Fighting Jet Lag

For many travelers, changing time zones can be the worst part of the journey.  There’s nothing worse than waking up at 2am local time because it’s time to get up back home.  Thankfully, I’ve found a solution that works — at least for me.  And hopefully it will help you fight this dreaded travelling demon.

The solution that I’ve found works best for me is simple — just stay awake during your “normal” hours.  Here’s what I mean:

Let’s say you leave Houston at 7pm, bound for London.  Your flight will arrive about 10 hours later, or 5am Houston time (11am London time). 

First, make sure you get a full night’s sleep the day BEFORE you travel.  Many people get excited or stressed by packing and preparation.  Make sure this doesn’t happen to you.  Pack with plenty of time to spare.  Don’t leave for the airport at the last minute.  Keep the stress to a minimum.

As soon as you can, get on the new destination’s time.  I usually switch my watch as soon as the plane takes off.  So, in the scenario above, we’d take off at 1am London time.  Because it is now past my “bedtime” I have two options: stay up or go right to sleep.  If you want to be tired the first half-day at your destination, then stay awake and enjoy all the in-flight services that transatlantic flights usually offer.  If not, go to sleep and set your alarm to wake you at 7am or 8am London time.

When you arrive in London, you will have either slept a mostly “normal” London night’s sleep or will have stayed awake all night.  Either way, your day should proceed like normal from here.  The only suggestion I would make is that if you do choose to stay awake, then go to bed a bit early the first night (around 9pm should do it).  You will likely wake up early the next morning, but either way, you should now be acclimated to the local time.

So how does this work in reverse?  Basically the same way.

Let’s say you’re going home from London, taking off at around noon London time and arriving about 10 hours later.  Your arrival time would be 10pm London time (time for bed), but since you are likely returning to the US, it will be about six hours earlier when you arrive (typically around 5 or 6pm).  The easiest thing to do is repeat the process from before – but make sure you stay awake.  Immediately set your watch for the new time zone.  Then, simply stay awake until your normal bedtime.  

One other big key: A large part of fighting Jet Lag is mental.  You have to always think in the current time zone and avoid thinking about what time it is “back home.”