GMT +2 but still GMT -7 (+1 DST)
I don’t do very well on limited amounts of sleep. It’s just not my strength.
And when I travel, I like to hit the ground running. This is particularly true on long-haul flights from the US to destinations in the GMT to GMT -9 range. These flights typically land early to mid-morning unless you have a heinous layover at Charles de Gaulle which I do not recommend.
So I’m trying a new self-concocted anti-jet lag strategy. I’m time shifting myself before the trip. At first I thought I’d do it in stages, adjusting to the new time zone over several days.
It was supposed to work like this:
sleep wake ----- ---- Day 1 Local time 8 PM 4 AM Destination time 4 AM 12 PM Day 2 Local time 6 PM 2 AM Destination time 2 AM 10 AM Day 3 Local time 4 PM 12 AM Destination time 12 AM 8 AM Day 4 Local time 4 PM 10 PM (depart at midnight) Destination time 10 PM 6 AM
Of course, I was off-schedule the very first day so I had to cut it short to three days plus a huge doses of melatonin:
sleep wake ----- ---- Day 1 Local time 7 PM 3 AM Destination time 3 AM 11 AM Day 2 Local time 4 PM 12 AM Destination time 1 AM 8 AM Day 3 Local time 1 PM 9 PM (depart at midnight) Destination time 9 PM 5 AM
I think that this strategy will work well for time offsets less than or equal to 10 hours when travelling east. Optimally, four days should probably be allowed to recover — the first day of the series is a long one. In a crunch, two days — with the time offset divided in half — would give a great headstart to adjusting to the time zone at your destination.
Realistically, this isn’t a solution for those with normal work hours, children, or hobbies!
