If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you’d know that I’ve made the long trip back home for the holidays. I’m so happy to be back for Christmas, and loving every minute of it. However, jetlag is really really annoying. I have 12 1/2 hours of it to get over! Nevertheless, after years of travel from one corner of the world to the other, I’ve boiled getting over jetlag down to a couple different techniques that have worked well for me. So check out these 3 techniques to help your battle jetlag after you reach your final destination.
Don’t Sleep: If you google “how to get over jetlag”, one of the techniques that always comes up is to adjust your sleep cycle during the travel. So whenever it is nighttime at your final destination, try to get some sleep. This has never ever worked for me. In fact, in flights I usually cannot sleep. However, what definitely works for me is avoiding to sleep during the normal daylight hours after reaching my final destination-unless there is late night event that very evening. I reached California in the morning, which gave me the entire day. Therefore, I pushed myself to not sleep until-bedtime (9:30-10 p.m.) to get myself used to the time difference much faster. It’s not easy, but it definitely speeds up getting over jetlag.
Flow with the Day: Going along with not sleeping during daylight hours, move with the flow of the day. Hungry or not, eat the meals at the appropriate times, and follow through with the day to avoid eating and sleeping at odd hours while your body is getting used to the newer destination.
Move around and Stay Active: Best way to not sleep: MOVE. Avoid sinking into that super comfy couch because you’re exhausted. At my parents’ house, there is this extremely comfortable couch, which I actively avoid sitting on when my jetlag hits me because its so easy to fall asleep! In fact to keep myself after for those few hours before I can go to bed, I either keep talking to my family or start unpacking. Basically to keep my body moving until I can go to bed at an appropriate time.
Ultimately, the quickest and best way to get over jetlag that always works for me boils down to following the day in the best way possible. Keeping my body and mind moving so I don’t succumb to sleeping at an inappropriate time. I understand that everybody goes through jetlag differently, but if you’re struggling to figure out your rhythm, give this a try! It 100% works!
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