Jet lag can leave you tired and sluggish during your cherished vacation, but there are several things you can do to avoid jet leg, or cope if you are stricken by the condition.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Anywhere from a few minutes to a couple weeks
Here's How:
- Determine what time of day you will be getting up and going to sleep at your destination. Then develop a plan to start switching to that time zone before you leave. For instance, if you will be flying from New York to Paris (where it is six hours later), get it one hour earlier for a couple days, then two hours earlier, then three hours earlier. I would try to at least get halfway to your new time zone. Turn lights on during daytime in your destination, and off during the nighttime.
- Be sure you still get rested during this time period. You can try melatonin supplements or sleeping pills for a couple days to get on track. It also isn't a bad idea to take something to help you sleep if you are taking an overnight flight.
- In the couple days leading up to the flight, and especially on the plane, drink plenty of water. If you aren't a big water fan, drink some other fluid that is not high in sugar, carbonation or caffeine. Avoid junk food, salty foods, caffeine and alcohol on the plane. (Of course, I say that... but I always have a couple drinks during the flight. If you do that, just be sure to drink as much water between drinks as possible.)
- When you arrive in your destination, try to resist the urge to nap during a time that is outside sleeptime there (unless, of course, you are just exhausted). Get outside during the daylight hours, even if it's just to sit in a cafe and relax.
- Try to get a good night's sleep for the first couple nights. The key is to reset your body's natural cicadian clock and to get enough rest.
- When you return home, use some of the same tactics above to return to your previous time zone.
Tips:
- Schedule your time off from work to allow for at least a day of just relaxing and vegging out when you return home. When you arrive at a new destination, excitement and adrenaline keep you going. But when you return home, it's pretty typical to have an energy crash. Sometimes it can take two weeks after returning home to get back to a decent energy level. Any time you can devote to recharging before returning to work will help.
What You Need:
- Bottled water
- Sleeping pills
- Melatinin supplement
- Time zone watch
- Alarm clock
