Yesterday I flew from Madrid, Spain to Montreal, Canada. Madrid is 6 hours ahead.
To climatize to the new timezone, you’ll often hear that it takes about 1 day for each hour . That translates to approx 6 days. I’ve hacked it so that it only takes me a single day.
This hack has two main principles:
1. Before you leave, start living as though you’re in the new timezone. When travelling west, this meant going to bed later and later.
Starting 5 nights before departure, I went to bed at 1am. Then 2am, then 3am, and again at 3am. Since 3am in Madrid is 9pm in Montreal, the time difference isn’t as wide.
You still sleep about 8 hours a night and eat when you’re hungry.
2. When you arrive, be in the sunlight as much as possible. Also, witness the sunset.
Exposure to direct sunlight helps update our circadian rhythm, which is our internal clock. The more exposed we are to sunlight, the faster our circadian rhythm adapts to the new world.
The takeaway
Sleep hacking is a great way to minimize jetlag.