Saturday, September 08, 2012

Sleep. Work. Rinse. Repeat.

The thing about working with so many Australians is that everyone at the office seems to have a theory about the best way to tackle jetlag.  Some say you should go to bed early to let your body sleep for as long as it needs to.  Others suggest you should stay up as late as you can, so that when you finally fall into bed you're so bone tired your body falls into a deep, satisfying sleep straight away.  Others like warm milk, or wine, or any number of herbal and medical remedies.

But when it comes to getting over the side-effects of the long Australia to US flight, the popular view that prevails is simply not to fight it at all; rather, you just ride it out and let your body re-adjust slowly.  Oh, and you pray that your colleagues will give you a free pass for any nodding off you might do in meetings, or any grouchier-than-normal behaviour you might exhibit.

It's Saturday morning here now and my body finally let me sleep through to 7am.  For the rest of the week it's been 5.15am; 5.30am, 6.15am and times of that order.  That hasn't been so bad, because I've had to get up anyway for work, but it still makes for a really long day overall.

At around 3pm yesterday I asked the new girl at my office what plans she had for Friday night.  Her boyfriend is sick, so she was going home to have a quiet night looking after him.  I liked the idea of a quiet night too (though obviously without any responsibility for another human being).  At about 8.15pm, I texted the New Girl to thank her for her good work this week and to see how her quiet night plans were tracking.  I told her I was already in tracksuit pants and slippers.  She trumped me, responding that she was already in bed, eating chocolate cake, and watching movies on her laptop.  And she's not even jetlagged, though clearly she is a kindred spirit.

Today I will make the most of a non-work day, and hang out with my cousin who flew over from Dubai last night.  I don't know what our plans are yet, but she has to be back at her hotel by 5pm because she flies out again tonight.  Ahh the busy life of the flight attendant!  Given that pit-stop schedule though, perhaps SHE has some sage advice for how one ought to battle jetlag.  Hmm, I believe an interrogation is in order.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If you're up and around when the tornado strikes you could find the rest of your day spent in Chicago ...... or other points west.