How to Beat Jet Lag Going East: A Step-by-Step Plan

If you leave New York at 7 p.m. and land in London at 7 a.m., your body doesn't get a fresh start. Your internal clock is still running on New York time, and on that clock London's morning feels like 2 a.m. That gap is jet lag, and going east makes it sting more.

Why flying east is harder

Your internal clock doesn't keep exactly 24 hours. For most people it runs a little longer, so it drifts later each day unless daylight nudges it back. Staying up late comes naturally to it. Going to bed two hours earlier is the opposite of what it wants.

Eastbound travel asks you to move that clock earlier, which means falling asleep before you feel tired and waking before your body is ready. Westbound travel asks the reverse, and that lines up with the natural drift. That's the core of the problem in one sentence.

The numbers back this up. A common rule of thumb in travel-medicine guidance says the body clock adjusts about one hour per day after flying east, compared with about 1.5 hours per day after flying west. So a six-zone eastbound trip, say Chicago to Lisbon, can take roughly six days to feel normal without help. The Mayo Clinic's jet lag overview also notes that symptoms tend to get worse the farther you travel, and especially when you fly east.

Two tools do most of the work: light and sleep timing. Light is the strongest signal your clock uses to figure out what time it is. Morning light nudges the clock earlier, which is what you want going east. Evening light pushes it later, which works against you.

Your timeline before you leave

Start three to four days before departure. The goal is to move bedtime and wake time earlier a little each day, so your body has time to follow along instead of getting a shock on the plane.

1. Three days before: Set your alarm one hour earlier than usual and go to bed one hour earlier. Within the first hour of waking, get outside for 20 to 30 minutes. Even a cloudy sky is far brighter than most indoor lighting.
2. Two days before: Repeat the shift if the first day went fine. Keep the morning walk. In the evening, dim overhead lights about an hour before bed and put screens away.
3. One day before: Shift one more hour earlier with the same habits. Pack an eye mask and earplugs so you're ready for sleep on the flight.

Why one hour and not two? A small lab study of young adults tested shifts of one and two hours a day. The two-hour group moved their body clock a bit more and reported slightly better symptoms, but by the third day many of them struggled to fall asleep. The one-hour group didn't hit that wall, which makes the gentler shift easier to live with.

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If an hour still feels like too much, try 30 minutes a day. You'll get a smaller head start, but you'll still get one. Our day-by-day jet lag plan lays out the full schedule for the whole trip if you want more detail.

On the plane

If your flight lands during the local morning, try to sleep on board. Think of it as getting some of the local night done before you arrive. An eye mask, earplugs and a neck pillow make that much easier.

Skip the late-night coffee and go light on heavy meals, since both can keep you wide awake when you want to drift off. If you can't sleep, reading or quiet TV with the screen dimmed is a better bet than scrolling through bright social feeds.

Morning light after you land

This is where many people get it backward. Bright light first thing in the morning sounds like the obvious move, but it depends on how far you traveled. If you just crossed several zones, your body may still think it's the middle of the night, and early bright light can push the clock the wrong way.

The Mayo Clinic's guidance on jet lag treatment suggests that after traveling east across three to five time zones, you avoid bright daylight first thing in the morning and seek several hours of bright light in mid to late morning. If you crossed more than eight zones, wear sunglasses and skip bright morning light for the first stretch. Plenty of travelers only need a mild version of this rule.

Days one to three at your destination

1. Wake at local time. Even if you feel wiped out, get up at the local hour. If you landed early, keep the room dim until mid-morning.
2. Get outside between about 9 and 11 a.m. Walk, eat breakfast by a window or sit in a park for 20 to 30 minutes. Sunglasses help if you're heading out before then.
3. Eat at local meal times. A small meal at the right hour gives your body a clear signal about where you are in the day.
4. Dim the evening. An hour or two before local bedtime, switch to lamps, keep screens dim and avoid bright lights. Evening light works against the shift you're trying to make.
5. Limit naps. If you crash in the afternoon, keep it to about 20 minutes, or push through to bedtime.

Run this routine for three days, then check how you feel. Most people notice the worst of the fog lifting within that window, though everyone's timeline is a bit different.

Melatonin and other helpers

Melatonin is the question I hear most. The Mayo Clinic's guidance on jet lag treatment says that after flying east, people often take melatonin nightly in the new time zone until they've adjusted. Timing is the key detail there, so the dose and the hour matter more than just taking it whenever you remember.

Because melatonin is a medical decision for some people, it's worth a quick chat with a doctor or pharmacist before you start, especially if you take other medicines. Light therapy lamps are another option. They can help, but you don't need one to beat jet lag.

Mistakes that undo the good work

• Sleeping in on day one. A long lie-in tells your clock to stay where it is, which slows the shift you've been working on.
• Bright screens in bed. Phones late at night send the same evening signal you're trying to avoid.
• Skipping outdoor time because it's cloudy. Overcast skies are still much brighter than most rooms, so going outside is worth it.

If you do one thing first, make it tonight's alarm. Set it an hour earlier for the next three mornings, step outside within an hour of waking, and dim the lights before bed. Once you land, keep the morning routine simple: local meals, mid-morning light and a dim evening. You won't feel perfect on day one, but you'll feel like yourself sooner.