How to Beat Jet Lag Every Time

There are two things you need to do to avoid jet lag.

1. Adjust to the local time of your destination as soon as possible, generally as soon as you board your flight. That means eating on your new local time, and sleeping on your new local time.
2. Stay up until bedtime at your destination the day you arrive. If you go to sleep at noon, you’re going to be off for days. You need to force yourself to power through.

There are ways to make them simpler. It's better for your health if you enjoy your trip more. It can make you dumb.

The Flight

Go to bed when you get on the plane. Stay up if it isn't true. The new local time makes it easier to plan your meals. It might be better to eat before the flight.

It can be difficult to fly from the East Coast to Europe in the middle of the night. When you leave at night and arrive in the morning you have a full day ahead of you but you need to sleep.

It can be done in New York, DC, or Boston in less than seven hours. You would like:

• A fully flat seat in business class
• All aisle access so no one is climbing over anyone else and waking them
• Meal service to end quickly, and lights out quickly, so you can sleep.

The goal is to get as much sleep as possible. I don't want to wake up for breakfast on most airlines. I have my own headset. Flight attendants at American Airlines collect their luggage too early.

It's a good idea to eat before you board. Don't eat the main meal. When seats are certified for recline, airlines can help get through service quickly.

When You Arrive

One of the best ways to beat jet lag is to sleep and wake up on a local schedule. Go to bed as close to the locals as possible after you've arrived.

I take a shower when I fly to Europe or Asia in the morning. Take a walk if the weather is nice. My schedule will allow me to take a nap. I will wake up and go out to dinner. It can be difficult. I will be exhausted. Doesn't mean anything. When I get back to the hotel, I want to go out for a late dinner so that I can fall asleep quickly.

I will let myself sleep in at 8 a.m. if I have the time. I will get up before 6 a.m. and be adjusted to the time immediately.

I go to bed at night. I have a tendency to get off of a long flight without internet and think I need to clear my mind, so I check in on e-mail and work and that just sets my mind racing with a million things It is a terrible idea.

I won't work when I arrive at the hotel after dark. When I travel from the airport to the hotel, I will clean out my email. I don't use public transit in most cities because I want to get in the back of a car, fire up an internet connection, and work without transfers. The best way to get to Tokyo is by taking the Narita Express.

Putting It Into Practice

Two of the hardest things about jet lag are.

• Sleeplessness. Going to sleep, you wake up a few hours later and are up throughout the middle of the night. That makes the coming day tough. And it makes staying up through the day tough, but a nap just makes the cycle even more likely to repeat.
• Flexibility. If you don’t have to push through you won’t, but the best thing to do is to push through until bedtime in your local destination.

It's easy to adjust to Europe. If I go out to dinner the day I arrive, I will be fine by my second day. Even though there is no time change, the same applies to South America.

After returning from Europe, I get tired by 7 pm or so. It is a small deal.

If I take a flight that gets me home early in the day, I don't have to worry about coming back from Asia. It's hard to stay up until bed. I have to take a nap and go out to dinner when I am home.

I don't like going to Asia because I think it's the opposite of local time and want to sleep during the day. The older I get, the more difficult it is.

The advice has nothing to do with drinking lots of water or avoiding alcohol and coffee.

I will need a full day to adjust if I go to Asia. I'm not sure if I'm going to sleep that first night. I need to power through the next day so that I can sleep on the second day.

It's important that you have a routine. Get into the local time as quickly as possible. Right away, set your timepiece to the new time. If you need to sleep on arrival, plan your sleep schedule based on when you want to sleep. Time your meals close to when you will be eating at your destination.

It's much easier if you have a good experience on the way over.

Blue light therapy, vitamins, and candles can be used to beat jet lag. It's not that difficult. When you get on the plane, you should change your watch to local time in your arrival city.

In general.

If you want to avoid jet lag, you have to do two things. You should adjust to the local time of your destination as soon as possible. You need to eat and sleep on your local time. Stay up...

In general.

I haven't found a cure for jet lag. I don't suffer much when I go or return from Europe. I have to force myself to stay up if I take an overnight flight because I can't sleep if I don't.

In general.