Jet Lag Survivor

How to complete Jet Lag Survivor

Crossing six or more time zones and forcing yourself to stay awake until local nightfall is the single most effective way to beat jet lag: it drags your body clock onto the new schedule in one push instead of dragging out the misery for days. The hard part is the wall that hits mid-afternoon local time when your body insists it's the middle of the night.

1. On the flight, set your watch to the destination time and start eating and sleeping by it
2. Skip or strictly limit alcohol and don't oversleep on the plane if you'll land in the morning
3. On landing, get outside into daylight immediately: sunlight is the strongest signal to reset your clock
4. Stay physically active through the afternoon slump: walk, explore, run errands rather than sit
5. Hold out until local sunset before lying down, then sleep a full night

Tips

• A short 20-minute nap is survivable; anything longer wrecks the reset, so set an alarm
• Caffeine helps in the morning but cut it off by early afternoon or it sabotages the night's sleep
• Stay hydrated: cabin air dehydrates you and dehydration mimics and worsens jet lag

What counts as done

You flew across more than five time zones and stayed awake until sunset on arrival day before your first sleep.