No More Counting Sheep
Sleeping on flights
Travelling can be tiring and it’s important to prepare yourself so you can acclimatise into new time zones as quickly as possible when you land. You don’t want to miss a minute in your chosen destination. For daytime flights, the best thing you can do is keep yourself awake. However, if you are flying overnight or very early in the morning, there are a few things you can do in preparation to hit the beach as soon as you touchdown:
Fight over the window seat
The window seat is the perfect spot to grab a few zzz’s whilst mid-flight, avoiding all chances of dozing off on a stranger’s shoulder.
Bring comfort with you
Not all of us are able to fly in the luxury of first class but it’s still possible to create your own comfort in economy. Bring your favourite comfy clothes, a neck pillow and an eye mask and you’ll improve your chance of snuggling down to sleep.
Uncross your legs and lean back
Although you may be tempted to curl up due to space restrictions, it’s far better to lean back and straighten your legs. This will avoid ‘pins and needles’ and cramp and improve your chance to sleep well.
Stay away from the light
Avoid mobile devices, screens and TVs half an hour before you want to sleep. The blue light from screens suppresses melatonin and it’s melatonin that sends a signal to your brain that it’s time to sleep.
Allow enough time to wake up
To complete the perfect inflight sleep, make sure you leave yourself enough time to wake up before landing. Set an alarm 45 minutes before touch down so you have enough time to come around and freshen up before arrival. Programming your body clock to wake up will help you acclimatise to the local timezone.