Video summary
Jet lag is a significant challenge for pilots who frequently cross multiple time zones, requiring a strategic approach that differs greatly from occasional travelers. Unlike the average person who might fly once a year, pilots must adapt their sleep schedules based on specific flight routes and durations. For instance, flying north or south within the same time zone is less disruptive than crossing longitudes, but even short flights require careful planning regarding departure times. Pilots often adjust their bedtime two days before a trip if they need to sleep earlier, or shift slightly later for early morning departures. On longer flights exceeding eight hours, crews rotate sleep schedules among three or four pilots to ensure safety while allowing everyone to rest, demonstrating that managing fatigue is a mandatory operational requirement rather than just a personal preference.
Managing light exposure and nutrition plays a crucial role in mitigating the effects of jet lag for aviation professionals. Before a trip, pilots utilize blackout curtains in their homes and hotels, sometimes even using chairs or clothespins to seal gaps, to simulate nighttime conditions when needed. During flights, they avoid blue light by using red flashlights for bathroom visits and carefully select room locations based on the hemisphere and direction of travel to control sunlight exposure upon arrival. Dietary habits are equally important; pilots prefer light snacks over large meals to prevent digestive discomfort that could interfere with sleep. They also time their caffeine intake precisely, consuming it only when needed for approach and landing phases while avoiding it before rest periods, ensuring they remain alert when required but can relax when necessary.
Beyond physical adjustments, pilots employ mental techniques such as controlled breathing and muscle relaxation to calm the nervous system and induce sleep quickly. When unable to fall asleep immediately upon arrival, they may take a short walk to burn off excess energy without overexerting themselves, allowing them to try sleeping again later. This flexibility extends to daily activities, where pilots might visit museums early in the morning to avoid crowds and align with their internal clock rather than societal norms. While some commercial remedies like melatonin exist, pilots generally avoid them due to FAA regulations regarding medication use before flying, preferring natural methods that keep them medically cleared for duty. Ultimately, successful adaptation to jet lag relies on a combination of planning, environmental control, and understanding one's own body rhythms, turning what could be a debilitating experience into a manageable routine through disciplined preparation and thoughtful execution.
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[music]
Welcome to yet another Daily Tech News
Show weekend edition. Gratefully
provided to you in thanks for your
support of this show. And today I'm very
excited to welcome back Brian Hoffman to
the show. Uh Brian, good to have you
back, man.
>> Thank you, Tom. Glad to be here.
>> If you explain to folks what you do, who
you are. I mean, you're a pilot, uh is
the easiest way, but how do you usually
explain it?
>> [sighs]
>> Woo. Um, I'm a pilot that flies uh a lot
of different uh schedules, but I also
like my solar projects. I like my farm.
I like all the stuff. So, I have to
integrate everything into my life.
>> Yeah. Usually, we're talking solar
technology when we've had you on uh in
the past, but uh wanted to talk to you
about jet lag because we did a great
episode a couple weeks back with Dr.
Nikki about the app um that called time
shifter that will try to adjust you uh
to flying across time zones. Uh it was
actually built for astronauts on the
international space station who are
flying very fast through many time zones
uh all the time. Uh and I thought it
would be really interesting to compare
that to what you have to do when you're
flying across time zones on a regular
basis. maybe not as fast as the
astronauts, but you know, what are the
the patterns and and ways of dealing
with this that you have had to develop?
Uh, and first of all, explain to us how
your
relationship with jet lag differs from
the typical vacer like me who, you know,
once a year has to take a big trip
across time zones.
>> Well, depending on how I fly and
depending on where I'm going to go, if
I'm going to stay in the United States,
I plan one way. If I'm going to fly
around the world, I'll plan a different
way because the number of time zones you
travel across matters. And so if you're
flying north and south, that's a lot
easier because you're staying in a time
zone.
>> Yeah. Right.
>> But let's just say you leave Seattle to
go to Miami.
>> Well, you're doing it at 8:00 in the
morning and you get there at 4 or 5 in
the afternoon. Or are you leaving there
11 o'clock at night and going to get
there 7 o'clock in the morning the next
morning?
You have to plan differently. And so
knowing what you're going to do drives
your plan.
>> And I imagine you you do it regularly.
It's a and and and it's not something
where it's like, okay, once a year or
maybe twice a year I have to to think
about this. Or even a business traveler
who's crossing a couple of time zones
multiple times a year. You're
[clears throat] you're doing lots of
different variations on this
>> for decades now. Yep.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So So where do you
start with uh what what are some of the
typical things you look at? What you're
going to do first is you're going to
figure out your sleep pattern. So, if I
need to sleep earlier
to be prepared to go go fly a trip, then
I want to do that two days early.
If I'm going to be sleeping, if I'm
going to get up and fly a really, really
early trip, maybe I just want to go to
bed a little bit earlier, just to
slightly move. If I'm going to go fly to
Europe, I actually sleep differently
than if I'm going to go to Asia.
>> If you take off, go to Asia, you get
there in the morning. And so you kind of
want to be ready when you get there,
but you also are leaving
12, 13 hours prior. So that makes it
really hard. So that the next thing you
think about on sleep is, am I going to
take a nap when I get there or not? I
know travelers want to get there,
they're going to sleep the entire
flight. I'm not. But then they're going
to want to get out and do something. I
may have to take a nap, a 20-minute nap,
a 45 minute nap, or a three-hour nap,
depending on where you're going and what
you're doing, really can help a lot.
>> And on those longer flights, do you do
you sleep during the flight?
>> If you're flying over eight hours, it's
mandatory that you have a third pilot.
If you're over 12 hours, mandatory to
have a fourth pilot, and then we rotate
sleep schedules to to be able to take a
nap when you're not in the seat.
>> Yeah. And how how long do you do you nap
for then? And do you get do you really
get good sleep on a plane? Are you able
to do that?
>> Some people do, some people don't. Um,
and that's that's obviously the the
trick. I sleep fairly well on an
airplane because I' i've been practiced
for so long. I set up my sleep right, my
caffeine usage correctly. I drink plenty
of water. I stay hydrated. I do all the
things I'm supposed to do to minimize
the exposure. And then quite frankly, if
you try to go to sleep and you can't,
well then get up and do something else.
and then then go give it a try again.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Caffeine usage is is one
that the time shifter app uh was very
good at kind of educating you about. Um
what what's your approach to that and
and also to just food in general?
>> Caffeine is is interesting because um as
a pilot if you are getting ready for the
approach and landing phase, you want to
be awake for that. So, an hour to an
hour and 20 minutes prior to that is
when you want to use caffeine so that
it's in your system and you've gotten
the benefit of being caffeinated
before you'd need it. But if you don't
need it because you're about to go fly
and you just slept, well, then you don't
want to take any caffeine at that point
because you want to save the usage for
later.
>> So, it's it is a lot different than
someone getting in the back of the
airplane than getting up in the front of
the airplane.
>> Yeah. And then as far as food goes, are
there certain foods you try to avoid or
are there certain foods that really you
find helpful?
>> Well, um I find a light snack is way
more helpful than anything large. And so
I might eat two or three times during
the day, a lighter snack.
>> Um but you eat a big meal, everyone
knows, you eat a big meal, you're
[snorts] you're just have this big gut
bomb and you're not going to be able to
sleep.
>> Yeah. Yeah. How do you how do you handle
dark and light both both before the
trip, during the trip, and after you get
there?
>> Uh before the trip, obviously blackout
curtains. Um which my house uh we've got
very dark room because I need to be able
to take a nap either before or after I'm
going to go fly.
>> Uh same thing in the uh the hotels. You
want blackout curtains. I know people
who bring clothes pins with them to
pinch the curtains closed. I have at
times used a chair in the room to make a
set of curtains close a little more
tightly so they can block out more
light. It really light is one of those
things like Dr. Nikki said, you know,
when it's when the sun goes down, it
gets dark, cool, and quiet.
>> That tells your body it's time to sleep.
>> It's it's pavlon pavlovian to us, right?
So, I want to make those things happen
when I want to go to sleep.
And you're and you're preparing your
body by going asleep a little earlier
before. Is that roughly what you do?
>> Sometimes you want you want to be
completely awake.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Sometimes you want to be ready to go
take a nap. Uh it really it depends on
the schedule. It's very very different
for the for the air air crew. And if I'm
going to fly two hours, I'm going to get
there at 3:00 in the morning or 3:00 in
the afternoon. There's a difference. You
know, if I'm going to fly that red eyee
and get there at six o'clock in the
morning,
when I get there, do I want to go to
sleep right away, or do I want to get up
and do my exercise, do all the other
stuff, and then go take a nap.
>> Yeah. But you're going to you're not
going to try to power through from 6:00
a.m. till till bedtime. You're going to
take a nap, it sounds like.
>> Absolutely. You have to. And and it
really just depends on what your
schedule is,
>> what you what you feel good about.
Well, let's talk about because exposing
yourself to light probably the easier
thing uh for for people to deal with.
There's usually a lot of light to be had
if you want it. What how how do you use
what are your tips and tricks besides
the clothes pins in the chair for for
keeping things dark?
>> I have a little red flashlight that I
keep with me. Um and that way when I
turn that on if I need to use the
restroom, I'm not, you know, giving
myself blue light. Mhm.
>> Um I have also seen people travel with a
little nightlight. Now a lot of hotels
have now have the the little sl you know
small glowing light but everybody has a
shaver outlet. So if you bring your
outlet you bring your flashlight you can
plug that into the outlet and now you
don't have to the whole bathroom lit up
and then you can go back to bed.
>> Yeah, that's great. Do you have a better
room location that you want to pick?
Does that play into it? Yeah, if I, you
know, I don't [clears throat] want the
morning or evening sun depending on when
I need to get up to go fly. So, if I'm
about to fly east in the evening, then I
would like a west room, you know, to
where it's facing to where I'm not
getting the sun, right? So, I want it to
be dark
before I need to go fly. So, if you're
in Australia, obviously the south side
of the building is is better because
you're in the southern hemisphere. Mhm.
>> If if you're in Japan, you're obviously
in the north northern hemisphere. So
figuring out a north room or a south
room, east room or west room, it's to me
it's when am I going to leave? When do I
need to take off? When do I need to get
ready? And I want it to be dark or light
depending on what I'm about to go do. So
yeah, that the room selection is is key.
And I've I've changed rooms quite a few
times. Yeah, I think that's something
people these days are a little more
reluctant to do. Uh they just kind of
take the the room they get. But uh I
remember when I was a kid, you know, my
parents always would ask to even see the
room before they accepted it sometimes.
So that's that's still a thing you can
do.
>> You say please a lot. And uh a lot a lot
of people will be more than happy to go,
well, I have this other, you know,
option A or option B. And you take the
one that's better
>> right now. And uh in some of the notes
you sent me beforehand, you mentioned
breathing tech. Uh what what are we
talking about there?
>> All right. So um let's just say you're
wide awake.
>> Uhhuh.
>> Well, yoga people know that if you
breathe correctly, you taking a taking a
long deep breath and exhale very slowly,
what happens is you start becoming more
calm. So if you show up someplace, you
go, I just can't sleep. And you go, but
I have to sleep for whatever your
whatever your reasons are. I start
breathing very slowly because you have a
voluntary system and an involuntary
system. When you stand up, you don't
tell your muscles to move to to stand
up. They just do what they're supposed
to do. Your heart beats because it has
to beat. Your lungs, you know, inhaling
and exhaling is both voluntary and
involuntary. So, there's a connection
between the two systems. So, if you slow
down your breathing, you slow everything
down.
And then you can also tighten muscles
and relax them.
>> Mhm. like your leg muscles or your
abdomen muscles. Yoga people know this
really really well. It's where I got it
from as yoga instructor. And uh you calm
yourself down very very quickly and then
at that point you're either tired enough
that you can go to sleep or if you can't
and you get up and go do something else
then come back later and try again.
>> Yeah, you mentioned that before. Um what
kind of things do you do when you're
like well I should be sleeping right
now. I'm trying to actually stay in the
dark because of that. Uh so so what what
can you do that that won't actually wake
you up more but kind of expend some of
that nervous energy?
>> I go for a walk.
>> Yeah.
>> I don't go work out. I just go for a
walk.
>> Mhm.
>> So you're not build you're not building
up too much. You're just
>> I just want to go burn off some of that
time, effort, and energy and uh come
back, give it a shot again.
>> Yeah. Um any of anything else or does a
walk usually do it for you?
>> Tried and true. Yeah. Nice.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh what other tips do you have for other
people who either travel professionals
like yourself who travel a lot uh and
and travel far or or just people who are
interested in like I you know what I
want to take a really ambitious trip one
of these days and I I I want some of the
best tips.
>> The couple the best things I can do is
stay hydrated. Mhm.
>> Know what you're going to do for your
activities. And sometimes going to the
museum at 7 o'clock or 8:00 in the
morning when it opens is better than
going at 2 or 3 in the afternoon.
>> Yeah.
>> So sometimes you're going to be against
the schedule of most people, but you
actually get a better experience.
>> Take advantage of that. Yeah.
>> Yeah. I've been to a couple museums
where you're there with three people.
It's quiet. It's calm. You can you can
look at the the artwork. can ask
questions of the the dosins that are
there. It's a wonderful experience and
other times you're in the middle of the
the thick of it with everybody else.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> Um and if you're going to do like my
brother-in-law just came back from a
trip where he went to several places um
stayed in Europe for a couple days and
he went to the Middle East for a day or
two. He's got several time zones he's
got to worry about. And so just like us
who you know fly around the world, you
kind of have to plan that middle ground
of where am I going to be most of the
time or when when do I want to spend
most of my time awake where I'm about to
go be.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> That's
that's an art. A lot of people can't do
it and a lot of people I flat with have
a hard time with it as well. Oh yeah.
>> So it's uh it's one of those things.
Sometimes caffeine is just that that
crutch you're going to land on or
>> that power nap.
>> But it's uh if you do just a little bit
of planning and think outside the box,
you probably have a much better
experience.
>> Is there anything you tried that didn't
work that you would say, you know, go
not where I went? Uh I tried this one
and it didn't help.
>> Wow. Um
>> cuz there's so many places out there
that are like, "We've got the thing that
will cure your jet lag." Or, you know,
you're on social media and somebody's
got three trips that will make you never
have jet lag. And and a lot of them I
know are not good good advice.
>> I have done this for decades and I will
tell you there are some people that are
miserable um their their entire career
because they just can't get to sleep
right. I can sleep pretty much anytime
or anywhere. So, I'm always [laughter]
>> I can stay ahead of of any of the the
fatigue issues most of the time.
>> Um the one thing I will say is um when
you get someplace, don't don't eat a big
meal.
>> Ah. Uhhuh.
>> Just just don't eat. I mean, just
something small.
>> And I always carry like protein bars or
um I have Nutter Butters with me because
I like those.
>> Those are great. Yeah.
>> Yeah. And I have a couple of the little,
you know, um granola bars and whatnot.
Eat a granola bar instead. Yeah. Yeah.
>> It's plenty of food. And then if you're
going to if you're going to rest
immediately, great. If you're going to
go work out or go do something, you got
enough there.
>> Yeah. The one thing we haven't mentioned
in this conversation yet is melatonin.
Uh is that something you even bother
with or or what do you think of that?
>> No. Um I understand what melatonin is.
Um pilots are not allowed to use
melatonin and then fly for a certain
amount of time. There's a restriction.
>> And so pilots will understand that. But
uh
I try not to do anything
medical like that at all because we're
also tested all the time. So
>> yeah. Yeah.
>> You've got to make darn sure that if
it's not approved by the FAA medical to
go do use it then don't.
>> Yeah. And if anybody is like wait what's
melatonin again? Uh it's a hormone and
in some countries it's controlled. In
the United States it's not. You can buy
it at the grocery store, but it will tr
it will mimic the body's natural release
of melatonin when you're getting sleepy.
And so the idea is you take it and it
makes you sleepy. So it makes perfect
sense to me that pilots would not be
allowed to take it when they need to be
awake and flying the plane. Right.
>> Right. That's true of a lot of a lot of
medications that are over the counter.
We have to know which ones we're not
allowed to take or we're not allowed to
fly until you get past a certain
half-life
>> requirement. Well, Brian, thank you so
much uh for helping us understand this
uh a little better. Really appreciate
it. Uh if folks want to follow the many
things that you do out there because
you've got a lot of talents and a and a
lot of activities. Is there a place you
direct people these days?
>> I don't necessarily. I will say if uh
you want to plug Allison Shordan's Pod
Feet stuff. I have done some
astrophotography work uh and I' I've
been on that a couple of times. That was
a lot of fun to do and I've got another
one that's that's in the can.
Yeah, go check those out. Look for
Brian's name at at podfeat.com. Uh
Allison is is off on a trip right now.
Uh but but you can dig back into the
archive. She's she's got pre-recorded
stuff. It's not like she's missing
episodes either. So uh that that is a uh
a great recommendation. Brian, thank you
again, man. I appreciate it.
>> Absolutely. Glad to help.
>> And thank you everybody for supporting
us at patreon.comdtns.
We will be back with [music] brand new
newsy episodes on Monday to have a great
weekend until
the DTNS [music] family of podcasts
helping each other understand. Diamond
Club hopes you have enjoyed this broer.
[laughter]