Timeshifter App

Hi Sarah! which shifter app you are using? Can you share the App link please?

We have always done our time shifting on our own. We are eight hours different so try to shift up to four hours with good success. But on the day before travel we try to function on upcoming local time so travel day is nearly on local time. It seems to work for us.

@Travis - It’s called Timeshifter. I wasn’t aware of any others, and not sure how to share a link to the App Store. It’s the only app that comes up when I google it. It’s “Timeshifter: the jet lag app” in the Apple Store.

Here’s the link to the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timeshifter/id1380684374

I sent a note to Pam, who has used Timeshifter with success so hopefully she will get back with some suggestions and tips.

Thanks, Mardee!

Hey!

Thank you Mardee!

Yes, my Timeshifter plan had me going to sleep at 6P which was the time that my flight left Seattle for Amsterdam. I went ahead and ate dinner on the plane and then at about 8P put on a sleep mask and just tried to rest. I did actually go to sleep as I was in a lie-flat seat. I slept until I woke up which was about 5 hours. At that time I had some caffeine as I had bought a Coke in the Seattle airport to have available. I turned on my reading light and read on my iPadMini with that amount of light in my face until we landed.

I was careful about the daylight I got on my flight day and yes, wore sunglasses in the Amsterdam airport until it was time for me to get light in my face. It looked stupid but I did not care what anyone thought of me, I only cared about not getting crushed by jet lag like I did on my previous trip!

I tried to adhere the best I could with whatever situation I was in. I'll have to tell you I probably followed it about 90% of the time and it worked beautifully for me. I don't think there is any way when you are traveling that you can get the exact amount of light or darkness they suggest. I did strictly adhere to the caffeine recommendations. I don't use melatonin so that was not part of my plan.

Best of luck to you! I DO recommend a sleep mask. I was surprised how much difference it made early in the evening on the plane when I wanted to shut out light.

Thank you, Pam! That’s great to hear. That was my thinking - eat the meal on the plane (I’m on Delta 1, so it’ll be good and I don’t want it to go to waste!) and then rest/sleep. I do plan to stick to caffeine recommendations and will use melatonin (i take it very occasionally if i have trouble sleeping, so I’ll start using it a week or so out - it may help me adjust bed times earlier too!). And I have no problem looking weird in the airport on the way home.

Appreciate the detailed response and glad I’m not the only one who balked at missing the meal and trying to sleep immediately upon boarding! I’ll report back in a couple of months what I thought of it (fingers crossed my outcome is as good as yours!).

You are quite welcome! I’d recommend starting out with the prosecco “PFD” - pre-flight drink! I’m not a big drinker and rarely drink on the plane but really, it’s a shame not to start a trip that way!!

Do you mind if I ask if the melatonin gives you vivid dreams? I’d been hesitant to try it because I saw that was a side effect sometimes. And you don't have to answer that!!

Oh yes, I’m a fan of a light PFD!

I’ve never had vivid dreams with melatonin, although I take it only occasionally. My husband takes it pretty regularly and has never mentioned it either. Your mileage may vary, of course; it’s why I tried it the first time on a weekend evening when I could easily recover from a poor night of sleep if it happened!

This seems like so much work and too demanding to follow 100%. However, each to their own and I hope it works for you.
I always have to transfer from my secondary city to another major city before a flight anywhere...so suffer travel fatigue. Sometimes these flights are south with only an hour time zone difference, so I can't really call it 'jet lag' due to changes in time zone.
When I do have a short overnight flight to Europe, I order a special meal. You receive it well before they start the main meal service, so I am fed and settled to sleep before my neighbour is even offered 'pasta or beef'.
Now I need gluten free, but I used to order vegetarian, or Asian vegetarian...whatever strikes your fancy.
I also pay for my seat so I have a window seat. Once fed, I don't eye shades and turn towards the window. People tend to I derstand that is a silent 'do not disturb' move.

I tried this I didn’t think it did anything to help me, but I will admit, I don’t suffer horribly from Jetlag like

Now, my solution to having more time to sleep is to avoid the airplane food. Yes I know it’s included. It’s also pathetic. So just eat before you get on the plane or maybe bring something with you that you can eat. You don’t have to eat the three day old Reheated dinner they’re trying to serve you 😂 honestly, if you wouldn’t eat it at a restaurant in your hometown, don’t eat it on the airplane

Hey great question, and no, I don't try to follow ithe Timeshifter App 100%, It would require me to get up at 3AM the day of departure and often my flights are late at night. I travel 3x a year to Sweden, that means 6 jet lags that take me approximately 5 days each to recover, ie I would have jet lag A MONTH of the year, such a waste! So I was thrilled by Pam's original thread, and her dedication, especially to wearing sunglasses all day on a sunny day after much rain. I would say it helps reduce jet lag by 50% overall & shortens it by 50%, which I think is a vast improvement given very little work.

I think you just do the best you can, but I am not setting an alarm to disturb what little sleep I get crossing the Atlantic. Sleep masks & sunglasses help. (Instead I bought some blue light reducing glasses that make me look like a serious nerd, I kind of like them.) And when I took them off briefly on board, I realized just how awful the bright lights are on flights. Someone commented that the blue light glasses have been proven to not work, but I like them better than sunglasses. https://www.amazon.com/Gunnar-Glasses/s?k=Gunnar+Glasses.

I've heard that about vivid dreams from Melatonin, but have discovered that a tiny dose of 5MG is enough and it hasn't bothered me yet. Try it at home one night maybe?

Here's Pam's original post - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/jet-lag-i-tried-the-timeshifter-app

"So I was thrilled by Pam's original thread, and her dedication, especially to wearing sunglasses all day on a sunny day after much rain."

What a really sweet way of saying "she's slightly nuts", hahahaha!!

Timeshifter has always told me to sleep the entire overnight flight — I’ve used it on trips to Spain, England, France, Italy.

"Timeshifter has always told me to sleep the entire overnight flight"

Some of us flying from the West may have flights that are 3 hours longer than yours for the international leg. I think they also are supposed to take into account your normal circadian rhythm (lark vs night owl).

Indeed! I seem to recall from the questions when I joined, you use your average wake up and sleep time, so it's also calculated on that variable. If I leave at 2PM from SFO, I can get in the hours of sleep suggested (it's still not enough hours IMO) but if I leave at 10PM, I'm suppose to already be asleep!

And although you can move your sleep schedule up on your own, there are other things like coffee at odd hours & avoiding sunlight at sometimes difficult times that help move your body clock. Indeed, the advice to just get out into the sunshine might be setting your clock in the wrong direction!

"Indeed, the advice to just get out into the sunshine might be setting your clock in the wrong direction!"

@Sandancisco - Yes! I believe this is what happened to me last April. I got to Schiphol Amsterdam about 1PM and took a cab in to town. I checked in to my hotel, set down my luggage and was walking in nearby Vondelpark by 2:30-3PM. It was sunny but "brisk" so part of the time I just sat with my face in the sun. I think that was my undoing and which is what caused me to have more difficulty adjusting my circadian rhythm to local time. It took a full week for me not to crump by mid-afternoon and was so bad that I had to skip a museum visit to return to the hotel. I'm not normally a napper. I am retired so I did not have any extra tiredness going in to that trip.

Some of the NASA studies on the Timeshifter website which discusse how light impacts circadian rhythm indicated that morning light sets your clock earlier which is what you want going East and afternoon light sets your clock later which is what you want coming back home to the US. So...for the East-coasters who get to Europe by early morning...yes, going out into the light may be the best thing to do. For the West Coasters who are arriving later in the day, getting sunlight may not be doing yourselves a favor. For those of you who do not get jet lag...you are indeed lucky...buy a lottery ticket!