Calculate your jet lag recovery time
A jet lag calculator tells you exactly how long does jet lag last for your specific flight — and more importantly, what to do each night after you land. Instead of guessing when to sleep, you get a structured day-by-day plan that gradually shifts your body clock toward local time.
Our tool accounts for timezone difference, flight duration, and direction of travel. Eastward flights (advancing your clock) are roughly 33% harder than westward flights, so we extend the recovery estimate accordingly. The maximum realistic adjustment window is capped at 9 days.
How the recovery schedule works
On arrival day (Day 0), your body still runs on home time. We show what your internal clock thinks it is and suggest an adjusted bedtime that starts the shift. Day 1 moves your bedtime 25% toward local optimal. Day 2 reaches 60%. By Day 3, you should be sleeping at your local 5-cycle bedtime aligned with a 7 AM wake.
Each bedtime uses the same 90-minute cycle math as our sleep cycle calculator: 5 cycles plus 14 minutes sleep latency. Combine this tool with our weekly sleep scheduler once you're home to maintain consistency.
Tips for faster jet lag recovery
Morning sunlight at your destination is the single most powerful jet lag reset. Avoid long naps on arrival day — if you must nap, keep it under 20 minutes using our nap calculator. Stay hydrated, limit alcohol on the flight, and start shifting your bedtime 2–3 days before departure if the time change exceeds 6 hours.
When jet lag becomes chronic
Frequent flyers and shift workers can develop chronic circadian disruption similar to permanent jet lag. If you travel across timezones monthly, consider taking our chronotype quiz to understand your natural rhythm and plan recovery windows around your biology.
