Beating Jet Lag...

It's been five days since I returned from the Far East and I've finally shifted back into the right time zone.

This was actually pretty nice as I'd get loads of sleep in the evenings and then wake up super early meaning that I was in productive mode from about 4.30am. But then at 3.00pm I'd inevitably crash, which did kind of get quite annoying after a while.

Jet lag gets us all and I've read various ways advising how best to beat it, from keeping yourself awake on the flight to changing your eating habits on the last day to the new time zone that you're about to travel into. I haven't really found any magic cure, but I do have a couple of tiny tips for coping with it - Particularly in order to stop you from flaking at work or falling asleep during your reunion dinner/film/walk with a partner (both of which I've done many times).

Going West...
I find that going from East to West is generally easier to deal with and pretty simple. When you first land, no matter what time of day, try and stay awake long enough so that you go to bed around the same time as the natives. Get in the sunshine if you can. You'll naturally wake up early, but if you're on holiday this'll mean longer days and if you're away for work it'll mean you get to get more done. Avoid power dozes in the next few days that follow and you should be fine before the end of the first week.

Going East...
West to East is a different matter... You'll struggle to fall asleep at night and then, particularly if you're working away, spend much of the night panicking that you've got to get up in a few hours. Or, if you're on holiday, you'll risk kicking yourself for sleeping through most of the sunshine or days' activities. For this I usually take sleeping tablets. It's a bad habit to get into, I know (despite the ones I take being non-habit forming), but especially for work, I've found that this works for me. More natural remedies include a few drops of Lavender Oil on your pillow or supplements that contain Melatonin.

And just in case you're thinking of suing me (I'm talking to you, America) please don't take this as proper medical advice. I'm just musing about what works for me, so make sure you seek the advice of your practitioner if you need to.

Much love.