You came here because you’re afraid of or annoyed by jet lag. And now you’re so happy because you found the Holy Grail of jet lag battle moves. Right? Congratulations!
How to beat jet lag
Let’s cut the crap. You can’t. Yeah, that’s right. You can’t beat jet lag because you can’t fight neither nature nor physics. But you can mitigate the symptoms and that’s why you’re here and why you should continue reading.
In order to find the best individual options and methods to ease your jet lag it’s important to understand the underlying mechanics – and that’s pretty simple.
What jet lag is
As you already know a typical day consists of 24 hours. If you didn’t know, now you do. Your body is accustomed to a certain rhythm of sleep and awake phases within this 24 hours. If you travel outside of your current time zone, your day becomes shorter or longer; one hour per time zone. Well, actually the day stays as long as it was before and always will be. But since your perception of the day is related to a watch and a watch only represents a time denotation relative to a certain time zone, you’re screwed. Your body gets confused and reacts with minor or major tantrums.
Exemplary Breakdown
Let’s say you’re in London. You got up at 7 as usual, ate some posh breakfast, went to the airport and are now on the plane, waiting for take off. It’s noon and you’ve been awake for 5 hours. Usually you would go to sleep at 23:00 (that’s 11 pm), being awake for 16 hours. That’s what your circadian rhythm, your inner clock, is used to. And that’s fine. But now your plane is heading to Tokyo which is 9 hours ahead (remember, only on the clock; still no time travel).
We assume that your plane needs exactly 11 hours to get from London to Tokyo. When you arrive in Tokyo and your hamster Jean-Claude (staying home) checks his tiny wristwatch, it’s exactly 23:00 and hence the perfect time for you to go to bed. But for you, dear friend, it’s not 23:00 – it’s 8 in the morning on the next day. Magic! According to your circadian rhythms (that’s basically your body’s metronome) it should be night and you should sleep. But when you leave the plane it’s already the beginning of the next day – and you don’t want to sleep now. That means that you actually skipped a whole night and will have to stay awake for the next 15 hours till it’s 23:00 in Tokyo.
You may think that it’s not that bad. But your body doesn’t really care about what you’re thinking. Your body is confused and hates you. Your body wants to sleep and get up in 8 hours; not to stay up for another 15 hours just because you had the crazy idea to travel outside of your time zone.
I think you understand now why you can’t actually beat jet lag and that the epic fight between the circadian rhythms and the physical nature of time is something for eternity.
Basic concept to ease the symptoms of jet lag
The most important thing is to get the right amount of sleep at the right time. Unfortunately that’s harder than it sounds. Different flight schedules, different directions and different personal preferences and struggles make it even harder to find the best strategy. No matter what people like I are telling you, in the end it’s up to you to experiment, to listen to your body and to find what suites you best.
You can also try out the Jet Lag Rooster, a little tool that helps you out with a planned behavioral schedule.
Universal tips
1. No caffeine, no alcohol
It is crucial to be at least somewhat capable of controlling your sleep. Caffeine makes it harder to become sleepy while alcohol makes it harder to stay awake. Even if you’re a hardcore coffee junkie, be strong and resist, starting 12 hours before the flight. You can have your first coffee in the morning after your first night at the destination.
2. Set the watch and trick your mind
As soon as your plane gained altitude and the seat belt signs are off, set your watch to the current time at your destination. This will force your brain to adapt and fight your physical desires. It’s simple and effective.
3. Sleep on the plane – or don’t
Depending on where and when you’re flying, it can be very helpful to get some sleep on the plane or to fight the desire to sleep at all cost. In my experience it’s best to align to the destination.
a) Your plane arrives in the morning. That means you will have to stay awake for the whole day. You should get as much sleep on the plane as you can. If your plane takes off in the morning, don’t sleep much the night before, if at all. Even if that means you will be mistaken for a zombie. Stay strong. As soon as you’re ready with your first meal on the plane, drop dead in your seat and start zZzZzZ.
b) Your plane arrives in the evening. That means that you will have to fall asleep as fast as possible to get up in the morning with a sunny smiling. Simplest possible conclusion: Don’t sleep on the plane. Not even if it’s bloody boring. Take some matches with you to help keeping your eyes open.
4. Don't nap too much
Napping is some people’s most favorite passion. Even if they won’t admit it. Unfortunately it can have some side effects, particularly in combination with your body’s effort to adapt to the new schedule. Try to stay awake after arrival (except it’s night, of course). If you can’t resist the urge to take a little nap, make sure it stays a short nap and not a full-fledged hibernation. 20 minutes are enough, 30 close to being excessive.
No, getting up 20 minutes later to have some water and attach a new nap of 20 minutes isn’t smart, it’s cheating, you little twister.
5. Make the sun your new bestie
If possible, spend your days before departure and after arrival in sunlight. That doesn’t mean you should be the chief attraction at Helios’ BBQ. Just spend your time either outside or close to windows. Sunshine has a lot of positive effects on your mood and helps your circadian rhythms to stay or get in sync with the actual day and night rhythm.
There is an exception though. Rumor has it you should stay away from sunlight after arrival if you have traveled more than 8 time zones to the east, like in our London-Tokyo Example. To be more precise, block as much sunlight as you can in the morning and enjoy as much sun as you can in the afternoon.
Pro tip: Don’t try to cross Shibuya Crossing with closed eyes.
6. Use a book instead of a screen
Oh boy. I know. There’s no Five Steps at Once book. Yet. But maybe you can get some interesting travel books, like How to poke a bear according to science or Master Japanese in just 9 time zones.
And now you wanna know why the hell am I giving you such an old school recommendation. The reason is as simple as it is complicated. It has to do with the fact that reading is exhausting your eyes and makes you feel sleepy on the one hand, and with the blue light most screens are emitting on the other hand. This blue light isn’t just a fancy thing. It is messing with your melatonin production, which again plays a major part in the process of falling and staying asleep.
That said, if you know that you have to sleep in some hours, try to avoid screens. If you have to stay awake, avoid books and enjoy Five Steps at Once on your phone or learn some Kanji.
7. Drugs and chemical helpers
Some people recommend taking melatonin. There are countries where it is approved as OTC drug, countries where you can buy it as a food supplement in every second supermarket, and countries where you can get it only with a prescription if at all. One way or another, usually it isn’t approved for the treatment or prevention of jet lag. Hence it stays something for you to decide.
Other people recommend hypnotics, colloquially known as sleeping pills. This is something you should discuss with your doctor. If you haven’t taken any hypnotics before, a travel is the worst time to try it out for the first time. Different people react differently to chemical sleeping aids and it can make jet lag even worse.