Leaving on a Jet Plane....

I had an interesting phone conversation with a very successful business executive. We were trying to set up another phone conference and I asked him if Sunday night after 7 pm was too late to call.
'Are you kidding? he said 'I answer my phone 24/7! My secretary is flying back from China the night before and I live on both coasts of the country. I'm always up!'
Wrong thing to say to someone who's life calling is teaching good sleep habits to people.
'That's NOT healthy', I told him, 'Everyone needs uninterrupted sleep.'
'I know, I know, I take 2 weeks off consecutively a year for vacation. That's when I sleep.'

Sigh. I know with being in different time zones, it's not easy to know night from day. Here are some traveling tips most experts agree on-

1. Stay well rested, BEFORE you travel. Wearing yourself down and trying to 'catch-up' on the trip doesn't work.
2. Stay hydrated. Rule of thumb- 8 oz of water per hour of traveling time. This is especially true on long or overseas flights. All that water drinking (NOT caffeinated beverages, they dehydrate you)has another benefit. Those multiple trips to the bathroom help with the circulation in your legs! This helps cut down on the risk of blood clots forming from sitting so long.
3. Set your schedule to your new time zone. Even if your body says it's ready for dinner and it's breakfast time where you are, eat those eggs and waffles.
4. Sunlight is the best way to reset your circadian rhythm, which is basically your body's clock. Take a walk outside, sit in the sun, or eat outside if possible. If you HAVE to take a nap, don't make it any longer than 20-30 minutes. Otherwise, you will go into REM or dreaming sleep and will wake -up with a 'sleep hangover.'

Combine jet lag with sleep debt and you are really setting yourself up for misery. Sleep debt is defined as our specific daily sleep requirement. It varies per individual, but in general is between 7-8 hours. The amount of sleep our body needs minus the actual amount it is receiving equals = sleep debt.
Sleep debt does not 'go away' or spontaneously decrease on it's own. The only way to decrease it is to get the extra sleep you need. Sleep IS essential, 'putting it off' is a dangerous habit modern society has embraced. Normal drowsiness and the intense desire to sleep is enough to cause most people to got to bed early or sleep late to erase this debt. Not listening to your bodies need for sleep can create a dangerous situation. Excessive daytime sleepiness and sleep deprivation causes us to make mistakes both on the job and in judgement. Increased chance of auto accidents is the most obvious, along with some that aren't as apparent at first. This debt creates a tremulous strain on our bodies in it's ability to regenerate, refresh and restore itself .

Think that you really are more productive on less sleep? Sleep on this-
William C. Dement MD PhD the founder of the Sleep Research Center, the world's first sleep laboratory, at Stanford University, states-
'A recent survey of Stanford undergraduates revealed that their number one complaint was not getting enough sleep! A validation of this complaint was heard from the lips of a well known alumnus, Tiger Woods, who said that one of the best things about his choice to leave Stanford for the professional golf circuit was that he could now get enough sleep!'

And we all know how well HE'S done on a good night's sleep!

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SleepCompass.com Jane