• Planning Your Flight
  • As soon as you are seated, change your watch to the time at your destination and begin acclimatizing yourself to that time zone.
  • Drink lots of water and juices to counter dehydration from the dry cabin atmosphere. Dehydration can retard the process of resynchronizing your biological clock with destination time.
  • Take several strolls down the aisle to improve blood circulation.
  • Do some stretching.Try deep breathing to replace and refresh the air in your lungs and bring fresh oxygen to your blood.
  • Loosen your clothing as an aid to circulation.Take off your shoes.
  • Checking Into Your Hotel
  • To limit noise,request that your room not to be close to the elevators, stairways, hospitality suites or ice and vending machines. If your room is on the street side, ask for a high floor.
  • Ask for a room with an eastern or southern exposure for more morning sun.You’ll feel more alert when you wake up.
  • Make sure that you get enough sun in the morning. If flying east, get out into the fresh air and sun as soon as you get off the plane. in the morning If flying west, you also want to get into the sunlight in the late afternoon. This will trigger your body that it is time to be awake, even if it
    is nighttime at home.
  • If you want you can invest in a light box. These light instruments help distribute light onto the body in a safe way and triggers your internal body clock that it is time to wake up.
  • You want to try and acclimate yourself as soon as possible to the time zone you are in. Therefore avoid naps and try to stay awake the entire day so that you do not ruin your night’s sleep.
  • Pull the heavy drapes closed at night to keep out city light and reduce noise.
  • Keep the room at 65° to 67° Fahrenheit during the afternoon and night.

Sleepiness on the road is also a serious problem. If you’re a busy person carrying a sleep debt, the odds for accidents and catastrophes are higher than you might think. Most of us drive every day, so familiarization with the following information could easily save your life and the lives of others.

  • Planning Road Trips
  • Don’t start a trip if you’ve had too little sleep, or are in the midday dip in alertness.
  • Don’t plan to drive more than ten hours, the legal limit for commercial drivers.
  • Try to drive during the times of day when you’re normally awake, and try to stay overnight somewhere rather than driving straight through.
  • Adjust the car temperature to cool, turn the radio volume up, and avoid listening to soft, sleep-inducing music.
  • Do not use cruise control. Keep your body involved with the driving.
  • Watch your posture. Sitting the wrong way can easily bring on tiredness.
  • Stop for light snacks or drinks.
  • Don’t let your eyes become fixed straight ahead. Scan the area from side to side, blink frequently
    and naturally.

If these antifatigue measures fail, there is only one solution: pull over into a safe area and sleep.

More and more,we are relying on air travel to reach our business and pleasure destinations. But flying can be exhausting, and flying across multiple time zones can disrupt the body’s intricate biological inner-sleep cycle.This is the effect known as Jet Lag. It puts you out of sync with your environment, while affecting your alertness, health and overall sense of well being. Jet Lag causes business travelers to be less productive, athletes to be less sharp, and tourists to be too tired to fully enjoy their exotic vacations.

When traveling,we also push ourselves to the point of exhaustion and deprive ourselves of sleep.As a result,we may experience sleep deprivation symptoms such as headaches, indigestion, dulling of mental ability and memory, and irritability.

This is why it’s so essential to give your body quality time to rest and repair itself each night. Simmons® Bedding Company understands the special needs of travelers and offers these easy-to-follow tips* for better quality sleep while traveling.

  • Planning Your Flight
  • Avoid early morning flights. Especially if they deprive you of sleep the night before.
  • Try to arrive at your destination in time for a full night’s sleep.
  • Avoid red-eye flights.
  • Consider a seat location that will give you the greatest legroom, such as an emergency row or aisle.
  • Pack a small bag of items to help you
    stay comfortable.
  • Include an eyeshade, earplugs, moisturizer, lip balm and a bottle of water.
  • Plan to wear loose clothing on the flight and dress in layers for warmth and comfort.
  • Start to preset your biological clock five days before you leave. If flying east, start going to bed earlier and waking up earlier each day. If flying west, stay up later and get up later.

*Sleep information and travel tips from Power Sleep: The Revolutionary Program That Prepares Your Mind for Peak Performance, by Dr. James B. Maas,Ph.D.,Megan L.Wherry,David J.Axelrod,Barbara R.Hogan,and Jennifer A. Blumin, HarperPerennial-A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers, 1999.