How to get over Jet lag quickly

Adrienne Truscott — Performer, Choreographer, Circus Acrobat, Dancer, Writer, and Comedian

1. Never remind yourself of ‘what time it really is’ and always fly with a neck pillow and don’t wear a bra. (That’s a 3 in 1).
2. Try to get a flight that mimics a real day/night – i.e. my example of flying from NYC to Melbourne – leave NYC early eve and stay awake until LA/SF using your robust imagination to pretend that 5-6 hours in economy is actually a much needed date with yourself and much deserved ‘dinner’ with ‘wine’ and a movie or two. Sleep like Judy Garland after a bender and treasure 13 hrs of sleep. Wake up bright and early at 7am in Melbourne. Just like any other night?
3. Unless you have addiction issues absolve yourself of all guilt regarding chemical assists during flight and for 2-3 days/daze after landing.
4. Following from #3 – take whatever you can get your hands on to make you sleep the appropriate amount on plane for what awaits you when you get off the plane. There’s no reason to actually be conscious to experience the indignities of more than 2-3 hours in economy. Same when you get off, 2-3 days of doing what you must to fall asleep and try for eight hours of something like sleep when the rest of the world around you is asleep. Anything to shoehorn yourself into the time zone you land in.
5. Stay busy, see people, celebrate being where you are and try not to be home alone cause that can feel like your bed is actually made out of a big, boring monsters who want company at all hours of the day.

Chayne Hultgren Aka The Space Cowboy–  Circus Sideshow Legend & prolific Guinness World Record Holder.

I find it much more difficult to fly east, when time is lost, rather than to fly west, when you gain it back. However usually when I am flying home to Australia it is after a crazy tour schedule and the jet lag really kicks in when I finally return home.

1. Have loads of work to do as soon as you arrive (Your body will know that there is no time for jet lag!). If you don’t have shows or work immediately when you arrive just make sure you get psychical. Go for a jog, a swim or anything that keeps you moving.
2. Sleep as much as you can on the flight and then sleep some more. The more sleep the better.
3. When you arrive at your destination take Melatonin 30 minutes before bed (Or 30 minutes before the time you want your new sleep time to be). This is probably the most proven method… yes it is a drug however it is a natural hormone released from your body so I don’t think there is too much harm in it.
4. Do handstands at the airport, transit lounge and destination. I don’t remember who told me to try this method, I tried it for fun but I can’t really say it works so maybe my 4th answer should be: Stay hydrated!
5. Party as hard as you can before you fly so you sleep the entire flight! You will feel screwed when you arrive but it will be worth it! 🙂

Leigh-Anne Vizer – Performer, Choreographer & can wrangle massive groups of people for huge spectaculars

1. Ok so it’s true the body needs light to adjust. Some Japanese friends of mine shine a torch behind their knees. I choose (when I can) to spend the first day in the sunlight as much as possible.
2. No nana naps or siestas till you can sleep the whole night through.
3. Stay in bed/meditate/relax at least until the sun rises. Or take a romantic sunrise picture – It may be the only time you are awake to see the sunrise in that part of the world.
4. Embrace the early starts. Do stuff, your energy levels will catch up.
5. Try to eat regularly for the new time zone and prepare some midnight snacks. There is nothing worse than waking up hungry at 3:30am!

Frodo Sandven Aka Captain Frodo  – Master Showman 

1.  When you arrive, don’t give in to tiredness. Force yourself to follow as close as possible the local time as quick as possible. This is easier said than done. If you’ve got shows in the evenings that’s the best. If you are crashing, Walk. You can’t sleep whilst walking.
2. Stay awake till 22:00, local time. If you go to bed when you get tired you will wake up at 2 in the morning and have gotten one more day of jet lag.
3.  Don’t believe yourself when you tell yourself that your just gonna lay down in the couch for a min.
4. Have a good book and some series to watch for the inevitable hours before sunrise. These hours are relax time, feel free to squander them.
5. personally I don’t worry about when to sleep on the plane. The rest you get there does not seem to add up to much more than coping with the travel itself.

Monique Harvey – Programer, Festival Director & Producer

1. Massage
2. Sunshine
3. Swim
4. Melatonin
5. Reset clock to local time immediately

Scott Maidment – Founding Director of Strut & Fret production House (Seriously frequent flyer!)

1. Don’t nap when you land
2. Integrate to time zone immediately
3. Leave your phone in the other room when you go to bed
4. Drink bloody Mary’s on the flight.Tomato juice oxygenates your blood
5. Go straight to work by day. Have a martini at night.

Miss Behave – MC, Speciality Act, Producer – currently rocking Vegas with her show: Miss Behave’s Gameshow.

Mike Finch – Artistic Director at Circus Oz for 17 years – currently freelance – Directing, Speaking & Facilitating. He is open to suggestions!

1. Set a clock before you leave with local time on arrival.
2. Mid-air Valium/Alcohol mix in carefully arbitrary amounts.
3. Earplugs plus wrap entire head in one of those polar fleece neck warmers
4. Shower & clean clothes on arrival.
5. Most important: get out into the sunlight as soon as you arrive and spend as much time as possible with direct sunlight on your face. One great trick I learnt from Linda Mickleborough (Ex Circus Oz GM) is, on arrival in a major city, go on one of those open-topped double-decker bus tours and sit upstairs. It’s daggy as hell, but you can sit, outdoors, without having to walk, and you get a sense of most your new city. Ignore the commentary, but you’ll know which parts of the city you want to come back to later, and your biorhythm will be getting reset.
6. Embrace the jet lag and get up at 4am to write ideas, while hallucinating at 4pm during a meeting. It’s a kind of psychedelia that’s all bundled into your airfare.

Emma Sergeant – ESP – EmmaSerjeantPerformance 

Captain Ruin -Professional unusualist and physical theatre performer (The Syndicate, Circus Oz, Glitch Productions) 

(Warning – the subjective nature of how we experience time reinforces that these tips should not be followed in chronological order, if at all)

1. Newsagents in airports have shit security and next to no cameras – nick lots of those special jet lag electrolyte drinks and follow the instructions on the bottle.
2. Get a pair of noise-cancelling earphones (see tip one) and sleep as much as possible while listening to hardcore punk music.
3. Have heaps of sex with someone from the country you land in, and when they sleep, you sleep.
4. Time is a relative concept – don’t stop partying. An airplane is just an intercontinental taxi.
5. As one door closes, another door opens. All places are one place. Close your eyes and wake up somewhere new.

Chelsea McGuffin – Performer, Company Director & ‘Co-Driver’ of Company 2