I use the same method and it has always worked wonders for me. Caveat: works better if you are more of a night owl and can go to sleep very late even in normal situations. I noticed it doesn’t work as well for people that aren’t used to (or able to) just “stay awake”.
On a separate note, couldn’t help but notice “where is my flying car” in the pic - one of my favorite books ever!
Mostly same method for me, however I DO take a couple 30 minute snoozes on the plane during overnight flights. Sleeping upright is so uncomfortable that it's about all I can manage. The true key is staying awake through the daylight hours at your destination. You'll be good to go for the rest of your trip!
I generally follow this, and I think it's good advice. However, I don't find that I'm completely adjusted even after a few days. If I'm moving and busy I'm good. If I have to sit for an extended period the jet lag catches up with me.
I doubt that would work for me. I'm a napper. I routinely take a cat nap coming home from work, usually 5-10 minutes in a rocking chair. If I get stuck on a problem, I like to refresh my memory of all its major points and take another 10 minute nap.
One catnap did last two hours. Another was zero seconds; I got back up as soon as I sat down and knew what my solution was.
If my body wants a nap, I indulge it. I figure it's the expert.
I try to take daytime flights to India, which arrive in the daytime. Then I just stay awake until the evening and then sleep. My jetlag is so much less of a problem with those flights!
From Washington, Air India and Emirates both leave in the late morning. I don't think any of the European airlines operate on that timetable, unfortunately
Has not really worked for me. I often can't sleep on planes so I have done the staying awake things often I tried just powering through it on landing but I have never enjoyed it.
Instead when traveling to Europe I try to sleep on the plane but either way I get an early check in and a 3-4 nap. I then get up and tour around till local bed time. That system has always worked better for me.
Your method seems to unnecessarily maximize pain on arrival. I do something similar, but I am less strict. If I nod off on the plane, that's okay--a nap reduces grumpiness and fatigue while allowing me to be more alert when I land. One hour of airplane sleep is only worth about 20 minutes of terrestrial sleep, so a nap or two shouldn't interfere much with decent sleep that first night. Also, waking up to discover you are one or two hours closer to your destination than you had thought is a great joy on a 16-hour flight.
The big challenge is staying asleep that second night. Cardio, sunshine and melatonin help but are not foolproof.
No booze at altitude, unless you love dehydration and migraines.
A positive attitude helps. If I notice a bout of jetlag coming on, I remind myself that I don't have the flu, it just feels like I do, and that I'll cycle out of it in about five minutes--which I inevitably do.
Direction of flight has no impact, but flying out is always worse--I readjust to my home timezone almost immediately. For some reason, 5-7 hour adjustments are harder than 12-hour adjustments, maybe because longer journeys tire you out more, setting you up for a good rest that first night.
The CIA supposedly has a method involving gradually adjusting sleep and eating intervals before departure, but it always sounded like way too much work.
I do that for daytime flights. But if the flight corresponds to local night in the arrival timezone, and it fits with your diurnal rhythm I don’t see a problem with sleeping in the plane. I’m tall and broad-shouldered so it’s not like I’m going to sleep well, but it takes the edge off a bit. Arriving in full zombie state can be tough if you need to drive, find accommodation, and so on
I use this method flying to Asia, and always time my flight so I arrive in late afternoon (typically leave New York Saturday morning, arrive in Asia Sunday afternoon). And if you can get the day-time flight to Europe, this works too (although I also recommend waking up extra early the day of the flight).
But if you have to take the red-eye to Europe, you should sleep on the flight. You'll only get a few hours sleep, so you'll still be exhausted and easily fall asleep at 8pm. But those two or three hours realistically of sleep you can get on the flight improve your odds of being able to make it to 8pm that first day without a nap.
"Just push through" - I've tried it. It struck me as highly masochistic. YMMV.
I'm one of those people for whom trying to frustrate a need to sleep is physically painful.
After a vacation trip redeye, trying to push through an extreme need to sleep can turn the first day into a miserable experience. Why do that to myself on a vacation? Instead, I nap. Key insight (true of ALL naps): naps need to be short, not longer than 20 minutes, so I set an alarm. A 20-minute nap is refreshing; a longer "nap" will leave me discombobulated and mess up my sleep cycle. One or two 20-minute naps will get me through the day without all the suffering and I'll still sleep well at night.
On a work trip, it may be necessary to push through, but usually there are opportunities to nap on the plane, in the taxi or train, or during lunch, and those greatly improve the overall experience.
I do something similar, and I found it work pretty well. I regularly travel with +9 hour timezone difference, for one week, then travel back. However, it doesn't at all work at all for me when after a week I return home. I'm a wreck when I get back home, the first few days. But that might also just be pure exhaustion after working 12-14 hours a days for 5 days and then directly traveling home.
I was more or less forced to do this on a trip from the US West Coast to Ireland this last summer. I was up 30 straight hours, too uncomfortable to sleep on the plane (which also had a panicked late transfer in Toronto to add a little cortisol rush) and then I was responsible for navigating from Dublin to our County Waterford destination.
By the time all was settled, it was 9 PM local time, I was more irritable than I have ever been in my life, and crashed and slept 11 hours.
I've used exactly this system for over a half century. It is much easier when traveling east, say from California to Europe, for then you only have to stretch the day by around 8 hours, but harder the reverse direction, stretching 16 hours. But it still works. But I've convinced few people.
Yes as a ten year commercial flight attendant flying between the US and Europe this is the best way to minimize sleep loss.
I use the same method and it has always worked wonders for me. Caveat: works better if you are more of a night owl and can go to sleep very late even in normal situations. I noticed it doesn’t work as well for people that aren’t used to (or able to) just “stay awake”.
On a separate note, couldn’t help but notice “where is my flying car” in the pic - one of my favorite books ever!
Do you avoid caffeine during all, or part, of this process?
Mostly same method for me, however I DO take a couple 30 minute snoozes on the plane during overnight flights. Sleeping upright is so uncomfortable that it's about all I can manage. The true key is staying awake through the daylight hours at your destination. You'll be good to go for the rest of your trip!
I generally follow this, and I think it's good advice. However, I don't find that I'm completely adjusted even after a few days. If I'm moving and busy I'm good. If I have to sit for an extended period the jet lag catches up with me.
I doubt that would work for me. I'm a napper. I routinely take a cat nap coming home from work, usually 5-10 minutes in a rocking chair. If I get stuck on a problem, I like to refresh my memory of all its major points and take another 10 minute nap.
One catnap did last two hours. Another was zero seconds; I got back up as soon as I sat down and knew what my solution was.
If my body wants a nap, I indulge it. I figure it's the expert.
Traveling from America to India, arrival is around 2 am. And the flight you've been on (2 legs) is 22 hours.
How do you deal with this?
You're probably speaking of the 10 hour travel from America to Europe.
Worked fine for DC-India via Abu Dhabi.
I try to take daytime flights to India, which arrive in the daytime. Then I just stay awake until the evening and then sleep. My jetlag is so much less of a problem with those flights!
Which airline arrives in the day time? The ones I am familiar with across the Atlantic via European cities arrive in Chennai at like 2 am.
From Washington, Air India and Emirates both leave in the late morning. I don't think any of the European airlines operate on that timetable, unfortunately
I'm going on a world tour next year with my 1-yo, 4-yo and 7-yo. Do you have child-friendly tips before I infuse them with melatonin?
Has not really worked for me. I often can't sleep on planes so I have done the staying awake things often I tried just powering through it on landing but I have never enjoyed it.
Instead when traveling to Europe I try to sleep on the plane but either way I get an early check in and a 3-4 nap. I then get up and tour around till local bed time. That system has always worked better for me.
Your method seems to unnecessarily maximize pain on arrival. I do something similar, but I am less strict. If I nod off on the plane, that's okay--a nap reduces grumpiness and fatigue while allowing me to be more alert when I land. One hour of airplane sleep is only worth about 20 minutes of terrestrial sleep, so a nap or two shouldn't interfere much with decent sleep that first night. Also, waking up to discover you are one or two hours closer to your destination than you had thought is a great joy on a 16-hour flight.
The big challenge is staying asleep that second night. Cardio, sunshine and melatonin help but are not foolproof.
No booze at altitude, unless you love dehydration and migraines.
A positive attitude helps. If I notice a bout of jetlag coming on, I remind myself that I don't have the flu, it just feels like I do, and that I'll cycle out of it in about five minutes--which I inevitably do.
Direction of flight has no impact, but flying out is always worse--I readjust to my home timezone almost immediately. For some reason, 5-7 hour adjustments are harder than 12-hour adjustments, maybe because longer journeys tire you out more, setting you up for a good rest that first night.
The CIA supposedly has a method involving gradually adjusting sleep and eating intervals before departure, but it always sounded like way too much work.
I do that for daytime flights. But if the flight corresponds to local night in the arrival timezone, and it fits with your diurnal rhythm I don’t see a problem with sleeping in the plane. I’m tall and broad-shouldered so it’s not like I’m going to sleep well, but it takes the edge off a bit. Arriving in full zombie state can be tough if you need to drive, find accommodation, and so on
I use this method flying to Asia, and always time my flight so I arrive in late afternoon (typically leave New York Saturday morning, arrive in Asia Sunday afternoon). And if you can get the day-time flight to Europe, this works too (although I also recommend waking up extra early the day of the flight).
But if you have to take the red-eye to Europe, you should sleep on the flight. You'll only get a few hours sleep, so you'll still be exhausted and easily fall asleep at 8pm. But those two or three hours realistically of sleep you can get on the flight improve your odds of being able to make it to 8pm that first day without a nap.
"Just push through" - I've tried it. It struck me as highly masochistic. YMMV.
I'm one of those people for whom trying to frustrate a need to sleep is physically painful.
After a vacation trip redeye, trying to push through an extreme need to sleep can turn the first day into a miserable experience. Why do that to myself on a vacation? Instead, I nap. Key insight (true of ALL naps): naps need to be short, not longer than 20 minutes, so I set an alarm. A 20-minute nap is refreshing; a longer "nap" will leave me discombobulated and mess up my sleep cycle. One or two 20-minute naps will get me through the day without all the suffering and I'll still sleep well at night.
On a work trip, it may be necessary to push through, but usually there are opportunities to nap on the plane, in the taxi or train, or during lunch, and those greatly improve the overall experience.
I do something similar, and I found it work pretty well. I regularly travel with +9 hour timezone difference, for one week, then travel back. However, it doesn't at all work at all for me when after a week I return home. I'm a wreck when I get back home, the first few days. But that might also just be pure exhaustion after working 12-14 hours a days for 5 days and then directly traveling home.
I was more or less forced to do this on a trip from the US West Coast to Ireland this last summer. I was up 30 straight hours, too uncomfortable to sleep on the plane (which also had a panicked late transfer in Toronto to add a little cortisol rush) and then I was responsible for navigating from Dublin to our County Waterford destination.
By the time all was settled, it was 9 PM local time, I was more irritable than I have ever been in my life, and crashed and slept 11 hours.
All set the next day.
I've used exactly this system for over a half century. It is much easier when traveling east, say from California to Europe, for then you only have to stretch the day by around 8 hours, but harder the reverse direction, stretching 16 hours. But it still works. But I've convinced few people.