boxes of instant oatmeal and powdered juice drink (Tang!) under the deckplates when going underway for even a week. I also found that coffee and/or strong tea stopped being effective after 30 hours. I found after I hit age 32, I couldn't do over 24 hours, and after age 40, no more than 12 without at least two hours sleep.

I can understand why so many of my compatriots snuck Speed onboard whenever we'd go underway.

Haele

[sarisataka]

24. I have you beat

108 hours straight. At about the 64 hour mark don't the hallucinations get pretty good?

[cloudbase]

43. I've known Turbineguy for many years.

While I haven't done 96, I've done close to 72. We were both engineering officers in the Merchant Marine, so sometimes you've got to keep going when there's a plant casualty.

We also did plenty of 48s back when we were breaking out reserve fleet ships for the sealift for Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

[sarisataka]

45. Did you work at Wilmington

during DS?

[cloudbase]

48. Nope.

I'm out of Houston. We had a ton of ships breaking out from the Beaumont RRF.

[sarisataka]

56. I drove vehicle to Wilmington

then there went on the RO-ROs. I lucked out and was able to fly ahead rather than sail with the vehicles.

[Blue_In_AK]

52. My husband also was a marine chief engineer.

He's told me stories. He's been retired since 1995 or so, but he still has ship engine room dreams when he's stressed about something.

[quaker bill]

100. 18 hours X5 days a week

plus an 9.5 on Saturdays. For about 4 months straight. I had a big financial hole to work my way out of.

[MADem]

79. I've done that too--but with sleep breaks of two or three hours here and there.

But beyond the naps and sandwiches on my feet, I worked pretty constantly.

[snooper2]

3. Right at around 50

[onehandle]

4. 36 hours. I was part of a team that was putting together a multi-billion dollar RFP.

We won, so it might have been worth the effort.

Earned me seven additional years with that company.

[rightsideout]

15. Done quite a few proposals as well.

And presentations. Not unusual to work from 8 am to 1 am to get a presentation done in time.

And spent many a weekend on proposal work.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. 37, all in EMS

[Wait Wut]

7. 36...

...I had a heart attack 1.5 weeks later at 34. Best job I ever had, though. Great pay, benefits and the most awesomest bosses anyone could have hoped for.

[RebelOne]

9. I have done 24-hour and sometimes longer shifts monthly when

I worked for a magazine in Miami when we were on deadlines.

[dipsydoodle]

10. 12 hours

of which either 4 of the hours were at time and a half or 8 hours at time and a half depending on how the extra hours fitted in with a normal shift. That was 50 years ago. 12 hours overtime on a Saturday paid 24 hours. TV engineers were in short supply then.

[ileus]

11. 38...

Multiple field service calls all in a row.

It's funny how time adds up quick, one minute you're leaving the shop at 4am, 38 hours later you're coming home.

[Bandit]

12. I was a Commercial Fishermen in the Gulf of Alaska and worked daylight hours all the time and often

even through the two to three hours of semi dark in the middle of the summer. Those were very long summers......

[msanthrope]

13. 42 hours, in a row, writing a brief. It was a very good brief. nt

[Gothmog]

104. The legal profession involves long hours

I am a transactional attorney but have worked on some litigation matters involving a couple of all nighters

[quinnox]

14. Damn, you guys who said 30 something hours blow my mind

I believe that number, and that is amazing. Hats off to you folks!

[Lurker Deluxe]

16. Generally

Burnout is something that we are well aware of here where I work. We reguarally work alot of hours and are sometimes called to perform in not so nice places.

Safety, which we are very strong on, generally sets the limit at 12 hours in a day if you are going to work the following day, if not a 16 hour day can be approved if you are travelling (flying) or have an off day immediantly following the shift with no billable work allowed in the next 24 hours.

I have, when younger, worked 30 straight. As a machine operator now I would not even consider working more than 16, just no reward which the risk of losing life or limb can justify. I am lucky to have an employer who understands that human resources are worth more than any other aspect of our job.

[Ohio Joe]

17. I used to have to do a shift that went from Friday morning to Monday morning twice a year

Disaster recovery exercises... They can be a rough gig.

[X_Digger]

18. 20-22, in college. n/t

[Xipe Totec]

19. 24 hours - three 8 hour shifts

On a drilling rig, breaking pipe (retrieving the pipe string before dismantling the rig).

I was one of the roustabouts catching the pipe sections coming down the ramp and rolling them to either side for storage.

My father was the Chief of the Watch and wanted to teach me a lesson about how hard this work was so I would stay in school (totally unnecessary, but anyways) so he sent two relief crews back-to-back one man short. So I had to stay until my relief came.

It was brutal. Covered in caustic drilling mud from head to toe for the entire 24 hours, I had bleeding sores in my groins and armpits by the time it was over.

But....

This was in Mexico, and I was union, so I got paid straight time for the first shift, double time for the second, and triple time for the third. So I made 6 days wages in 24 hours.

Not an easy way to make a bundle.

[quinnox]

26. wow, sounds rather exotic

An oil rig in Mexico, cool.

[npk]

20. 27 straight hours is my limit

Though I did get a (2) one hour breaks in that time. My company was installing new software and I had to be on site until the job was finished.

[OnyxCollie]

21. 17.5 hours, unloading trailers in near 100 degree heat.

The boss wanted me to keep working; I walked out instead.

I went home, collapsed on the floor, and left an oily stain on the carpet.

[quinnox]

22. Oh damn. Back breaking work like that in that heat and almost 18 hours is an amazing feat!

[OnyxCollie]

25. People often went to lunch and never came back.

[Yo_Mama]

60. Heck, you must have been in great shape to last that long! n/t

[OnyxCollie]

69. I was in my twenties then.

It still kicked my ass, though.

[GliderGuider]

23. 36 hours as a self-employed photographer

I had a contract to shoot the 100th anniversary of the university in my city - 16 hours of shooting, followed by 6 hours of film processing and 14 hours of editing, printing and packaging. Thank the goddess I was only 27 years old at the time.

Never again...

[Zorra]

27. 35 hrs, but some of that was paid sleeping while working. nt

[4Q2u2]

28. 50 Hrs is my max

Convoy Security escorts in Iraq. Had a bunch of priority turn and burns that had to be done. They waived the in-theater O.P.'s, what a surprise. I used to be able to do 20 hr days for about a month then I was toast. Needed at least a week to recover and do it again.

[quinnox]

33. Oh man, I salute you

I was watching a reality show about soldiers working in Afghanistan recently, and that they could die at any moment and seemed to take it all in stride blew my mind. I admire this kind of courage it must take to work in ultra dangerous conditions such as Iraq. You are awesome!

[4Q2u2]

37. No Just a bunch of Guys and Gals Doing a Job

Doing it for each other. Keeping each other safe, that is all the motivation and the best motivation anyone ever needed or had.
Long hours are just part of the gig, same as the danger. Thanks for the Salute though it is appreciated.

[shenmue]

29. About 14

It was a weird day, there was awful weather and they kept making us stay because they were very shorthanded. I remember feeling like a zombie when I got out.

[FSogol]

30. In architectural/engineering offices, it is not uncommon to stay at work for 18-72 hours straight

when a project is due. We do catch the occasional short nap and snack a lot. In the winter, I keep a sleeping bag in my car since the heat in the office goes to night setback of 55 deg F.

[Boom Sound 416]

31. 32 hours, but I did rest my eyes once

I've done 14-18 hours countless times

[Kali]

32. gave birth to 2 and raised 3 kids

plenty of 24 to 36 hour shifts early on, oh but that may not count

[nolabear]

40. GMTA, Girlfriend. It counts in MY book!

[Kali]

53. !!!

[laundry_queen]

82. LOL ditto

Though the worst was when all the kids got norovirus. I have 4 kids, and they each started, one at a time. By the time the first child was done barfing, 2 others had already started. ugh. Then it was my turn. I had almost no sleep for 5 days straight.

I was never a germophobe before that, but let's just say I'm now OCD about it, especially in the winter.

When/if a norovirus vaccine comes out I WILL be first in line.

I'd rather be up all night with screaming quadruplets then have all my kids sick at the same time like that again.

[one_voice]

34. 18 hours...

but I've been awake for 3 days straight; multiple times. Part of an illness I have. It's horrible. Sleep deprivation is no joke.

I never want to be awake for that long again.

I'm not counting when I was in labor with my kids.

[TheKentuckian]

35. 22.5 and four other days at a minimum of 17 that week.

[hfojvt]

36. dang, here, I thought I was doing good

working 22.5 hours in a 24 hour period.

I had gotten a factory job and also gave my old employer notice, but I still had to work at the old job for about a week, plus I owned my own bookstore.

But then, on like my last day at the old job, my employer offers me a raise - matching what I was making at the new job (went from $5.5 to $7.15). So I got up at like 2 a.m. and cleaned the bar from 3 to 7, then opened my store at 8 until about 3 p.m. when I went and got some lunch. Then worked at the auto parts factory from 3:30 to to 11:30 then back to clean the bar again from midnight to 3.

Not exactly "straight" but a lot of work for 24 hours (I thought) although to be fair, working in my own store was usually pretty clack, mostly involving sitting and reading.

Funny thing is, that I quit the auto parts factory that day, so I really did not have to work, but wanted to try out some thumb protectors I had sort of "invented". That auto parts factory where I worked for a whole six days was about the toughest job I ever had. It was beating the crap out of me doing that work.

Edit, but it was common for me, for about two years to work a full time job and then also work six hours or so in my store. Or for another two years to work four or six hours as a janitor for a bar and then work 8 or 9 hours in my store. My store was open six days a week and the part time janitor job was seven days a week. At one point, I noted that I had worked over 150 days without even ONE day off.

[nolabear]

39. I had two children. That puts it as 18 straight years.

I'm not kidding.

[msanthrope]

66. Mine's ten. I'm looking forward to a nap in 8 years. nt

[Half-Century Man]

41. Once I did a 50+ in the Navy's DS's A School.

At the time, in my high school system, there was no algebra requirement. So, I didn't take algebra. To get a Data Systems Tech rating, you had to know Boolean algebra (computer algebra). I learned the basics of algebra and Boolean in a weekend. Smoked 6 packs of cigarettes that weekend and was peeing coffee at the end.
I did a lot of 36hrs days in the navy
I did thousands of 12 hr days in industry, and a few 16ers and a couple 24s.
At Al*oa I did 4 consecutive years of 60+ hr weeks.

[haele]

91. Howdy fellow DS....

Was it the UYK-20 programmable emulator module? I just passed that one, myself.

For the final test, a couple of us got a metal wash pail and filled it with water and a pound of dry ice just before the instructor came in.

The DS "C" school NTDS class was the brain-buster course for me; not only was it a midnight shift class, but I only had six months to learn all the CIC equipment and interfaces, which meant I had to not only understand the computer side, but I also be a gunner/RADAR/RF engineer to be able to prove to the other workcenters when it was their problem and not mine they kept dropping the track or couldn't communicate with the various sensors or if they couldn't get comms to the CO.
I knew basic Geometry, but had to take a crash course in Trig and Calculus to get through.

I still have my old A school tech manuals in storage. Worked on a UNIVAC 1218/1219 (magnetic core memory) as late as 1991.

Haele
(retired DSC)

[Half-Century Man]

92. The only UYK -20 I saw was a prototype in the lab.

Worked on Sperry-Hughes Display consoles (OA10V10s I think), 642B computers; the old NTDS-5 system. I got out in 82, so I haven't even put them down by machine code on a resume for 30+ years.
Still use Boolean though.

[hughee99]

42. 56 hours.

It was from 10am on a Tuesday morning to 6pm Thursday afternoon. Nothing glamorous or even particularly noble in the larger sense (doctor, firefighter, aid worker, etc...), just a software deadline that was imposed on me at the last minute.

Admittedly, I did fall asleep at my desk a few times.

[sinkingfeeling]

44. About 35 or 36.

[Rex]

46. A week.

nt.

[Blue_In_AK]

47. 32 hours.

I was a legal secretary/paralegal. Back in 1984, we were submitting a summary judgment motion with regard to a prisoners' rights lawsuit (we represented the prisoners). There was a time crunch and the thing was hundreds of pages long. I think I had a Wang computer then or something similar -- disks piled up everywhere. Somewhere in the middle of the process, my boss decided to change the whole organization of the memorandum, so it was kind of a complicated deal. I believe that was the longest I've worked straight.

On another case I worked on at a different law firm, we represented a couple of Native corporations against Frank Murkowski and his old bank for giving crappy investment advice which caused the corps to lose millions. I had several 20+ hour days on that one. At the time, it was the longest civil trial in Alaska's history.

Retirement rocks.

[closeupready]

58. "Retirement rocks." LOL, good for you.

[MADem]

81. +1 on "Retirement rocks!" nt

[Humanist_Activist]

51. I started work on a Saturday morning at 6 AM and didn't leave until Sunday afternoon...

about 2 PM. I was post supervisor as a security officer, and we had people call in every shift(so I had to cover), and my managers were AWOL all weekend.

[dkf]

54. Okay I thought my job was too much but I will shut up now.

[rl6214]

55. 16 or so

[closeupready]

57. I think 28 hours, in about late 1998. Got overtime pay, though.

And I used the money well - to pay off bills.

Back in the gogo 90's, seems like there was so much overtime, you could work as much as you wanted. As Liza sang, those were the days...

[Yo_Mama]

59. About 35 hours

During a rush-job data conversion. It was awful. Our company bought another company and it wasn't that friendly if you know what I mean, so the required data releases were not exactly expedited, so there was a huge last minute programming rush, and of course you know who got stuck writing the data conversions. Also had to write the new billing program. I literally had two weeks. All I could get before then was the file layouts, so I wasn't starting from scratch, but of course there is always undocumented stuff. I probably pulled about 170 hours in two weeks.

There was a lot of money involved. Our manager practically had a nervous breakdown and didn't show up at the office half the time, and we just bulled it through.

I literally could not do that now - I was much younger at the time. This is not all that unusual for IT, though, in which pressure projects occur pretty commonly. This was an extreme example, but not that extreme. Younger lawyers pull really long hours too.

I never did understand how they expect doctors to work those very long shifts while in training. Data is just data. On a project like the one I'm referencing, cash flow will be deeply impacted when deadlines can't be met, but no one actually dies. A blown-out doctor can literally kill someone.

[cherokeeprogressive]

61. 36 in the Navy. n/t

[TBF]

62. The psychiatric hospital was the worst -

working 12 hours overnight (8 pm - 8 am the next morning) every weekend (work 24 - get paid for 36 so that was the incentive). The worst though was a Sunday when I was scheduled 8 am - midnight to cover for someone who was out ... and there had been a suicide that morning. 16 hours of continual groups and monitoring other depressed patients so we wouldn't have additional attempts. That was the day from hell.

Any other all-nighters I occasionally pulled in offices (or at home with my sick kids) paled in comparison to that day.

[Liberal_in_LA]

63. an entire weekend techinically, I slept a few hours though.

I was backing up the house managers of a homeless shelter. They all wanted the weekend off. the clients could only been in the house with supervision. I stayed on the property for most of the weekend.

[Populist_Prole]

64. 25.5. Three 8.5 hour shifts

Working outside changing aircraft engines. I was pretty punch drunk and near delerious but they gave me the next day off with pay, which happened to be "my friday" so I ended up with a 3 day weekend...the first of them spent lounging about after sleeping a long time.

[cbdo2007]

65. Probably 8 hours....I'm salaried so it would be unethical for me to work more.

[AngryAmish]

67. 38ish

I was young. Quite frankly it would have been better if I slept at least five hours in the middle.

[War Horse]

70. 36

But maybe it doesn't count if it was for two employers, back to back?

[TlalocW]

71. Probably about 32-34...

I twisted large balloon sculptures in my home for 24 hours straight for an event with few rest breaks. Piled them into a moving van, went to the event, set them up (probably about an hour), twisted for another 7 hours for people at the event, and then tore down and went home to bed.

TlalocW

[Demo_Chris]

72. We regularly work 14's, occassionally as much as 24.. nt

[frylock]

73. 14 hours

[Throd]

74. 36 hours. Graphic designer.

[1awake]

75. I've done 72+... wasn't fun nor safe but I didn't have a choice. n/t

[warrprayer]

76. 24 hours

working as a contractor on a massive generator frame for G.E.. It had to be shipped by a deadline, we volunteered to get it finished.

[DesertFlower]

77. 24 -- several times.

[TheMightyFavog]

78. 11.5, a couple years ago.

Bad winter weather kept a couple of co-workers from coming in, so I volunteered to say the rest of the day.

Never. Again.

[BlueToTheBone]

80. 36 hours.

We were on deadline for a television show and we were editing.

[bluedigger]

83. Probably 36 give or take...

You don't really count the hours in the Army. And I'd nod off for a few minutes while curled in a ball from the diesel fumes in the back of the 577 while we were relocating to new positions every few hours...

I do remember hearing that my Battalion CO wanted me up running the battalion radio net the next night and my section chief refused to wake me because I needed some sleep.

[truebrit71]

84. 23 hours....

...did it when I was MUCH younger in preparation for a retail store inspection/inventory...everything after the twelfth hour was golden time...boy did I love that particular paycheck!!

[bermudat]

86. 36 hours straight

OB-GYN intern at L.A. County in 1978. Now, if I have to get up at night, I can't
even function the next day.

[CBGLuthier]

87. 12 hours, but did that for two weeks straight

6pm to 6 am. Then we would go to the grocery store and bum around until seven when we could buy a jug of wine, drive half an hour to the trailer park we were based out of, get drunk watch the bowery boys go to sleep get up at four and start all over again.

[JaneyVee]

88. 20hrs. Then had 2 days off.

[MadrasT]

89. I've done 48 hours with only a couple strategic 20-minute catnaps.

Longest without sleep was about 30. It was when I was in I.T. and had to do big conversion projects or upgrades during weekends.

16 hour days were "normal" and I was on call the other 8.

I quit I.T. a few years ago because I hated the hours.

[haele]

90. 72 hours straight; getting ready for underway. Only left to eat or use the head.

We had a last minute "announced Friday afternoon at 4pm" field change installation they wanted to have for the deployment, and it was just me and and two others for Friday night and over the weekend to do the installation before the ship went underway at 7pm.
Luckily, the last day was "observing operations", so we could get someone on duty rotation to actually run the tests for us; but OMG - I was pretty much cottage cheese brain for about two days afterwards.

You know that nodding "head rolling off your neck and bouncing back on off your shoulders" feeling you get sitting at a really boring PowerPoint presentation?
I had that pretty much constantly going on for a good 30 hours after hour 60 - even when laying down after we were done! Made it very rough dealing with the usual getting acclimated to being underway that first day.

Haele

[applegrove]

94. I've worked double shifts, that's for sure.

[Go Vols]

95. 37 hours doing this

Edit: more if interested

?t=3m33s

[Matariki]

96. 56 hours - two all nighters plus third work day.

That was for my own business.

Actually a longer time was an end of semester work binge where I stayed up for 5 days. By the end I was hallucinating. I had chemical help staying awake for that one. Don't recommend it at all, although it's interesting to learn one's limitations.

[a la izquierda]

97. 20 hours once...

I was finishing a paper for grad school.

[B Calm]

98. As a truck driver, 3 weeks.

[Gravitycollapse]

99. As far as actual work goes, 16 hours. As far as school work goes, somewhere closer to 30 hours.

[DiverDave]

101. Did 26 hours

building rack systems in a cold storage facility.
-12 on one side -28 on the other.
Had to get the system set up before we drove 12 hours to another site.
The bastard never paid us for that "day' either.
I was in my early 30's.
Long haul trucking alot of 18-20hr days...not all of that driving tho.
Isn't sleep deprivation fun?
I knew it was time to hit the bunk when I saw people/things on the side of the road...that weren't there.

[Democracyinkind]

102. When I was still a bankster, 48+ did happen.

But it's not as if anyone really works that long. It's mostly just for show, with some very rare exceptions.

[Gothmog]

103. 90 hours

When I was longer I did a couple of four all nightwear in a row on major deals. I am a transactional lawyer and deals can require this type of effort. One deal involved a financing of a steel mill where the seller was threatening to cut off the fuel to the coke oven. One key is frequent hot meals and taking a shower each morning and putting on fresh clothes. I have also spent three nights at a financial printer

[reformist2]

105. I've NEVER been able to work 24 hours in a row. I've done all-nighters, but I burn out around 4 am.

I don't fall asleep, but there are patches of times (usually right before dawn) where I am just not productive.

So, I've been awake up to 48 hours in a row, but have I worked more that 24 hours in a row? No way - I dare say, it's impossible.

[theHandpuppet]

106. Well...

I never worked more than a 12 hour shift (with 30 min. meal break) but I once worked 4 months without a day off.

[LWolf]

107. One job?

14 hours on a parent conference day.

There was a time that I worked 2 jobs; an 8 hour job and then a shift waiting tables. I usually worked about 9 hours a day at the 8 hour job, showing up early to get done whatever couldn't be finished the day before. On Fridays I worked a 5-midnight shift, plus an hour of side work once the place closed down.

That would be 16 official hours, or 17 if you count the extra unpaid hour.

[Javaman]

108. In a row? 48 plus hours on a really crappy low budget movie...

longest I worked with minimum sleep?

6 days straight averaging 2- 3 hours of sleep on a mazda miata commerical. (I did make major OT though)

[Bunnahabhain]

109. Never paid attention to continuous hours

but when I was younger I did more 120 hour weeks than I care to think about. I still regularly pull one or more 16 hour days in a week. I'm also on call 24/7/365 including vacations no matter where in the world that might be.

[rrneck]

110. 12 to 16 a day for weeks at a time when planting or harvesting. nt

[Gothmog]

111. My son did 50+ hours the day after he was sworn in as a lawyer

My son is at a big downtown firm and they did a nice swearing in ceremony and reception for all lawyers who passed the Bar Exam. The next day he had to be at the printers and he did not leave for the next two nights. These hours are very common for lawyers at big firms