6 Tips That Really Work To Overcome Jetlag

You know that feeling don’t you? You step off the plane, full of excitement and anticipation after a long flight. And you’re smacked in the face with fatigue. You’ve gotten very little sleep and your body feels like it’s hung over. How nice it would be, you think, to settle yourself down into bed right about now. But it’s lunchtime in your new home – hello jet lag!

When you travel and your time zone shifts more than two hours, especially going east, jet lag is often a constant companion. Moving around day and night really confuses your body’s biorhythm. The more time zones you cross, and the more stops you make, the worse it gets. The best thing to do when you know you’ll be traveling long distances is to have a half to full day period of time to adjust. This way you can start adapting your sleep-wake cycle, body temperature, blood pressure, digestion, and other bodily functions to the new time zone.

* Prepare at home before departing

If you know you’re prone to experiencing jetlag you should first get yourself ready at home before you even get close to an airplane.

If you’re flying east especially you’ll feel jetlag systems worse than flying west. This is because flying west causes your body to think your day’s getting longer whereas going east makes it think the day is shorter.So the best plan of attack is to adapt your body’s rhythm a few days before departure. When you fly east, try to go to sleep a couple hours earlier than usual.

If you’re going west stay awake one or two extra hours. You should also be getting up earlier, or getting up later, respectively. If you have really big problems with jetlag systems pay attention when you’re booking your flight: arriving in the morning tends to pose large problems with fatigue since the day drags on for a longer period of time.

* Set your watch to the new time zone

Your transition to the new time zone should begin on the plane so you at least get yourself mentally prepared for the new rhythm. Once you’re on the plane, set your watch to the new destination’s local time and keep yourself awake if it’s still daytime there.

Even if it’s light out at your destination, it may be difficult to stop yourself from falling asleep on the plane since the lights are usually dimmed. This can, however, work to your advantage if it’s nighttime in your destination, so you can sleep on the plane!

* Customize your sleep-wake rhythm

It’s especially helpful to adapt your body’s rhythm in relation to the time you’re asleep and awake in the new location. So, for example, if you’re flying east you’ll want to go to sleep on the plane. So get on some cozy clothes, pick up any additional inflatable cushions you’d like and put in some earplugs to avoid being disturbed by the surrounding noise! If you accidentally don’t get very much sleep the night before departing then this can also help you out since you’ll be more tired and able to easily fall asleep on the plane.

* Try Melatonin

While we aren’t big fans of supplements we found Melatonin to help while adjusting to jet lag. Melatonin is a natural hormone produced by your brain that tells your body to go to sleep. This supplement helps you to get to the sleepy phase easier/faster. 0.5 mg should be enough.

* Drink plenty of water, but skip the alcohol and caffeine!

Air inside airplanes is usually quite dry and you’ll notice your skin stretch and dry up a bit since you’re deprived of water. So every once in a while you should get a glass of water to keep your hydration at a healthy level. Alcohol, however, is pretty strong and toxic when you’re up so high. You might find, for example, that a glass of wine helps you fall asleep – which could be totally true – but the effect it has is only brief. It actually dehydrates you even more and makes it harder for you to adjust to the new time zone later. Also, coffee and black teas are not beverages you should be drinking on a flight for the same reason. Your best options are to aim for drinking water and juice!

* Plan to stay overnight

If you have enough time and your wallet allows, throw a stopover along your route. For long distance flights eastward to Asia, Australia, or New Zealand especially, a relaxing stopover can do wonders for your battle against jetlag. You could potentially end up spending a few days in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, or Singapore! You don’t need much more than two or three days in these cities anyways.

Take the time to explore a cozy place, eat some good food, and see a bit of the area before you carry along to your next flight with new energy! You’ll notice you’ll adjust much more easily to the time change and you’ll have gotten to see another destination along the way.