Nowadays, frequent travelers experience time zone change more frequently than ever due to different reasons of travel. Some travelers they barely come back from their business trip and either they are already packing for the next one, or they are packing for their holiday with the family.
Jet lag can last for 2 or 3 days and you cannot run away from it but it’s not that bad if you can develop techniques to overcome it, so why does jet lag happen? Jet lag is known also as time zone change syndrome and it happens when people fly from one time zone to another and it causes a disruption in their sleep as a result of that time zone crossing. The more time zones you cross the more severe the symptoms are. Basically, jetlag happens because your internal time-keeping system is disrupted and your body clock is out of sync.
Here are our best techniques that can help you beat your jet lag and quickly recover from it:
1. Book a flight that lands at night
Travelers experience jet lag on their way back home more often than when they fly to their destinations (e.g. if you are traveling from Europe back to your home in Los Angeles or any city located on the west coast then there is a higher likelihood to experience jet lag than on your way to Europe), therefore we advise our travelers to take into account landing times when they book their flight so they can find a flight that lands at night in order not to encounter any sleeping difficulties.
2. Eat a filling meal
Another trick that helps beating jet lag is to eat a filling meal when you land, even if you are tired and you don’t feel like eating or doing anything, we recommend you to eat because if you don’t, then you might wake up in the middle of the night looking for food. A filling meal doesn’t have to be unhealthy, you can have some fish and vegetables or some soup and fruits for desserts.
3. Exercise or go for a run
In case you land in the morning or in the afternoon then exercising would be the best option for you to keep you going for the day. You can also go for a run in the park for 20 – 30 minutes in case the weather permits.
Exercising followed by a hot shower helps you overcome the stress and the tiredness you have and it will help you recover faster from your jet lag.
4. Let it go and have a flexible schedule
The best way to beat jet lag is to actually let it go and learn how to overcome it by adopting certain techniques (as mentioned above). What we mean by fighting it is that, if you wake up at 4:30 A.M and you couldn’t go back to sleep after trying for the next 10 or 20 minutes, then don’t waste your time by keeping on trying because you will not sleep. So get up, drink some coffee, start your day as usual and make sure you accomplish as much as possible in the first part of your day because you will not be as productive later in the day. You will feel tired around the afternoon time, but since you start your day early you can actually finish it early. Flexible working hours are very common nowadays, so if your schedule allows you to leave work early then you can leave early and do some other activities until it’s time to sleep. Don’t try to sleep in the afternoon because it will only make your jet lag worse. Even if you are very tired, make sure you keep going until it’s time for you to go to sleep.
To recap:
- Book a flight that lands at night
- Eat a filling meal
- Exercise or go for a run
- Let it go and have a flexible schedule