How to Prevent Jet Lag, According to Very Frequent Travelers

Fatigue, irritability, dehydration, brain fog: these are just a few of the unpleasant side effects of taking a far-flung trip, though even jumping a couple of time zones within the United States can wreak havoc on energy levels. Purported remedies for jet lag abound, but here are a few tried-and-true methods that can help you feel better faster — without drinking multiple espressos upon landing.

How to Prepare Before You Leave

“Jet lag is primarily caused by circadian desynchrony — a misalignment of the biological clock with sun time — which leads to problems with sleep and alertness, as well as other somatic symptoms,” says Dr. Vishesh Kapur, 62, the founder of the Sleep Medicine Center at the University of Washington in Seattle. In other words, your circadian rhythm, which is typically in tied to the natural light and darkness of a day, is thrown off in a foreign environment.

Managing jet lag, therefore, often comes down to manipulating your body’s exposure to light. “If possible, changing your biological clock time to more closely match the destination’s daytime will make the transition smoother,” says Kapur. He suggests online tools like Jet Lag Rooster that allow a traveler to enter flight locations and times to get personalized instructions for how to do this. But as a rule of thumb, it takes about a day per hour to adjust to a new time zone. For example, if you’re flying from Los Angeles to New York, which is three hours ahead, you’d ideally wake up 30 minutes to an hour earlier and earlier for three consecutive days before your flight and expose yourself to natural sunlight upon waking.

According to Kapur, “It’s also important to not start out sleep deprived, which will increase the fatigue and sleepiness associated with jet lag.” But the architect Mariam Issoufou, 45, who travels between New York (where she has a design studio), Switzerland (where she is a professor of architecture and sustainability at ETH Zurich) and Niamey, Niger (where her company is headquartered), says that being tired out can also help. “I exhaust myself the day of or the day before a flight, often by exercising, so that when I get on the plane I can go straight to sleep.”

What to Do — and Not to Do — on the Plane

Kapur’s two pieces of advice for once you board? “Sleep — especially if you’re arriving in the morning at your destination. And avoid alcohol,” which can both disrupt sleep and exacerbate dehydration. For the same reasons, the hotelier and restaurateur Abhishek Honawar, 40, who travels between Asia and America six to eight times a year, also forgoes caffeine and in-flight meals, which are often high in salt and can lead to further dehydration. “I’ll just have something nourishing, like a soup or a warm salad, before boarding and after landing,” he says. George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, the founders of the Toronto- and New York City-based design firm Yabu Pushelberg, on the other hand, turn to meditation. “I focus on positive thoughts, like being at the beach,” says Pushelberg, 70. “When we’re overtired, it’s easy to slip into negative thinking. Keeping the mind rested is as important as keeping the body rested.”

The London-based interior designer Martin Brudnizki, 57, who shuttles between Europe and the United States, explains that “the key for me is getting to sleep as soon as possible.” He covers himself with a cashmere wrap to keep warm the minute he’s on board, then skips the entertainment and meals.

How to Survive the Day After Arrival

“Try to follow a schedule matching the local time,” says Kapur. “If you land in the morning, stay up until nightfall.” And if you’ve traveled east and are struggling to fall asleep at night, he suggests taking melatonin, which helps signal to your body that it’s dark out and time to rest. During the day, he says, “expose yourself to outdoor light to get your biological clock realigned.”

The fashion designer Yoon Anh, who founded the Tokyo-based label Ambush and flies frequently between Asia and Europe, does this by going on 10-to-15-minute walks throughout the day. “It’s easy to sit in Ubers, but giving myself time to walk somewhere, especially when I’m feeling drowsy, really helps,” she says. She also pays close to attention to what she eats: “I rely on superfoods like nuts and nori (roasted Japanese seaweed) to give me the right kind of energy, instead of the artificial burst from sugary drinks.”

The French Moroccan artist and entrepreneur Ramdan Touhami, 49, who’s typically on a plane once or twice a week, also suggests skipping or at least going easy on coffee for the first three days after arrival when you’ve taken a long flight. “It gives a false sense of wakefulness and disrupts everything,” he says. And like Kapur and Anh, he emphasizes the importance of acclimatizing outside, even if your hotel room feels invitingly cool. “You can’t live your whole life in air-conditioning,” he says.