How to fight the “jet lag” effect

When I was a kid, I went to visit twice my family in New Caledonia which is about 20,000km away from Paris and has a +10 time difference. Each time, it would take me at least 3 days to recover from the 24h flight and the jet lag. And of course same would apply when I came back in Paris. I became quite traumatized by long-haul flights and when I started travelling frequently I made some research on how to fight jet lag and tried my best every time to circumvent this effect. Here are my observations and advices on the subject.

Jet lag, medically referred to as “desynchronosis,” is a physiological condition which is a consequence of alterations to circadian rhythms; it is classified as one of the circadian rhythm sleep disorders. Jet lag results from rapid long-distance transmeridian (east-west or west-east) travel, as on a jet plane.- From Wikipedia

Set your clock on destination time

Jet lag is greatly influenced by your mind. If you set your watch at the destination time straight away, it will help your body start adapting to the new schedule. Accordingly, please avoid the usual “departure time” thinking (i.e “it’s 3am at my departure place, I should be sleeping right now”). It’s a useless thought and even if you are not tired, you will feel like it. Your mind has a powerful control over your body.

Sleep in the plane or not

Fly red-eye (overnight) if you go from east to west and try to sleep as much as you can. I usually wait until the first meal is served and once I finish it I go into “blackout mode” : sleeping mask on, noise blocking earbuds with some classic music in and my hood on. Not very sexy but it will do the job. It’s never really resting but it’s better than nothing and should be enough for the next day. Then, you will arrive in the morning at your destination and it’s only a matter of not sleeping during this first day (cf below) to be back on track quickly.

When you go west to east, try flying early morning to arrive during the day at your destination. Go to bed early the previous night and then don’t sleep during your flight, enjoy the multimedia system, the meals and make new friends on the plane (if you are a challenger, go for the Mile-High Club). Once you land, you just have to wait until the night to sleep (cf below). I’ve always managed to feel only little jet lag doing that.

Once you get there, DON’T sleep

No matter what, don’t sleep when you arrive at your destination. No nap, no rest on the beach, no sleepy cuddling in bed, NO SLEEP : that’s the most important rule ! Wait at least until it’s 10pm to go to bed. Here are some tips to help you achieve that :

• Drink tea, coffee or Red Bull. Tea contains more caffeine than the rest (source wikipedia) but I just like the taste of Red Bull. And the fact that it was prohibited for years in France makes it even more exciting.
• Meet friends or new people and talk. It’s harder to fall asleep when you have someone talking to you and expecting answers.
• Don’t watch movies. No matter how great it is, the simple fact that you seat still and look at a screen will make you sleep.
• Party and have some booze. At first getting drunk will help you forget that you are tired. Don’t dance too much (be Hitch not Albert) and rather try hitting on that cute girl/boy at the bar. That will generate stress (adrenaline) and excitation to keep you awake. And you might get lucky… But be aware that after a couple of hours after the exciting effect of the alcohol will disappear and make you twice as sleepy.
• Avoid sex, sport and any physical activity that would make you even more tired. Video games on the other hand are a good way to get excited and have fun while avoiding any physical exhaustion. (cliché : if you get really excited about video games there’s a pretty good chance you can’t get laid and are terrible at sports anyways…)
• If you are into this kind of things, there is some really strong stuff that you snort and will keep you awake for hours.
• Ask a friend to slap you in the face every time you start closing your eyes. Fear is a good stimulation and in case it’s not enough, well, pain is too…
• Remember that if you fall asleep in an awkward place or position, your friends will take pictures of you and post them on Facebook. You might prefer to get slapped in the face actually.

This is just a list of basic things but I found that following these simple rules really helped me after long flights. I came back from New-York last week at 6:45am and then went straight to work. The next day was feeling normal, a part from the fact that I was way better in vacation over there… And if all my recommandation fail to help you, Wikipedia says that some recent studies indicates faster recoveries thanks to low doses of Viagra. I know your girlfriend will like it !

What about you ? Any good tips to share to tame the jet lag effect ?

Please, note that jet lag affects everyone differently and there’s no magic trick, just some basic rules that will help.

Text by Alex (follow him on on twitter and hejorama)

Illustration by Romano (see more here or here, and on hejorama)