27 Mar 2016

Finally, you’re home. Finally you can stand under your shower head, which somehow manages to have perfected pressure and temperature. Finally you can climb into your bed, the perfect balance of soft and hard. Finally you have access to a full fridge of familiar items.

What sucks it how lethargic and tired and heavy you feel. Your brain is ten hours behind and your body can feel the weight of that, however the sun is up and it’s the middle of the day and your friends are messaging you begging to catch up. How can you make this an easier process?

1. Change your phone time

When I’m sitting at my assigned gate a couple of hours before my fight to Australia is due to depart, I change my phone and watch to Australia’s time. This ensures my next 20+ hours of travel time is spent trying to hold off sleeping until a reasonable Australian hour. The plane is a painful journey regardless, so why not make it worthwhile. Fight off the urge to sleep or fight the urge to stay awake. It will make the transition a lot easier.

2. Hold off on the good stuff

Hold off on the coffee and the caffeine (unless you’re trying to stay awake). Replace it with water and stay hydrated.

3. Pay attention to light

A lot of people don’t often realise how much light has an affect on your sleep and your tiredness. Your circadian rhythm responds to your eyes detecting light. Controlling your exposure to natural and artificial light can change that. If you’re travelling West, make the most of morning light to shift your circadian rhythm backwards. If you’re heading East, get amongst the afternoon light to shift it forward, more towards the ‘sleep phase’.

4. Nap

Ah, one of my favourite things in life. It’s okay to nap, yahoo! But be intentional. Set an alarm for half an hour (if you sleep longer you always wake up groggy). Keep a count of how many hours you sleep during the day and make sure it aligns to how much you would sleep in a 24 hour period to help get your body clock adjusted.

Ultimately, you can’t escape jet lag. You can be smart about it though, and you have to be pretty disciplined to commit to making life easier for you back home when all you want to do is sleep. Never forget that the fact that you flew overseas and changed time zones in the first place is something worth celebrating. Nap with joy, people.