I Heart Jet Lag
In addition to the customary suggestions for alleviating jet lag (i.e., drink lots of water, avoid alcohol), I'm trying out the following:
- Sleep early in my flight and force myself to stay awake after about 9:00 AM (in my destination's time zone).
- Rigorously use sleeping aids while in country, instead of trying to tough it out. Over-the-counter Sominex works just as well as prescription Ambien, in my experience.
- Use light exposure in order to update my body clock (see also http://www.bodyclock.com/, http://www.circadian.co.jp/midnightsun/).
The idea of seeking out light during specific times is an interesting one. The Midnight Sun applet has a graphical display that is a little confusing, so be sure to click the "Get Jetlag Advice" button for written instructions. And so far, so good. Even though I was woken up by two calls last night, I went right back to sleep after each, and I even overslept my wake-up alarm. I'm going to caffeinate myself this afternoon and try to make it to 9 or 10 PM before going to bed.