How to Reduce Jet Lag on International Business Trips

Jet lag isn't fully avoidable on a long international trip across multiple time zones, but its severity is genuinely manageable with some planning — worth taking seriously if you have meetings scheduled soon after landing.

Before you fly

• If your schedule allows, shift your sleep and meal timing a little toward your destination's time zone in the day or two before departure.
• Book a flight and seat that lets you actually rest — see our guide to sleeping better on long-haul business class.
• Avoid scheduling important meetings for the first few hours after a long overnight flight if you have any flexibility — build in a buffer.

During the flight

Set your watch or phone to your destination's time as soon as you board, and try to eat and sleep according to that schedule rather than your departure time zone. Stay hydrated and go easy on alcohol and caffeine — both make jet lag noticeably worse, even in a comfortable business-class seat.

After you land

• Get outside in daylight as soon as reasonably possible after arrival — natural light is one of the most effective tools for resetting your internal clock.
• Try to stay awake until a reasonable local bedtime on your arrival day, even if you're tired, rather than napping for hours.
• Eat meals on the local schedule from your first day, which helps signal the time change to your body.
• Give yourself a realistic adjustment window — as a rough guide, about one day per time zone crossed is a common estimate, though it varies by person.

For a short trip

If your trip is short enough that full adjustment isn't realistic before you fly home, some business travelers deliberately stay on their home time zone's sleep schedule for the whole trip instead — worth considering for a quick 1–2 day international trip where you'd otherwise adjust twice in a few days.