Anyone jetting off for some winter sun this festive season may find themselves worrying about jet lag – especially if you’re going somewhere quite far away. According to Google Trends data, the term ‘avoid jet lag’ has seen a 9,900% uplift in the past month, with travellers concerned that this could impact their holidays.

However, avoiding jet lag can be a simple as choosing the perfect time to fly, according to the experts at Go2Africa. They suggest scheduling your flight so that you land at a local time of 2pm-5pm, which ensures you land in the perfect environment of exposure to daylight and the ability to stay awake until bedtime. This paves the way to a synchronised internal clock while on your trip.

Circadian rhythm alignment

One reason your landing time can help avoid jet lag is that it gives your body’s circadian rhythm time to adapt to external cues such as light and dark. Any abrupt change, such as changing time zones during a flight, can disrupt this alignment and lead to feelings of jet lag.

Strong reset signal

“Light is the strongest signal to the body that it needs to reset”, explain the experts. “Strategic exposure or, of course, avoidance, changes your circadian phase, supercharging the reset of your internal body clock.”

Daylight and wakefulness

The experts add: “Getting to your destination between the hours of 2pm and 5pm local time is perfect as you have enough daylight to reset your body clock, but it’s not so late you will struggle to stay awake until bedtime. Arriving too early (morning) risks falling asleep prematurely or being awake for too many hours before night, confusing your clock.”

Other ways to avoid jet lag

If you aren’t able to land at the optimal time, there are still a number of ways to decrease your chance of jet lag.

The first way is to gradually adjust your sleep schedule at least three days before travelling. Do this by going to bed 30 to 60 minutes earlier each night.

Another tip is to ensure you have as much light as possible by getting outside and into natural light as soon as possible after landing. However, if you arrive in the evening, it is recommended to avoid bright lights (especially screens) for an hour or two before your local bedtime.

On the first full day in your destination, align your meals, wake-time and bedtime with local time as your body’s digestive clock plays an instrumental role in the circadian system too.