WSJ review of Timeshifter app (spoiler: it was favorable)

Sadly, the article is not unlocked.

-- Mike Beebe

I've used it since 2019. It has worked well for me. It was free the first time I used it. Last time I had to pay for a year or a trip. A trip is $9.99. Worth it to me.

Mike, sorry about that. Try this link: https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/can-apps-and-hacks-really-prevent-jet-lag-af99d2e8?st=xabCRG&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

I just tried it on Firefox where I am not logged into WSJ and it worked there, so hopefully will work for you. I've edited the original link as well.

"This App Can Help You Beat Jet Lag—If You Don’t Have Much Else to Do
Published November 20, 2024"- NYT travel

Most testers said they wouldn’t pay for it but appreciated the advice
and experience of the free trial. One tester admitted to signing up
for the free trial in the past with a different email address and said
they’d do it again in the future.

This doesn’t mean it’s not worth its cost, but whether or not it’s
something you want to include in a trip budget wasn’t something we
came to a clear consensus on.

In the end, Timeshifter is a useful tool, if you are able to dedicate
your life to following its every recommendation. And that, in itself,
is where the true flaw lies—what’s required of you in order to beat
jet lag is often fundamentally incompatible with the demands of modern
life. Maybe jet lag is a choice, just not one that most people can opt
out of making.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/timeshifter-app-review/

Company has been around for 1/2 dozen years. It manages to get free media articles every so often. Turning a set of good jet lag reduction practices into a subscription app has been a challenge. Seeing it score with more free PR from the WSJ may give it more life.

Happy travels

Mardee, thanks.

I was able to open the link in your 1st post.

Thanks Mardee! Pam & I both started using the app a few years ago, she's very diligent about it and gets great results. Oops, sorry you already linked her experience! HA.

It works as well as I work it!! I'd say it reduces jet lag by up to 50%, which given I fly 6 times a year across the Atlantic, and had jet lag symptoms for up to a week, (6x7 days / 50%), I've gained 21 days of relative ease and enjoyment! Not bad!!

It's relatively easy to use but does require some 1) dark glasses in airports and on planes, and a few times over 6 days, 2) Getting up earlier for a few days before leaving US, which is easy for me to do 3) staying up later before flying back, NOT easy for me to do! Sometimes they tell you like taking a nap just as you're leaving for the airport! HA. I do what I can. Totally worth paying the annual fee!!

PS, Pam's story about not caring if she's wearing dark glasses on the plane, she'll never see those people again LOL helped push me over into wearing my Blue light glasses (quite cute!) on plane. And then I realized gosh those overhead florescent lights are bright, and I enjoyed not having the extra glare. So now I wear them even when I fly to LAX from SFO, AND I get fewer headaches when I fly as well. https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Light-Blocking-Glasses-Anti-Fatigue

I tried it but honestly I could not make it work with the rest of my life so...

I'm with Carol. I tried it once, and quickly discovered that I would have had to disrupt my entire life schedule for several days prior to my trip. I'm retired, but that still didn't work for me.

Interesting article, thanks Mardee! And yes, it works for me.

I laughed at the NYT article which quotes Taylor Swift as saying "Jet lag is a choice". Thanks Taylor but I'll take science-based advice and go with the fact that adjusting your circadian rhythm is determined by light exposure.

This last trip I had a different flight schedule and was worried whether Timeshifter would work. I flew Spokane -> Atlanta (4.5 hour flight), a 3-ish hour layover in ATL and then ATL -> Edinburgh (turned out to be a 7 hr flight instead of nearly 8). The plan called for me to sleep a couple of hours on the Spokane to ATL flight and then immediately to go to sleep on the ATL to EDI flight. I slept maybe an hour on the Spokane to ATL flight but I kept my eyes shut part of the flight to cut down on the light when I was awake. On the international leg I settled down to sleep about an hour and a half in to the flight but only slept about 3 hours.

On previous flights where I had a 10 hour flight from Seattle or SLC to Western Europe I was able to get as much as 6 hours sleep with some resting with a sleep mask on. I am going with one longer flight instead of 2 shorter flights next time.

I felt fine when I got to EDI, checked in to my hotel and headed for an Afternoon Tea at 3P. I laughed on my TR because that huge, heavy tea made me sleepy so did take a short nap but followed the sunlight recommendations.

I don't have any trouble doing following the sunlight/caffeine/wake up/go to sleep recommendations and yes, I wear sunglasses in the airport if needed. As one of my grandmothers used to say "You won't see anyone you know or care about". I don't/didn't care if others thought I was a dork.

To me it's worth it but it's definitely a personal choice.

There used to be versions of this where you could only eat certain types of foods (carbs, protein, etc.) at certain times of the day. I bet Youtube is full of vlogs about this. And way back in the day there was a drug called Halcion. More recently I tried some Benadryl, or rather I was going to until I messed up and accepted that pre-flight glass of prosecco.

An app for fighting jet lag! I suppose I am lucky that I have never have problems when going from EST to time zones that are 12 hours or more different. Perhaps because I fall asleep very easily and am used to taking naps in the afternoon when I am not working. On this year's trip to Europe, I left NC in the morning. After a 5-hour layover in NYC arrived in Paris early AM. I was in my Airbnb by 10 am. Unpacked, got some food, and took a nap. Woke up naturally late afternoon, went out for a couple of hours, and then to bed early. Woke up feeling fully adjusted the next day in the early am. Same routine for the next two months. The only thing I noticed was still on EST was my morning 'routine'. That took a few days. The same thing happens when I travel to Asia. However, on returning, I do feel jet lag for days. Again, luckily, in the summer I don't work, so I just go with my foreign rhythm until it adjusts back. I kind of enjoy being wide awake at 3 in the morning, working on my trip photos, etc.

I used the app on a trip to Turkey a few years ago and I had zero jet lag on the way, but I wasn't very successful following the process for the return trip but I did better than usual, though it turns out I also had soon to be discovered COVID, so that complicated things! Due to life stuff I won't be able to follow the program for my upcoming summer trip, but I usually am ok going to Europe, but the return to west coast USA time is a bear. Thankfully retirement allows for groggy days. :)

PS, FYI Sandancisco the link to Amazon blue light glasses in your post doesn't work :/

The important takeaway from the WSJ article for me was regarding sleeping on the plane. It’s not the actual sleep that matters but blocking out the light. I can’t sleep on planes so I often will read or watch movies to pass the time. I will have to try to resist such activities and just put on an eye mask and rest if I can’t sleep.

@Rocket...I think the mask makes a difference. Over the last few years I have flown Delta One quite a bit but this last trip the cost to buy up to that level was never reasonable so came home in Economy Comfort. Without the mask I could see the flickering of screens thru my eyelids so it was much better with the mask to help block that out.

Thanks Pam!!! I will definitely pack and use my mask. I bought a nice padded one on amazon that is comfortable and seals out the light.

I've tried it twice but won't be using it again.

Heading 5 or 6 time zones eastward, I found it worked very well. I may be wrong but I think it will be easy to achieve the same effect without the app. The required actions are mostly going to sleep and waking up progressively earlier for a few days and having some darkness with no screens for an hour before bed. (The latter is good advice anytime, IMO.)

For the return trip, the app had me doing very practical things like avoiding light until noon, just how I want to spend my last three mornings in London or Paris. Obviously I couldn't do that, so I found little or no benefit for the return trip.

But the kicker is you can get a very similar set of instructions online for free. Just do a bit of googling. It won't be packaged in an app with push notifications, and that alone may lead some to decide to buy the app. But it's good enough for me.