An American Worker in London
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Jet Lag -- Flying East
I was wondering what "jet lag" effect, if any, I would feel on my second trip to London. The first trip, I arrived tired but I was also not familiar with the neighborhood around the hotel, so that added to my confusion.
This time, I knew exactly where I was going (Islington), how to get there (the Underground), and what I would do after arriving (eat dinner, and I knew where the restaurants were). No problems with any of this, and I had slept about 7 hours on the overnight flight, so I was not totally exhausted. My internal clock was still on California time, though, and my eyes felt tired and scratchy -- that feeling one gets after staying up all night, for example.
The first night here was Monday, and I unpacked, ate dinner, and returned to the hotel for some reading. By 11:00 PM I was sleepy and fell asleep quite easily. The next morning, Tuesday, I had no problems awaking, and felt fine at work all day. I took a bus to Covent Gardens to see a flat (1 bedroom apartment), which wasn't available to see, ate dinner in Leicester Square, and returned to my hotel by 10:30 PM.
And then I couldn't sleep. I was tired, but my mind wasn't ready for sleep. I stayed in bed, with the lights off, until about 2:00 AM, dozing occasionally, but not really sleeping. I played with the room temperature, I opened and then closed the window, I wondered how I would ever get to sleep. I think I finally got solidly asleep by 4:00 AM, and woke up at 7:30 AM, which left me plenty of time to get ready for work.
After arising, I felt fine, more or less, and at this time, I am only tired. But tonight I will take additional measures to ensure that I fall asleep promptly, like taking one of those magic pills the doctor prescribed for the flight over here.
There must be an easier and quicker way to adjust to a new time zone.
