DebitNM

We will be flying from US to Europe and will arrive in Europe at 7am. I am wondering if anyone has ever tried to get your body on european time by adjusting your schedule by an hour a day for a period of 8 days? I thought If got up an hour earlier each day and went to sleep each day an hour earlier that within in 8 days, I would be on europe time.

So, on day one, I would get up at 5:30 am and go to sleep at 9:30 pm. The next day, I would get up at 4:30am and go to sleep at 8:30 pm. The next day, I would get up at 3:30 am and go to sleep at 7:30 pm. If I did this for 8 days - the day of our flight we would be on Europe time for departure and be able to sleep on the plane and awake for landing at the correct time.

Anyone ever try this?

[I do not have any constraints for work etc, so I can do this without worrying about times.]

yorkshire

In my case, doing that would cause my more harm than good. i just take a xanax so I can sleep soundly on the plane and press through the first day. After that I am fine.

elberko

Do you have trouble adjusting to the 1-hour difference that comes with daylight savings time? I know it takes me maybe a week to really adjust to that, so I don't think it would work well for me.

~Liz

Michel_Paris

YES!!! I do that. It does work. Sure, it takes sacrifice beforehand, but it means I enjoy my days there much more.
And when you get up make sure to optimize light in house.

When you get on the plane, put watch ahead, your body already thinks it is time to sleep. I avoid coffee and alcohol on plane, after dinner (or earlier), put on headphones with music and do best to sleep.

Plus...first day, no sleeping on arrival, out and about (sunshine) and normal beddy-bye time.

My theory is that drugs mask your clock. Only by actually shifting your internal clock do you...shift!

They say it takes 1 day to shift 1 hour. If I can minimize this...Also heard that the above method is one that NASA uses.

vjpblovesitaly

What would you do while awake at 3:30 a.m.? When would you eat dinner on the day you went to sleep at 7:30?

travelgourmet

You can give it a try, but it seems like a bit too much effort to me.

I'm also skeptical that it will really work. Jet lag results from messing with your circadian rhythm, which is greatly impacted by light-dark cycles. So, short of locking yourself in the house, messing with your sleep schedule, and also messing with the light-dark cycle, I'm not sure how you reset your rhythm.

DebitNM

I figured get up; turn on all the lights, have coffee, read the newspaper, all the things I do when I get up at 6:30. I would then start darkening the house according to my "new evening" time, have dinner at the new dinner time.

I think if you can work the light and dark thing, and eat according to the new schedule it might work.

Weekender

I fly to Europe six or seven times a year for short weekends. Just returned on Sunday from two nights in Paris. Never, ever have jetlag in either direction. At takeoff, I set my watch to destination time and never look back. Mind over matter.

laurie_ann

Unless you can also adjust your regular work hours I think your proposal is not entirely practical.

What I found works best to enjoy my trip is to be sure to plan at my destination lots of outdoor walking time the first day. The first time I made a mistake and went to one of the big museums as that was my highest priority but I nearly fell asleep standing up.

Instead plan the first day for walking between the big monuments that you only really want to see from the outside anyway, a park or other outdoor attraction if possible, eat lightly and then stay up at least until dark.

When you get home, do the reverse if you can. Or at least plan some daylight time outdoors for the first few days to adjust yourself back.

DebitNM

I don't work so that isn't an issue.

I don't think jet lag is mind over matter, at least to me it isn't.

ellenem

I've tried this. I did the one-hour-each-day method, but when I woke up and it was still dark out, I just couldn't wake up all the way. Plus changing one hour each night was tough for me. I had better luck when I woke the same one hour earlier for two days in a row. After a week, I'd gotten about halfway to European time, which was good enough for me.

But really, when I get to Europe, I'm so excited that I don't really feel tired until the first afternoon. It's almost as if once I get past the time I should be asleep back home, I get a second wind and feel OK. I allow a short nap in the late afternoon--no more than 1.5 hours--before going out to dinner and then bed.

StCirq

Seems like a whole week of hard work, as compared to just one day of toughing it out on arrival, which is what I do. Arrive in Europe in the morning, stay active and in as much sunlight as possible all day, crash around 10 pm and I'm fine for the rest of the trip.

I have a much harder time coming back to the USA, and obviously I wouldn't spend the last week of a European trip adjusting day by day to that!

Good luck whatever you decide!

Michel_Paris

My trips in the past couple of years have tended to be shorter (less than 1 week), so I find the pain of pre-trip getting up early (for a grumpy morning person) makes my trips more optimized for enjoyment.

Agree that no matter what, trying to sleep on plane and having a normal day on day #1 is a key.

I am going to Africa this month for 3 weeks, and will probably do nothing beforehand. My day one will be at another airport.

jent103

I'm with StCirq - I get jet lag worse coming back to the States than I do going over. I'm not sure if that's because I'm so excited to be there going over, or just how my body works. I do try to sleep on the plane (works some times better than others) and don't take anything more than a catnap on arrival day.

DebitNM, if you do this I'd love to hear what you think! I do work, so it wouldn't really be an option for me, but I'm curious.

DebitNM

We will be in Europe for 3 1/2 weeks. I am not worried about the trip home, won't care by then if I jet lag or not

Not sure if we will do this or not, still mulling it over.
Thanks for all you input, always good to have a sounding board.

spaarne

Take a late evening flight so you are on the plane during your normal sleep time.

BruceinTampa

Schedule a massage when you arrive. Sleep on the table, then get out and about, preferably in the sunshine. The pineal gland controls our circadian rhythm and is photo sensitive. Dark chocolate helps as well.

hetismij

Interesting theory DebitNM. I'll be interested to hear if you try it, and how it works. It sounds like a lot of work to me.

I am always more jet-lagged flying home to Europe than going to the US, so I couldn't put the theory into practice.

I just put my watch to Europe time on boarding the plane, tough out the flight and stay awake all day the first day. I do go to bed earlier than normal that day - maybe around 9pm as opposed to 11-ish normally, and usually sleep later than normal too. But after that I'm reasonably OK. A bit cotton wool brained by the evening of the second day - but that is an increasingly normal feeling anyway .
Going to the US we go to bed at our normal (US) time and wake up very early the following morning, but that's it.

Good luck and do let us know how you get on!

sassy_cat

I have the opposite response to jet lag (compared with jent and st.cirq) so traveling east is far worse for me. When I arrive in Europe I HAVE to take a nap (I never sleep on planes).

I have tried to adjust my body clock by getting up earlier for just a day or so before a flight. It was hard as I'm not a morning person and it didn't seem to make any difference. I still needed a nap for an hour or two on arrival.

I find if I arrive around 7am by the time I get to my hotel and check in it's close to 10am. If I nap til noon, quick shower then I go out and eat I feel fine for the rest of the trip. One time our room wasn't ready on time but luckily we had a hire car and while I slept in the car at a Sainsburys car park my DH bought a few supplies!

Do you have a busy day planned on your arrival?
I'd be inclined to see how your body is affected by jet lag and plan a fairly relaxed day.

Must admit that noon in London would be 7am EST which is when I normally get up anyway so maybe that id why it works for me.

sassy_cat

I like the dark chocolate idea far more than getting up early!