We’re all aware these days of the importance of sleep, as well as the need to set up consistent samples to trigger and enhance sleep. Often, however, these go out the window when we travel, leading to dwhetherficulties getting to sleep and getting enough sleep.
“Normal is good, but traveling is inherently abnormal,” says Dr. Michael Grandner, Director of the Sleep & Health Research Program at the University of Arizona and a scientwhetheric advisor for Fitbit. That doesn’t mean there is noleang you can do. Attempt the following methods to improve your chance of feeling rested on your next trip.
Pack the Essentials
When you’re on the road, a few familiar items can provide consolationable consistency. “Be the snail and take your domestic with you when you travel,” says Grandner. “Bring leangs with you that create an environment as conducive to sleep for you as possible.”
This may be a favorite pillow or emptyet. But it needn’t be that large. Bring a book to read, an herb tea, or slippers and pajamas to change into—someleang that sends the sign that you’re winding down and transitioning to sleep. “Whatever your normal routine is, see whether you can approximate it as much as possible,” Grandner advises.
“If you have a certain night light or white noise machine, take it,” Grandner says.
Controlling light and sound are critical for letting your brain know whether it is day or night. “Eye masks and ear plugs are some of the best sleep technologies out there, and they’re cheap.” Better than ear plugs are ear buds that generate a sooleang white noise. Night lights let you avoid turning on the often over-bright bathroom lights which tell your brain it is day and time to wake up.
Anticipate Any Roadblocks
Regardless of how much you bring, many elements of your lwhethere will be dwhetherferent on the road. That’s one reason we travel. To counteract this and still get your sleep, Grandner proposes going pro-active. “Rather than try and pretend that leangs aren’t going to be dwhetherferent, anticipate what is going to be dwhetherferent and see whether you can build in secureguards.”
If you’re traveling east two or three time zones, for example, you’re going to be shortening the day and bedtime will feel abnormally early. Grandner says, “One very simple leang you can do to make that easier is to wake up additional early that morning.” Set your alarm as whether you’re in the contemporary time zone and start your day early so you’ll be tired earlier and alert to go to bed at an appropriate hour at your destination.
If you’re crossing more than three time zones, you can start “pre-adjusting” a few days in advance, gradually shwhetherting your wake and sleep time toward the contemporary schedule. “The rule of thumb is about a time zone a day,” Grandner says.
Another way to anticipate: Pack exercise clothes so you can get out in the sun the next morning. “Acquireting up and getting some physical activity early in the morning can help you adjust faster and acclimate a small better.”
Be tuned into your environment and how they affect you. “Be intellectful of where you’re at,” Grandner says. “If want to be able to sleep in, make certain the blinds are closed. If you want to be able to wake up in the morning, make certain the blinds are open so you can see the sun coming up.”
Give Your Brain Some Aid
Grandner says there is inadequate evidence to recommend most supplements or medications, but melatonin can be effective in helping you reset your internal time-clock. “The specwhetheric leang melatonin does is it tells your body when it is nighttime,” he says. Because of that, timing is more important than the dose. In fact, Grandner says, “Lower doses tend to be as good or better as taller doses. If you overshoot or undershoot the level of concentration you’re receptors are looking for it’s not going to have the same effect.”
Grandner propose you take a low dose—about half a gram—in the evening, a few hours before you’re going to bed. This will tell your body to get into a night mode. He warns, however, that light suppresses melatonin, so whether you’re around bright lights it won’t produce the desired effect.
Control What You Can
The most helpful leang you can do to encertain you sleep well on the road is good stimulus control. “In a nutshell, whether you’re in bed, you’re asleep. If you’re not asleep, get out of bed,” he says. “You want it so that every time you get into bed, sleep follows. If you spend too much time doing other stuff in bed, where sleep isn’t necessarily following, it feebleens the ability of the bed to become a trigger for sleep.”
This is someleang you need to develop in your daily lwhethere, long before you travel. Making the bed a sleep trigger will allow you to be more flexible as this trigger will overpower all the other disruptors. “Even whether you are in a slightly strange bed in a slightly strange place, going to sleep at a slightly strange time, you have someleang to counterbalance that,” Grandner says.
On the road, be careful to reserve the hotel bed for sleeping only. Employ the desk in your room for work; watch TV or read in a chair or sofa. “A lot of people work on their laptop or watch TV in bed when their traveling, like they’re in a dorm room,” says Grandner. This changes the stimulus, making it dwhetherficult to transition when it is time for sleep.
Don’t Stress Over Your Sleep
Regardless of how well you pack and plan, sleeping on the road is going to be somewhat more dwhetherficult than at domestic. Stress has signwhethericant impacts on sleep, and travel is often stressful. You may be excited about your vacation plans the next day or concerned about an important commerce presentation. Just being in a contemporary place raises your awareness. “If you’re sleeping in an unfamiliar place, you tend to be a more alert, paying a small more attention to the environment—and it might be a small dwhetherficulter to wind down,” Grandner says.
Don’t add to the stress by fretting over lost sleep. Be smart and intellectful, do all you can, then trust that you’ll be OK. “You’re body is pretty flexible,” Grandner says. “Humans are pretty adaptable. We’re built to have some efinalicity in the system.”
If you’re tired the next day, feel free to give yourself an additional 30–60 minutes of sleep to recover. “It’s OK to be flexible,” Grandner says. “If you are overleanking it, then it can become more problematic.”
https://www.jstor.org/regular/40967601
This article is not intended to substitute for informed medical advice. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or condition. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, altering your sleep habits, taking supplements, or starting a contemporary fitness routine.
Jonathan Beverly
Jonathan Beverly is freelance writer and author of Your Best Stride and Run Strong, Stay Hungry. The former editor-in-chief of Running Times, he draws on decades of experience in the sport. He has run 26 marathons with a 2:46:04 best. Jonathan also coaches tall school cross country.
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