Shift work in and of itself is not a bad thing, like many before me have mentioned, there are a LOT of positve things about it. I do like the UK version (NATS) of the shift work though compared to ours. They don't have the quick turn arounds that we have and as I get older, the harder it is for me to get up in the morning after a quick turn around.
For those of you who may not know, the normal 24 hour ATC facility in the US runs it like this...
1600 - 2400
1330 - 2130
0630 - 1430
0630 - 1430
2230 - 0630
There are of course variations of this too but the normal schedule is as above. Eight hours or so between shifts, including coming back for the midnight shift on the same day...
regards
Scott