Ponder this while you’re trying to fall asleep.
I don’t sleep on planes. It’s impossible for me. I’ve tried trick after hack after sleep-schedule change—and it never works. Which isn’t great when I’m flying somewhere like China or Australia or back to my home in Chicago.
Of course, now that I’m older, it’s not that easy for me to fly to any timezone outside glorious Central Standard Time, and I have jet lag to thank for that. (We’ve known for a long time that jet lag gets worse as you get older. Thanks, middle age.)
But, I have a solution for myself, and for anyone else struggling with the effects of jet lag: Only fly heading west. Boycott all eastbound flights.
OK, OK, I’m definitely joking. But there is some truth to the statement. Jet lag is always worse when you’re flying east, thanks to our own biology.
“Jet lag is usually worse when traveling east because you’re essentially losing hours, which forces your internal clock to shorten its natural rhythm,” says Dr. Andrea Matsumura, a board-certified sleep medicine physician and founder of the Sleep Goddess Method, a process to regulate your sleep. “Our bodies tend to run on a slightly longer-than-24-hour circadian rhythm, so adjusting to a shorter day is challenging.”
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When you travel west, though, your body adjusts by lengthening the day, which aligns better with our internal clocks.
Think about it like this. If you fly from Central Time to Paris, you’ll be eating your 7 p.m. dinner at what would be noon at home. Your 10 p.m. bedtime? That’s 3 p.m. at home. To align with Paris’ time zone, you’ll have to stay up a full seven hours later than you typically would.
If you’re flying from Central Time to Honolulu, though, your 7 p.m. dinner will be at midnight your time, and 10 p.m. bedtime will be at 3 a.m. at home. It’s much easier to fall asleep for the night and wake up refreshed when you’ve just stayed up later than normal, rather than trying to force yourself to sleep in what your body thinks is the middle of the day.
As for the physical effects of jet lag, that’s a biological response as well, and one that’s hard to resolve through hacks and tricks while you’re traveling.
“Jet lag is an actual circadian rhythm misalignment,” Matsumura says. “Your body’s internal clock controls hormone release, temperature regulation, alertness, and sleep drive, which is why when we travel a lot of this feels off balance. That said, there are some other factors that make jet lag worse, including poor sleep quality during travel, like sleeping upright or with frequent interruptions; dehydration; and lack of movement during long flights.”
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Matsumura does have some advice for making jet lag a bit easier to deal with, though. She suggests adjusting your bedtime and wake time by a half hour to an hour a few days before traveling toward the time zone you’ll be going to, aiming for high-quality sleep. So put those cellphones in another room before bed. While you’re on the flight, drink plenty of water and avoid sleep-disrupting alcohol and caffeine.
Once you get to your destination, be outside as much as possible. The natural light helps reset your internal clock to match the correct time zone. Matsumura also suggests taking short naps each day, if possible, for about 20 to 30 minutes, and ensuring you eat and exercise at the proper local time. If all else fails, a low dose of melatonin can help you drift off to sleep at the proper bedtime.