Owls Versus Fowls: How Your Body Clock Type Shapes Your Jet Lag

Are you someone who bounces out of bed at 5 AM for a jog? You’re a fowl. Do you prefer to wake at the crack of noon? You’re an owl.

Scientists call this your chronotype: whether you’re a morning lark, a night owl, or somewhere in between. It’s your body’s built-in schedule for sleep, alertness and physiology, shaped by genetics and light exposure. It also influences how easily your internal clock can shift when you travel.

East Is a Beast, West Is Best: Why Flight Direction Matters

Ask frequent flyers which way hurts more, and most will say east. They’re right, and the reason says a lot about how jet lag actually works.

Nothing north or south

Jet lag comes from crossing time zones, not from distance. Fly from Sydney to Singapore, or from London to Johannesburg, and you’ll arrive tired but your body clock will be roughly where it should be. That’s travel fatigue, not jet lag. What matters is how far east or west you go.

Let the Sun Reset Your Body Clock

One of the keys to managing jet lag is sunlight, specifically getting outdoors at the right time.

Your body runs on its own clock

Every one of us has an internal circadian rhythm, a roughly 24-hour cycle that tells us when to sleep, wake, eat and think clearly. It isn’t a metaphor. It’s a biological timing system, and it’s ancient. Even single-celled algae keep a light-responsive clock.

The Hidden Health Risks of Jet Lag

Most of us think of jet lag as a few bad nights and a foggy head. For an occasional holiday, that’s about right. For frequent flyers, the picture is different.

It’s not just tiredness

Jet lag is circadian misalignment: your internal body clock is out of step with the world around you. Your clock doesn’t only govern sleep. It coordinates hormones, metabolism, blood pressure and even how your brain handles reward and stress. When it is repeatedly thrown off, the effects spread well beyond sleepiness.

Alcohol

There’s a real culture around alcohol use and business travel. The airport lounges serve alcohol – and top-end alcohol, none of this cheap stuff, and a sense that as a frequent flyer with a LOT of air miles, you’ve earned that free single-malt scotch in the airport lounge with your platinum frequent flyer card.

But hold that drink.

Jet lag has an effect on cognitive function that is similar to that of alcohol¹.

Why I dress like Dolly Parton

The world has been shattered by the passing of Dolly Parton at the age of 80, after not only an extraordinary musical career, but also was known for her philanthropy and generosity.

At first glance you wouldn’t pick me as dressing like her. But stay with me, beneath the rhinestones there are some common themes.

When Dolly was growing up in rural Tennessee, there was a set path for her: marry young, have a dozen kids, and live in a shack in abject poverty for the rest of her days.