Flying all over the world may sound exciting to do, but to fight jet lag is difficult and will take a serious toll on the body. How can we effectively fight jet lag? Over the years I have spent countless trips trying to figure out the best methods for overcoming jet lag. Some of my research involved using light manipulation, sleeping aids, and even just forcing my way through a day without sleep trying to reset my body clock. Our biological and behavioral functions vary in a day with sleep, body temperature, and mental/physical performance all within a 24-hour period. This cycle of 24 hours is called “circadian rhythms”, which is derived from the Latin words “circa”, meaning about, and “dies”, which means day). The circadian variations are run by a biological clock located in our brains. When you disrupt this pattern you might experience fatigue, irritability, reduced mental agility, and/or insomnia. Therefore, if you only have a week to explore Budapest before heading back home, you don’t want to spend half of the time sleeping! Here are some tips to overcome jet lag in a hurry.
1. Embrace the suck
It’s going to be painful on your body no matter what when you fight jet lag. Force yourself to get up when your alarm goes off and head downstairs in the hotel for breakfast. Get some coffee, eat some protein with fruits, and just accept that you are going to be tired and will eventually come out of it. If you have to take a nap in the day, set your alarm for 20 minutes. Sleeping past this time will only make you groggy and then you will have a difficult time falling asleep on the new schedule. Traveling East always seems to be worse than going West since you are losing hours in this direction. Let’s say you live in New York and head to London for vacation in the summer. London is 5 hours ahead of New York. Thus, if you wake up in your London hotel at 8 a.m., your body clock is still on New York time, which means you feel like you’re waking up at 3 a.m. I don’t know about you, but that can be painful! Like we used to say in the military, embrace the suck and you’ll get used to it.
2. Manipulate daylight
Your circadian rhythms are closely tied to the sunlight. Thus, it is vital to embrace this when trying to get on a new time zone in your fight with jet lag. One method I like to use in the beginning of my trip is to leave my bedroom curtains open by about a foot or so. This way when the sun comes up in the morning, it will increase the daylight in my room. In contrast, perhaps you arrive early in the morning and want to get a nap before starting the day, but the sun is too bright. Use the clips from the pants hanger hanger to keep the curtains closed tightly to reduce sunlight. You can also use a sleep visor or mask to cover your eyes. These are both great methods to manipulate the sun to help you adjust your circadian rhythm.
3. Manipulate noise
Some of us sleep better with a little noise in the background like a fan or heater running. Others prefer total silence. Regardless, identify what noise condition you sleep better in and make sure to use this when you need to sleep. If you like background noise, there are great apps out there that can simulate a lot of noises. The app I use simulates a fan and rain falling at the same time. If I get into a hotel early and need to sleep but the housekeepers are talking and vacuuming, this app helps drown out the disturbances. If you’re the silent type, be sure to bring your earplugs with you on the trip and use them.
To fight jet lag give yourself a couple of days of going through the pains of time adjustment as your circadian rhythm adjusts. Before you know it, you won’t even be thinking about those early morning wake ups and instead be driven to explore the new world around you. Travel is fun, but it does come with a price on the body.
