Beat JET LAG 5 easy ways
How to beat jet lag is absolutely
worth every traveler having
tricks in their bag, so you can get the most out of your travels.
1. Set yourself a routine
Perhaps this is the best thing to help you get out of your misery jet lag.
Don't get me wrong, having to go to work on a Monday morning after a 2-week holiday in Hawaii / Maldives / This may not be something you're looking forward to, but it actually helps force you back into a routine.
This will help you set your sleep limits and get your right back on track. Just a little heads up –this will entail a couple of days of feeling completely knackered, so it's not enough to do it alone. Besides making this routine, there are a few more items to do below.
2. Stay awake according to the current time zone
It's really as simple as that. Once you arrive at night/afternoon–it's pretty easy. Just go to bed immediately. You're going to be sick of your trip anyway.
When you arrive in the morning/afternoon, it's better to find the strongest possible coffee, put on your walking shoes and go exploring until later that night.
Don't worry, you're allowed to go to bed' early-ish' with this second scenario (this means at any time from around 8 pm). When you go to bed, you will be so mad that you will end up sleeping much longer than normal and not only wake up refreshed, but you will also wake up brightly and early in the morning–fresh and ready to explore.
3.Know that somewhere it will take some effort.
No point in pretending that it's easy to beat jet lag. It's not really.
Caffeinate if you've got it (maybe more if you're going home on your normal routine). Go on long walks if you need to stay awake. If you need to sit in an upright chair instead of sitting in bed. Point is, not only will the jet lag' go away' itself.
It will take some effort on your part to get rid of it and the sooner you realize it, the sooner you get rid of it.
4. Sleep as much as possible.
The most annoying symptom of jet lag has to be the persistent tiredness from having too little sleep and your body feeling like you need to get to bed.
Whatever the trigger is, make sure you have plenty of time to sleep. This is no time for any curtailment of sleep (which sounds contradictory to the 2nd point above, but is not–the 2nd point above involves postponing sleep to suitable, not cutting it short).
Because, when everything boils down to it, the body needs sleep to work properly. You're so much better off being well-rested but in the wrong time zone (sleep-wise) than being in the right time zone and constantly exhausted.
5. Give yourself time to get over it.
Once you arrive wherever you go–particularly if you go back, set aside a couple of days to help you deal with jet lag.
Don't try to rush back to work the very next day after two weeks of being halfway around the world. I know this one might be a trickier one to muster –due to having limited holiday time off work but wherever possible, factor this into your plans and leave yourself with a couple of days after you get back home (depending on how extreme the time difference is) to rest and fight your jet lag–or even just to sleep properly before you throw yourself fully into your daily routine.