You’re not just beat from early flights and hauling luggage: jet lag is biological. This condition occurs when you travel through several time zones, disrupting the circadian rhythms that dictate your sleep schedule. Essentially, after returning home from a long-distance trip, your body doesn't know when it’s time to sleep and when it’s time to be awake. Jet lag is only temporary, but some strategies will speed up its conclusion.
For the first 24 hours at home, use a clock instead of your brain to determine your sleep schedule. When your eyes start drooping at mid-afternoon, you’ll realize that this is easier said than done, but enduring one sleepy day is better than a week’s worth of sleepless nights. If your body clock is later than local time -- that is, you won’t be tired at bedtime -- try getting vigorous exercise a few hours before going to bed to tire yourself out. If your body is ready for bed before dinner, drink something caffeinated or take a cold shower to help stay alert.
Light, either from the sun or artificial sources, helps your circadian rhythms adjust to local time. So if you wake up on your second day home and still feel jet lagged, speed up your readjustment by toying with the light and dark in your environment. Expose yourself to light during the time when your body is supposed to be awake and seek darkness when it's nighttime. Head outdoors for a walk on a sunny day or use a light lamp designed to be used for light therapy. In the evening, turn off most of the lights in your home in the hours before bed to tell your body that it's nighttime.
For garden-variety jet lag, medications are unnecessary. A day or two of readjustment will ease the symptoms. But if you've traveled home from halfway around the world, or if you're a frequent traveler who deals with jet lag often, your doctor may suggest you take a sleep aid. If your body thinks it's noon when local time is midnight, this type of medication will help you sleep and reset your internal clock, but as Mayo Clinic notes, sleep aids have side effects and they won't lessen any jet lag symptoms you experience during the day.
The next time you travel across time zones, prep yourself for a smooth transition home. In the last few days of your trip, adjust your sleep and wake schedule slightly each day to mimic local time at home. If you fly when it's nighttime at home, taking sleep aids with your doctor's input may help you get a good night's rest so you're alert during your first day home. Technology may help you beat jet lag too. Check your smart phone's application store for an app that will create a personalized sleeping schedule for your trip.
