I've been on an on-call rotation every three weeks for about eight months now, and honestly, staying focused during those long shifts is more challenging than dealing with actual incidents. Troubleshooting production issues isn't the problem; it's maintaining any sort of mental sharpness for 12+ hours while also preserving my sleep schedule afterward. By around hour 8 or 9, I feel like my brain is turning to mush, especially on those shifts where nothing is breaking, and I'm just watching dashboards for alerts. Coffee stops being effective around midday and starts making me jittery and anxious, which isn't ideal for making quick decisions about production systems. Energy drinks don't help either—they just lead to a crash. The real issue seems to be my sleep; I can time my caffeine intake, but I still end up lying awake at 2 AM, wide awake even though I'm exhausted. And it's hard to nap during quiet periods because my brain won't let me relax with the possibility of getting paged at any moment. I'm curious how others handle these situations because my current strategy of relying on coffee isn't cutting it. I'm not expecting a perfect solution, just looking for some better options than what I'm doing now.
1 Answer
It sounds like your on-call setup might not be working as it should. You shouldn’t have to sit and watch dashboards for 12 hours—if you’re waiting for alerts, something’s off with your alerting system. Proper setups should notify you when issues arise, so you can go about your day until you’re paged. Consider discussing this with your team or management to improve your workflow.
Exactly! If your alerts are set up correctly, you shouldn’t have to be glued to a screen all day. Make sure to advocate for proper alert systems so you can actually enjoy some downtime!