1. ACCLIMATE. If you’re going to be gone longer than a couple of days, begin acclimating your body to the new time zone by altering your eating schedule three days before your plane takes off.
2. FLY A DAY EARLY. Some business travelers try to schedule multi—time zone meetings on a Monday so they can fly out Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. That gives them a day or so to adjust their body’s clock.
3. CHUG. Stay hydrated with bottled water. Avoid alcohol and anything caffeinated during your flight. Both can dehydrate your body, mess up your internal clock, and exaggerate jet lag symptoms.
4. REFRIGERATE. If you’re flying during what would be night hours at your destination, try to get some sleep on the plane. Your body uses to set its internal clock is temperature. A lower temperature lowers your body’s core temperature and signals it’s time for sleep. A higher temperature indicates it’s time to wake.
5. AVOID AIRLINE FOOD. A fourth cue your body uses to set its internal clock is food. Since airline food is served onboard according to the time at your home base, eating it can sabotage efforts to reset your clock to the time zone to which you’re traveling.
6. CONSIDER THE MEDICAL OPTION. Short-acting sleeping pills can help you sleep through an overnight flight. They can also help you sleep during the first couple of nights at your destination.
7. HAVE THE EGGS BENEDICT. A protein-rich meal the morning after you arrive will give your brain what it needs to produce neurochemicals to increase your alertness throughout the day.
8. MAKE IT DARK AND COLD. the view from your hotel-room window is superb. But use those heavy room-darkening shades to shut out light during the hours you plan to sleep. Also, lower the room’s temperature. Remember, manipulating light and temperature manipulates your body’s clock and gives it a clear mandate to sleep.
useful stuff - of course now there are many pills that help with jetlag as well
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