Embrace the suck. Stay up late the night before your flight. This will help push you into the new timezone. Stay awake as long as you can during the flight to get you on local time. When you arrive, stay up until 10pm local time if you can. Wake up bright and early.
Your travel day will suck but it will be your only bad day. Do the same thing on the way back.
I’ve done a few 12+ hour timezone shifts and experience very little jet lag if at all.
I add the clock of my destination to the home screen of my phone so my brain gets used to seeing the time. I slightly adjust my sleep patterns, but it depends on the destination and what I need to be ready for when I arrive.
As soon as I get on the plane, I switch all of my devices to the destination time. I try to sleep on the flight when I would be asleep at my destination. Sometimes this means being awake when lights are dark and everyone is sleeping and asleep when everyone is awake and eating.
When I arrive, I stay awake at all costs. At least until 8pm. Lots of water and a full night of sleep. It takes me a day at most to adjust.
Get hammered or try melatonin. Works every time.
Westbound isn’t all that difficult. Just one of those days where you didn’t sleep well when you arrive. Once there, go to bed as early as you can and sleep the whole night. On the plane I’d definitely ignore the first meal service and go to bed immediately once aboard. Bring a sleep mask. But eastbound, it might take weeks to get back to the right time zone. Have fun.
If possible, then the first thing to try is to ask how much an upgrade will cost at check-in to business class. I use Emirates a lot and during check-in for a recent flight from London to Dubai I found the upgrade bizz class was just another £200 ($250). This snags a lie flat seat.
If not and you’re in Economy then the big question is the seat selection. A window allows you to lean on the sidewall while you sleep and you won’t be disturbed by fellow pax who wanna use the toilet.
Carry noise-cancelling headphones and a THICK eye mask. Remember to wear your seat belt over your blanket so the FA doesn’t need to wake you if the plane hits turbulence. You can also ask not to be woken for any meal service. Some airlines have a sticker for this you put on the headrest.
About 2 days before you fly, avoid fried heavy oily food; stick to boiled or steamed “hospital food.” This avoids gas/bloating which naturally occurs during flight and disturbs sleep.
I was gonna say to pick a flight that lands in HKG in the evening since this is the best time to arrive at a long haul destination. You are already tired and the night is approaching so you fall into place immediately when it comes to body clock. But I realised it’s already been booked.
Drugs. Before you take off and right when you land.
Take a flight timed so you land in Asia late afternoon/evening. Don’t sleep during the flight. By the time you’re at your destination, you should be tired enough to sleep. I can’t sleep on planes, so this works for me.
Drink the local gas station energy drink. Get in touch with the owners of the energy drink. Buy the rights to the formula and tweak it for western tastes. And now you’ve founded Red Bull.
Whisky 🤃