Hacks for Overcoming Jet Lag

Summary

The Nightly – "Hacks for Overcoming Jet Lag"

Podcast: The Nightly (by Hatch Podcasts)
Hosts: Krista, KP, Jack East
Date: January 10, 2026

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Episode Overview

This cozy episode of The Nightly digs into the universal struggle of jet lag, framing it as a challenge to be "hacked" together. Host Krista calls on her co-hosts KP and Jack East for practical advice to overcome relentless sleep disruptions after trips to New Zealand. Expect warm banter, playful digressions, and a toolkit of strategies for recovering faster from long-haul time zone shifts.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Concert Culture & Generational Shifts (00:30–07:00)

• Opening Banter: The hosts kick off with light pop culture chatter, reminiscing about concerts and the youthful energy (or surprising lack thereof) at recent shows, specifically a Lorde concert attended by Krista.
• Generational Divide: The hosts joke about feeling "boomerish" at events populated by teens glued to their phones.
  • KP: “Mitski… kind of got in trouble… when I look out and see a sea of phones the entire show, I can’t help but feel that you guys are, like, not actually connecting with my music.” (05:06)
  • The trio humorously debates concert etiquette and shifting norms.

Jet Lag Woes: Krista’s Dilemma (07:00–08:30)

• Krista's Struggle: Frequent visits to her in-laws in New Zealand (16–18 hours ahead of NY) wreak havoc on her sleep for weeks upon return.
  • Krista: “Every time we come back from New Zealand, it takes me weeks, literally weeks to be able to sleep like a normal person again.” (07:38)
• Symptoms: Early evening “crash,” waking up wide-eyed in the middle of the night, and restless mornings.

Jet Lag "Hacks" – Approaches & Debate (08:30–16:00)

• Melatonin and Humor:

  • KP: “What I might do is… swallow a bunch of melatonin gummies… Maybe run into a door frame, go to bed, you know? Tom & Jerry, go to bed, see little birds circling around your head.” (08:28–09:08)

• Flight Timing & Sleep Discipline:

  • Jack East: Suggests strategically timing flights and in-flight sleep:
    • Land in the afternoon/evening locally and do not sleep on the plane so you can crash at the right time.
    • If you must sleep, sleep early in the flight so you're awake for the latter part and can align with local time on arrival.
      • Jack East: “Not sleeping on the plane is a big part… If you do sleep, sleep early in the flight…” (10:56–11:17)
  • Krista: “Force myself to stay awake for the second half of the flight.” (12:04)

• Realities of Direct Flights:

  • Krista shares news of a now-available direct NYC–Auckland flight, increasing both the convenience and the challenge (11:17).

Scientific & Lifestyle Strategies (16:00–18:50)

• Light Therapy and Gradual Adjustment:

  • KP leans “encyclopedia” and reports on athlete strategies:
    • Gradually taper sleep schedules several days before returning, shifting bedtime earlier in increments.
    • Use light exposure to nudge the body toward local time, simulating daylight with lamps if necessary—even using their Hatch device.
      • KP: “You have to like, go stand in front of the lamp for a while to simulate that it's morning.” (15:28)
      • Krista: “Oh my god, I could use my Hatch in this way. It never occurred to me that my Hatch could get me back on…” (15:46)
  • Vitamin D and caffeine can help reset cues when your body expects sleep.

• Preparing Before the Flight:

  • Start syncing your sleep schedule with your destination’s time zone 1–2 days before travel.
    • Jack East: “Start trying to get on your home schedule…the one day…may be a weird schedule for where you're at, but that’ll set you up…” (16:08)

Recap of “The Prescription” (17:55–18:57)

• Krista summarizes the plan:
  • Pre-trip: Gradually shift sleep-wake times to home time zone.
  • On the plane: Limit sleep, try to land late afternoon/evening.
  • At home: Use simulated sunlight to stay awake until an appropriate bedtime.
  • Consider melatonin, B12, and light snacks, plus a familiar TV ritual (like watching Married at First Sight) to wind down.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• KP on concert etiquette:

  • “I think the younger—this is the oldest thing I’ve ever said—but I do think the younger generation just, like, is doing it a little different at concerts.” (05:06)

• Jack East on the ultimate hack:

  • “Move your mother-in-law to New York so that way, you don't have to travel to New Zealand once or twice a year…or y’all move to New Zealand and you never had to do this ever again. That’s the best hack I can give—move.” (14:11–15:06)

• Krista on generational self-kindness:

  • “I am in a human body and I’m not a spry 15-year-old at a Lord concert anymore. I’m way older than that.” (20:00)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:30–07:00: Opening banter & generational talk about concerts/Lorde’s fanbase
• 07:00–08:30: Krista’s sleep battle after New Zealand trips
• 08:30–16:00: Jet lag remedies: gummies, flight hacks, and the art of sleep timing
• 16:00–18:50: Research-based solutions: light therapy, vitamin D, caffeine, pre-trip scheduling
• 17:55–18:57: Krista recaps the master plan
• 19:04–20:00: Acceptance and kindness towards oneself about sleep challenges

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Final Thoughts & Takeaways

• Actionable advice: Start adjusting your schedule before traveling, smartly plan your flight and sleep, use light therapy, leverage technology (like a Hatch device), and show yourself patience as your body catches up.
• The underlying message: Besides the hacks, sometimes the wisest approach is allowing yourself grace. The trio’s empathy and humor set a cozy, supportive tone, making the episode as comforting as its advice is practical.

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Listeners interested in further details or immersive sleep tech can visit Hatch Co or follow @hatchpodcasts on social media.

Transcript

[A]

Hello. You're about to drift into an episode of the nightly, a podcast designed to help you unwind and relax. For the full phone free immersive light experience, visit Hatch Co. Enjoy.

[B]

Hey there, everyone. I'm Krista.

[C]

I'm kp.

[A]

And I'm Jack East. Welcome to the nightly from Hatch, a slumber party for the pop culture lovers. What's up, everybody?

[C]

What's up?

[B]

Hey, everyone.

[A]

Pillow Fort is full today.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

We have three of us here today. And before we dive into our topic, just on the topic of pop culture. And I was just last night at a concert, and I was so curious to see what the crowd was like, because it was not the crowd I thought would be there. The concert I saw was lore. Are you guys fans of Lorde?

[C]

I am a fan of Lorde. She was on my top this year.

[B]

Oh, yay.

[A]

She was on your.

[B]

Who?

[C]

She was on my top, like, Spotify list.

[A]

Oh, top. Oh, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. I was just like, you know, lord, she was on top of you this year. That's dope.

[C]

She was just like. We were hanging out all the time.

[B]

Getting under her favorite person to party with.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know more than like, two or three Lorde songs, but I do a show in Los Angeles called ASCAT at ucb. And right before she went on tour, Lord's opener was one of our guest monologists.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

For the tour she went on. Yeah. And I was like, oh, that's cool. So she was, like, telling me all about her, and she seems like a really dope person.

[C]

Seems like, what was the crowd like, though, Kristin?

[B]

Okay, so this is what I found. Really, really curious. It seemed that at least in the section I was sitting in, the average age of the concert attendees was probably around 15.

[A]

Oh, interesting.

[B]

And I was really surprised, I think, about her big hit song Royals, that came out like 12 or 13 years ago. And I'm like, some of these kids were still in diapers when that song came out. So I was just kind of surprised that there were so many fans who looked like they were freshman in high school still. And I was like, wow.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, she was so young when that came out, too. I think she was 16 or 18 when royals came out. So it is like she wrote that real young and then kind of went through so many eras. So I guess it makes sense to pop on in later.

[B]

Yeah, I guess.

[C]

So.

[A]

Is she making new music? I'm assuming? Yes. There's an awesome.

[C]

From this year. Ribs.

[B]

Yeah. And her music's great. She put on a great show. She was a lot of fun. But, yeah, I just. Like I said, I was just really surprised. I can't remember the last time I was at a concert, and I'm like, oh, I don't think anyone here is old enough to drive.

[C]

Concerts have kind of become a young man's game. I think I've gone to a few that I've been like. I don't know. I guess for me, I'm not always the biggest concert head. Just because concert etiquette's a little low these days. I'm sorry. I'm part of it too. Sometimes I'll talk by accident, but I just think I'm like, if I want to listen to the album and actually hear it, it's usually better to do at home.

[B]

Mm. Yeah, that makes sense.

[A]

The concerts that I go to are usually like. I go like, I've been to Kendrick. I've been to Beyonce, and those are usually concerts. I feel that skew older one.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And also, everybody is just kind of hype all the way through. So the etiquette doesn't feel as noticeable. Maybe noticeable, but I do remember this was a few years ago. This was like 2023 or something like that. I went to Rex Orange county at the Hollywood Bowl. And me and the girl I went with, we were both in our 30s. And everybody. It was kind of similar to what you're saying, Kristen, where everybody there was a teenager, but me and my friend, we were up, like, singing and dancing and all. The teenager were, like, sitting and kind of boring. And we're like, wow, what y' all here for? Like, y' all came and we felt very old because we were up in Adam. So it was very interesting.

[B]

Wow, that's so interesting. And the kids were just sitting there.

[A]

They were. Yeah, we, like. Yeah, we became self conscious. Like, are we the boomers at the.

[B]

Concert who are doing it wrong?

[A]

Like, singing?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. So, like, these people were probably like, KP to us were like, like, these old folks. Etiquette is so bad.

[C]

I mean, I'm happy with singing and dancing. I'm happy with that. I just know that I think the younger. This is the oldest thing I've ever said. But I do think the younger generation just, like, is doing it a little different at concerts. Cause even my favorite favorite artist, Mitski, had to tell. She kind of got in trouble two years ago or whatever. Cause she was just like. When I look out and see a sea of phones the entire show, I can't help but feel that you guys are, like, not actually connecting with my music. So if there's times I think it'd be nice for you guys to like, put your phones down and just be with me. And her fans were furious.

[A]

That's ridiculous.

[C]

They were furious. I mean, because they were all young, I understood the message. I was like, no worries. But her fans skew pretty young. And so they were all like, if I'm paying $200, you better believe that I'm allowed to do whatever I want. And I don't have a good memory. Some of them were like, my memory center is not that good. So I need these videos at the end of the day.

[B]

Yeah. Also the young kids, a lot of them have never not had a phone with them. Yeah.

[A]

But good old Mitski, though, tell these kids, Tony's kids, like, yo, there's other ways to live youngins.

[C]

Yes. Not every song, perhaps the entire time. Yeah.

[B]

We're now the Boomer show. Boomers from the nightly.

[C]

I truly, I'm like, this is really the oldest we've ever sounded, but that's fine. I'll take it.

[A]

Speaking of which, don't step on my grass when you leave out the concert.

[B]

Get off my lawn. Well, speaking of, Lord, she is from New Zealand. And it's important that I bring that up because tonight I'm gonna ask you two to hack me if you can. New Zealand edition.

[C]

I can do that.

[A]

Beautiful.

[B]

All right, so here's my problem. You two are so smart. I feel like you give such good advice. Both of you do. And I know that you're both very well traveled as well, so you probably know what to do in my situation. So as you both know, my husband is from New Zealand. At least once a year we go back to visit the in laws. New Zealand is 16 to 18 hours ahead of us here in New York, depending on the time of year, daylight savings time, and so on. And now with my mother in law getting older, we're debating should we go more than once a year to spend time with her. But here's my issue that I think I need some help with. Every time we come back from New Zealand, it takes me weeks, literally weeks to be able to sleep like a normal person again. Dang. And like, typically what'll happen is six o', clock, seven, maybe eight if I'm lucky, will come around. I'll fall asleep, dead to the world for about four hours and then I'll wake up and I'll be wide awake until almost sunrise time. And then I'll fall back to sleep. For about an hour before my alarm goes off again. And it's just maddening. And I'm hoping you two can help hack me.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

That's tough.

[C]

Yeah, that is really tough. My hacks that I think of seem quite aggressive. Cause to me, what I think I might do is I'm gonna go ahead and swallow a bunch of melatonin gummies when it's time for me to go to bed real style, get the eight hours, get the REM back. So my first thought is, like, just kind of get yourself conked out, maybe run into a door frame, go to bed. You know, those are. Well, that's my immediate thought. Yeah, exactly. Tom and Jerry, go to bed, See little birds circling around your head.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

But Jackie's. What are you thinking off the bat? And let me see.

[A]

Yeah, concussion. Sounds great. Sounds great. I have been to. I've not been to New Zealand, but I've been to Japan, which is similar, where it's like 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles, at least. Coming back is usually easier for jet lag, but I live on the west coast, so we're three hours ahead of you, so that makes it a little easier. But one hack that I always try to follow if I can. If it works out, going or coming is picking a flight that makes me get to my destination, like somewhere in like the afternoon, like to evening time. And don't sleep on the plane.

[B]

So like, don't sleep on the plane.

[A]

Don'T sleep on the plane. So when you get home, if it's like 8 o', clock, you'll be exhausted and you'll just go to sleep and sleep all night. And like, that'll kind of kick start you getting back to. Or get into that time zone. You know, sleep schedule, life schedule, everything like that. Or if you are going to sleep on a plane, then make sure your flight lands in the morning, you know, 10, 11, because you slept on a plane. So you have the whole day and do not under any circumstances go to sleep during the day, go to sleep at night like you're supposed to. And that's the tougher part because traveling especially that long, you get tired. Even if you slept on a plane, your body is like, what did you just do to me?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So the easier one is like trying to land late afternoon, early evening, and then like naturally go to sleep. But not sleeping on the plane is a big part. And if you do sleep on a plane, sleep early in the flight for a flight this long. Cause to New Zealand, for. To New York. I mean, I'm sure you had a layover. There's no straight flight.

[B]

There is now. So there is our most recent trip we took. It went straight from New York to Auckland and then my mother in law lives on the south island near Christchurch so it's like a little short puddle jumper. So the New York City to Auckland flight is between 16 and 18 hours depending on jet stream and other things. And then the flight from Auckland to Christchurch is only about an hour.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, that's tough. I mean you gotta try to pick a flight that those last 12 hours or so you are not sleeping like you're up. Oh my gosh, you're up. That's the easiest way.

[C]

Next to the baby.

[A]

Something. That's the best hack I get.

[B]

Okay, so force myself to stay awake for the second half of the flight.

[A]

Force myself to for most of the flight. Not even the second half for most of the flight. Oh, because that's the thing. It's like you're falling asleep and you don't know what time it is, everything like that.

[B]

But yeah, it's so confusing when you're in the sky you could be any day of the week, it could be any time of the day. Yeah.

[C]

I've also seen that there is like a tapering schedule that you can do. So it's like, you know, I think I'm tempted to just be like get to sleep the right the first night and then it all gets better. Which I think is true. But there is like a tapering schedule that I've looked at recently where it is like on day one back you're going to be trying to go to bed at like 4pm and go ahead and try and stay like you're just going to have to rearrange five days of your schedule a little bit to include some naps and some different things. But then if you taper into the right it's like day one you're going to bed at three, day two at five, day three at seven and then finally you're back at like nine.

[B]

I have to say five days would be phenomenal compared to what it is now, which is always two weeks. It's always for me.

[A]

What does jet lag look like for you that's lasting for weeks?

[B]

My body's like, all right, you took an afternoon nap or whatever. Now you have to be awake for the rest of the afternoon and evening and then watch Married at First Sight with your mother in law while you have a gin and tonic and then you know, do all the things I do when I see My mother in law. And so my body's waking up for that. My body's waking up for married at first sight or whatnot. And I shouldn't be up at 4 in the morning, but I am. And then by the time I fall back to sleep, like I said, I sleep for an hour, maybe two, and then my alarm goes off again.

[A]

Right. How long are you usually in New Zealand at least?

[B]

Usually two to three weeks. So my body gets used to it. I mean, if I were there for just four days, my body probably wouldn't be used to it. But over the course of two to three weeks, my body gets used to it.

[A]

Here is another hack. Okay, Move your mother in law to New York so that way, you know, you don't have to travel to New Zealand once or twice a year. I know that's not practical, but like, you know, I'd be thinking about that with people that. I mean, nobody lives that far from me, but the people that do live far enough where it's like, you know, you have to travel, you have to get on a plane to get to them. I'm like, just all come to California. Like we had beautiful first parts of our lives together. We split apart. Let's come back together and come back. Although New Zealand is probably looking a lot better than New York right now.

[B]

It was summer when we were there and when we came back to New York, it was 20 degrees.

[A]

Yeah. So maybe y' all go, maybe y' all moved to New Zealand.

[B]

I went from 87 and sunny to 20 degrees.

[A]

Y' all moved to New Zealand and you never had to do this ever again. That's. That's the best hack I can give. Move. Move to the place.

[C]

I went in the encyclopedia a little bit here because I was like, obviously this is an issue that affects so many people. And they were specifically saying athletes.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Like that makes sense.

[C]

Athletes really can't afford to have jet lag. So it does look like kind of what I was saying where it is. Like you can get on a schedule where it is. Like now you need to go get light. And so you have to like go stand in front of the lamp for a while to simulate that it's morning.

[B]

Oh my God, I could use my hatch in this way. It never occurred to me that my hatch could get me back on. Oh my.

[C]

That's what I'm thinking. You get a little light in you and then I think there's times when it's like, go get caffeine right now, even though it feels wrong and so you have to like do these things. Shift your internal clock before you even leave. This is what athletes do.

[A]

Yeah, that's a great hack. Actually like a day or two before you leave, start trying to get on your home schedule, back to New York schedule. So it may be a weird schedule for where you're at, but that one day where your mom in law is like, why are you going to sleep at 2 o' clock in the afternoon?

[C]

Gotta try.

[A]

We'll set you up for the subsequent weeks ahead. Probably a little bit better.

[B]

Oh, that's a great idea.

[C]

But it does sort of seem, from what I'm seeing in the encyclopedia, light is actually a really interesting and useful thing to get going. So you could just have some times where you're like, it is time for me to get light because it's supposed to be morning.

[B]

That's such a great idea. Especially, you know, certain times of year. Right now it's winter in New York. The sun goes down so early. Maybe the thing is I turn on that hatch light for four more hours just so that I have that light. So it feels like the sun is on me. So I don't feel like, oh, it's dark enough to go to bed. It's not dark enough to go to bed, it's 4:00pm Yeah, I do hear.

[C]

That we're all low in vitamin D in the winter too because there's not enough sun. So that could probably help us all.

[A]

Especially if you have melanin in your skin, you are usually much lower.

[B]

Yep. My doctor always tells me, take more D Kristen, with your brown skin, you're not absorbing anything D from the sun right now. Yeah.

[C]

Also maybe you could remind yourself of New Zealand sometimes by watching Married at First Sight over here. Is that what it is?

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Okay. I think you could watch some of that over here and start to get in the New Zealand mindset again, which might put you to sleep when it's sleep time.

[B]

Oh, that's a great idea too. Okay. All these tips are so good, so I'm just going to recap them to make sure I'm not missing anything. So two days before, maybe the one day before I leave New Zealand and come back to New York, I should try to get back on my New York sleep schedule. Even if it's wacky and it means I'm going to bed very, very early in New Zealand. Once I'm on the plane, don't sleep for at least half the flight. Try to be awake on the way back. Try to land in the late afternoon or Evening in New York. Once I get here, turn on my hatch light so the sunshine setting is on for a few more hours so I can have sun for longer to make me think it's still daytime. And then when it's time to go to bed, then maybe turn on some married at first sight time to go to sleep. And then hopefully over the course of a few days that will get me back on my regular schedule and possibly, possibly take melatonin, B12 and other vitamins as needed.

[C]

I think that's it.

[B]

You two are such professionals. I feel like that was like a full on prescription to change my life.

[C]

I don't know much, but that seems like what everyone's, that's the best we can do in such a hard problem because it is like the end of the day. I mean it's fully wild. You go halfway around the planet at all. So it is going to require some ingenuity what we've designed for ourselves.

[A]

I'll also say one, one last thing. This is quick as we get older too. Sometimes we just got to give ourselves grace and be like, you know what.

[C]

Keep the two weeks.

[A]

This is what's going to happen. And everybody around me, you just gonna have to. And it sucks for me but I'm gonna, if I need to go back to sleep and I'm gonna sleep longer than an hour because that's the thing too because I'm, I'm very much like a routine person and so getting up and if I get up at nine, like you know, then I want to get up at nine, but for two weeks if I'm like, you know what, I'm getting up at 11:30am yeah, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna do that.

[B]

So I do love the kindness of that chiquis. I do love the idea of like I deserve a little bit of grace here. I deserve a little bit of compassion. I am in a human body and I'm not a spry 15 year old at a Lord concert anymore. I'm way older than that. Oh well, thank you so much you guys. I really, really appreciate it. Kpjacchis. You guys are the best. And after all of that advice, I'm feeling positive about sleeping better tonight. So I'm gonna call it a night now. Good night you two.

[C]

Good night Jackie's. Good night Kristen.

[A]

Good night Kristen. Good night KP.

[C]

Sam.

[A]

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