5 things that help with jet lag
The five, at a glance
1Use light as the main lever2Shift your schedule before you fly3Use melatonin strategically — low dose, right timing4Adopt destination time the moment you land5Hydrate, go easy, and be patientUse light as the main lever
Light is the strongest cue for resetting your body clock, so getting it at the right time — and avoiding it at the wrong time — shifts you faster than anything else. The direction of travel decides the timing.
Sleep Foundation · How to get over jet lag
Shift your schedule before you fly
Nudging your sleep and meal times toward the destination for a few days before you travel shortens the adjustment once you land.
Use melatonin strategically — low dose, right timing
A small dose of melatonin, taken before your destination bedtime for a few nights, helps shift the clock, especially flying east — but only if your light exposure is timed to match. It is a clock-shifter, not a sleeping pill.
Melatonin for jet lag · review, NIH/PMC
Adopt destination time the moment you land
Eating and sleeping on the local schedule tells your clock the new time. Napping the day away or eating on home time drags the adjustment out.
Hydrate, go easy, and be patient
Cabin air dehydrates you, and alcohol plus badly-timed caffeine both wreck the sleep you are chasing. Recovery runs about a day per time zone — the things that help you fall asleep faster still apply on the ground, and mind your caffeine timing across zones.
Sleep Foundation · How to get over jet lag
What didn't make the list
It may knock you out, but it does nothing to shift your body clock — and you can land groggy on top of jet-lagged. Light and melatonin timing do the real work.
Without timed light exposure, your clock drifts on its own slow schedule. A little planning is the difference between two rough days and a week of them.
Questions people ask
Eastward travel is usually harder, because you have to advance your clock (go to sleep earlier), which our bodies find tougher than delaying it. Westward "lengthening" of the day is generally easier.
Yes, when timed correctly — a low dose before destination bedtime helps shift your clock, especially flying east. But it works with light timing, not instead of it.
Sources