Jet Lag Sleep Planner with Step-by-Step Daily Adjustments

Jet Lag Sleep Planner with Step-by-Step Daily Adjustments is built to give you one clear plan you can actually follow. You tell it how many hours separate home and destination, whether you are heading east or west, and whether you want a gradual shift (about one hour per day) or a fast shift (about two hours per day). In return, the planner produces a day-by-day schedule with a target sleep window, a bright-light window that nudges your body clock, and a caffeine cutoff so stimulants don’t push your bedtime later.

What to enter. Give the time difference in hours and choose the direction: east means you need to advance (earlier bed and wake), west means you delay (later bed and wake). Pick a speed—gradual for a softer ramp, fast when you want to align sooner. Add your usual bedtime and wake at home, the number of nights you want planned, and optional flight departure/arrival times. Set a caffeine cutoff (for example, eight hours before bed). Finally, toggle pre-adjust to begin the shift at home and include melatonin timing if you use it.

How your plan is generated. The planner converts your home sleep window to the destination clock, then applies the daily step you chose—about one hour per day on gradual or two hours per day on fast—advancing for eastbound or delaying for westbound. The bright-light window is placed where light helps most (morning light for advances, evening light for delays). The caffeine cutoff is positioned a set number of hours before the target bedtime so you can wind down reliably.

How to read the result. The headline tells you how many nights the plan spans and whether you are advancing or delaying. A short summary shows total hours to shift, the daily step, and badges for pre-adjust and any travel markers you entered. The table lists each day with four essentials: target sleep, bright light, caffeine cutoff, and notes. Keep the wake time consistent and the rest follows within a night or two.

Light, caffeine, melatonin. Light is your strongest everyday signal. To shift earlier, seek bright outdoor light soon after the new wake time and keep evenings dim. To shift later, get bright light in the evening and soften mornings for a few days. Caffeine helps alertness but can delay sleep; the cutoff guards your bedtime. If you enable melatonin, the planner shows a small-dose timing window tied to the new bedtime—use only if appropriate for you, and treat it as optional.

• Eastbound: morning light, earlier meals, earlier screens-off.
• Westbound: evening light, later meals, slow mornings.
• Pre-adjust: even one hour the night before pays off on day one.

Example (eastbound, 8 hours, fast mode). If home sleep is 23:00–07:00, the planner converts that to destination time, then advances about two hours per night. Your bright-light block sits shortly after the new wake time; caffeine cuts off eight hours before the new bedtime; and the optional melatonin window appears a few hours before bed. After four to five nights you are within a couple of hours of local time and the rest finishes naturally.

Example (westbound, 6 hours, gradual). Bedtime and wake move roughly one hour later each night. Bright light is concentrated in the evening while mornings stay dim. If you must be sharp early, shorten the evening light window and keep the caffeine cutoff strict to prevent drifting too far.

Short trips and edge cases. For trips under three days, consider staying mostly on home time and simply scheduling light in your most alert hours. For long eastbound moves, blackout shades and morning outdoor light help more than any app. For long westbound shifts, keep the bedroom dim at dawn and aim for a bright walk after sunset. Traveling with kids or a chaotic schedule? Plan fewer nights and protect two rules only: time your light and anchor your wake. This is general information, not medical advice—adapt to your context.