Work and nomads
Jet lag and shifts: what works when you change time zone every week
It is not tiredness, it is a body clock knocked out of place. What genuinely helps depending on the direction of the flight, and what to do on a short layover.
Nerea Aguilar 5 min Photo by Sandro Kradolfer on Unsplash Jet lag is not cured by sleeping more: you manage it by shifting your body clock, and that clock listens mainly to two things, light and meal times.
Direction matters
| Flight | What is hard | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Eastbound | Falling asleep earlier | Light in the morning, avoid it in the evening |
| Westbound | Staying awake | Light in the afternoon, avoid it at dawn |
| North to south | Little | Nothing special, the climate changes and not the clock |
Flying east is the harder one, which is why rotations to Asia are felt more than transatlantic ones.
What genuinely helps
- Set your watch to the destination time as you board, and eat by that clock.
- Daylight at the right moment, which is what shifts the body clock most.
- Short naps, twenty or thirty minutes, and never late in the local day.
- Hydration, which sounds like a cliché and is what you notice most in the cabin.
- And consistency: your wake-up time anchors the rhythm better than your bedtime.
On short layovers
Under twenty-four hours, hardly anyone recommends trying to adapt: it works out better to stay on home time, sleep when your body asks for it and protect that rest with an eye mask and earplugs.
What the phone can do
Two time zones on the clock, alarms set before the flight rather than after, and a rest mode configured so that notifications are not what decides when you wake up.
And so calls from home do not arrive at four in the morning, watch out for this: how to call from abroad.
Frequently asked questions
What helps against jet lag?
Daylight at the right moment for the direction of the flight, eating on destination time, short naps and hydration.
Why is flying east harder?
Because it forces you to fall asleep earlier than your body wants, which is harder than staying awake.
And on a layover of under a day?
It usually works out better to stay on home time, sleep when your body asks for it and protect that rest.
Does setting your watch to destination time help?
Yes, as you board, and eating by that clock. It is one of the simplest things and one of the most effective.
