The Best Ways to Avoid Jet Lag

For anyone who has crossed multiple time zones, the symptoms of jet lag are all too real. Here are some easy ways to avoid and prevent them from happening.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought...what are those Gucci bags doing under my eyes! The feeling of not getting enough sleep is one of the most draining for anyone, especially during transit. For anyone who has crossed multiple time zones, the symptoms of jet lag are all too real.

When your internal biological clock doesn't match up with the new time zone, your body experiences what is actually a temporary sleep disorder. Symptoms include fatigue, headaches, irritability or lack of concentration, which are due to the body's misalignment with the exposure to light and dark.  You essentially become a travel vampire.

It's not ideal to land at your destination feeling out of it, especially if you're expected to hit the ground running. The most important part of preventing jet lag symptoms is to gradually adjust your body to a new time zone.

Before a big flight, it's always important to get a good night's sleep, especially if you are traveling eastward, as it makes the day feel longer. If it's a more drastic change, it wouldn't hurt to move up your bedtime to start the change gradually.  It's hard, but there are a lot of great over the counter and/or prescription sleep aids like melatonin to help you out and most modern business folk believe in this kind of better living through chemistry.

As mentioned earlier, jet lag is partially induced by the changes in light and dark exposure during your day in transit. It is recommended that manually adjusting the amount of light you receive during the day can help minimize the symptoms caused by jet lag.

For example, if you are traveling eastward, keeping sunglasses on hand or dozing off with an eye mask can help your body fight off prolonged light exposure. Or if you feel like it you can always use one of those ridiculous Ostrich Pillows, but that's up to you.

This post was originally published for INC. Magazine, read the rest of the article here.

Stay tuned for more from Laurel through her Inc. column 'On Brand'.