Circadian Shift

Academics often travel across time zones to give a talk or participate in a workshop, and we rarely have the luxury of arriving several days early to adjust. I built this planner to shift my own body clock before leaving, so I land close to local time. It implements protocols from the scientific literature (see below).

I use it on the way out. I usually don't on the way back: at home I am resuming my normal routine, and the jet lag is easier to absorb.

The key is timed light exposure, and you have to be consistent about it. Deviate from the plan and it will not work well.

Some tips:

  1. “Block light” does not mean sleep. Get into a dark room or put on an eye mask and listen to an audiobook. If you can’t — maybe you’re at the airport — wear sunglasses and close your eyes when you can. If you are driving, do not wear an eye mask and do not close your eyes.
  2. The way to use this app is to export the plan to your calendar. Every instruction becomes a timed alert that accounts for the change in time zone, so the plan keeps working while you travel and through your first days at the destination. There is also an overview image you can save to your photos. It is useful for seeing the shape of the plan, but the calendar is how you should follow it.
  3. The melatonin timing here assumes a 0.5 mg dose. A higher dose needs earlier timing, and can cost you sleep quality that night.

Note that everything you enter here, and your plan, stays in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.

What is your usual sleep schedule?

Flights

Three-letter airport codes. Times exactly as printed on your ticket, including the arrival date if you land the next day.

Sources.
Burgess HJ. Using Bright Light and Melatonin to Reduce Jet Lag. In: Sateia MJ, Buysse DJ, eds. Behavioral Treatments for Sleep Disorders. 2011, Ch. 16.
Eastman CI, Gazda CJ, Burgess HJ, Crowley SJ, Fogg LF. Advancing circadian rhythms before eastward flight: a strategy to prevent or reduce jet lag. Sleep 2005;28(1):33-44.
Revell VL, Eastman CI. How to trick mother nature into letting you fly around or stay up all night. J Biol Rhythms 2005;20(4):353-65.
Khalsa SBS, Jewett ME, Cajochen C, Czeisler CA. A phase response curve to single bright light pulses in human subjects. J Physiol 2003;549(3):945-52.
Revell VL, Burgess HJ, Gazda CJ, Smith MR, Fogg LF, Eastman CI. Advancing human circadian rhythms with afternoon melatonin and morning intermittent bright light. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2006;91(1):54-9.
Burgess HJ, Revell VL, Molina TA, Eastman CI. Human phase response curves to three days of daily melatonin: 0.5 mg versus 3.0 mg. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2010;95(7):3325-31.