Health & fitness: Light Sleepers

By Helen Bond

The A-B-Zzzz’s for getting restful sleep on the road..

The only time Tom LeClair gets a good night’s sleep while on a business trip is when he is thoroughly exhausted. LeClair, a member of the Boston College Club in Massachusetts, is not alone. A survey commissioned by the National Sleep Foundation and a major hotel chain found nearly half of all business travelers experience trouble sleeping on the road.

But while most of us chalk up travel-related insomnia to the cost of doing business, the symptoms associated with such journeys — including sleeplessness, headache, constipation, forgetfulness, lack of concentration, and anxiety — are too troublesome to ignore for people whose careers depend on regular travel. Feeling drowsy, lightheaded, and irritable are not the best of traits when you are trying to close a big business deal.

Sleep, or lack of it, is a subject dear to the heart of Mara Brazer, managing partner of the San Francisco Partnership, which works to lure new companies to relocate to or do business with the city. Her job takes her to cities throughout the United States and on trade missions to foreign countries as far away as China, where she often battles the nighttime blues.

 “It’s tough. You have to be on top of things to be effective in business,” says Brazer, a member of the City Club of San Francisco. While insomnia and related ailments can be tough to tackle when you travel, specific changes made before, during, and after you arrive at your destination can help you manage sleep on the road.

LET THERE BE LIGHT
Jet lag, an unfortunate repercussion of traveling from one time zone to another, is the worst travel offender. The phenomena of feeling disoriented, lethargic, and generally out of sorts, follows an abrupt change in the body’s 24-hour internal clock — its circadian rhythms — that affect body temperature, heartbeat, blood pressure, and other physiological patterns. This clock determines when we sleep and wake, and is largely set by sunlight exposure.

If the sun sets earlier or later at your destination, it could throw the body off balance. Heading west is easier than traveling eastward, which shortens the day. But both carry their own set of sleep problems. “If you travel west on a flight, your bedtime is delayed and the result is disturbed sleep in the last half of your sleep period when you normally would be rising,” says Dr. Richard E. Waldhorn, medical director of Georgetown University Medical Center’s Sleep Disorders Center. “On an eastward flight, your bedtime is moved up, and you have difficulty falling asleep and waking on time.”

The best way to jettison jet leg is to shift the time you sleep to coincide with your destination. If you expect a big shift, Dr. Waldhorn says, adjust your bedtime gradually before the trip. If your stay is short and the time change just an hour or so, it’s best to maintain your same sleep-wake cycle to make it easier to return to your routine when you return home.         

Most travelers fare best by eating lightly, drinking lots of water, and staying awake as long as they can. When you arrive at your destination, adjust your watch and your mind-set to the new city. Select a flight that allows for early evening arrival and stay up until local bedtime. If you arrive in the morning, you may crave a few hours of shut-eye before your first business meeting, but fight that temptation, says Dr. Tom Roth, director of the sleep disorder center at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Instead, he says, you should head outdoors for a walk in the sunlight, the quickest way to adjust your body’s clock.

Seasoned traveler Bob Watt, who plays the French horn for audiences worldwide with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, knows the drill. If his head says midnight but the clock says morning, he will immerse himself into his new time zone, take a shower, eat breakfast, and stay up until he feels like “collapsing.”  Watt, a member of Los Angeles’ City Club on Bunker Hill, can’t afford to hit a wrong note when it comes to business travel. “It is very important,” Watt says. “You are sitting on stage and your body says, ‘What are you doing, it’s 4 a.m.?’ when it is actually 8 p.m. It affects your concentration.”

EATING RIGHT
While what you eat won’t solve your sleep problems, mealtimes are an important cue for your body’s internal clock. Rich and spicy foods, often the signature of late-night dinners with clients, cause the body’s digestive system to work overtime, just when it should be slowing down for the night. Instead, avoid heavy meals and opt for a light combination of carbohydrates and vegetables. If the goal is to stay alert, stick with high-protein foods and keep up your intake of B vitamins (found in most vegetables and grains), potassium (cantaloupe, bananas, and potatoes), and magnesium (leafy green veggies) to help convert food to energy. Eliminate or cutback on caffeine, and pass on that late-night cocktail.

While sleeping pills don’t work for those with chronic insomnia, sleep specialists say they may help the weary traveler. If you anticipate a big change in your sleep schedule, a sleeping pill might be the best solution, says Dr. Waldhorn. “Sometimes a short-acting sleeping pill can restore sleep and daytime alertness, and if you know you are only going to need it for a short time, it is likely to be quite effective if used judiciously.”

Even with short-term use, however, possible side effects from sleeping pills include hangover-like symptoms, such as daytime drowsiness or dizziness. Mixing alcohol with any sleeping aid is dangerous. For your own safety, consult your doctor before taking sleeping pills.

And although melatonin has been hyped as a jet lag treatment, Dr. Roth says no studies yet prove its effectiveness. Until more research confirms the safety, side effects, and interactions with other drugs, he says, it has no place as a sleep remedy.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Worrying about sleep or being away from home in an unfamiliar environment are enough to cause anyone travel insomnia. “The biggest problem is the change of scenery every single night in a different hotel,” says LeClair, who, as owner and president of Integrated Vacuum Solutions, has been known to travel up to 30 weeks a year. “It’s really tough to settle down and unwind when you get in a hotel room? You can sit at the little lousy table or you can get into bed.”

To help alleviate some of this travel anxiety, the National Sleep Foundation recommends that you take a little bit of home with you on the road, such as a family picture, a favorite pillow, or a coffee mug. Request a room in the quietest section of the property — away from the atrium or elevator. A fan or other “white noise” can cut down sounds of hotel neighbors or street traffic. Also, check your room’s thermostat. Although a room’s climate affects each person differently, if a room is warmer than 75 degrees or colder than 54 degrees most people’s slumber will be disrupted.

No matter how busy you are taking care of business, make sure you schedule time to take care of you — to unwind and exercise. If you can, avoid late-night hours and early meetings. “I’m not afraid to set boundaries with the people I do business with,” Brazer says.

And, in all honesty, come morning your client will probably thank you. After all, following a long day of doing business, we can all use a good night’s sleep.

Helen Bond is a health and fitness writer. Before she had kids, her favorite pastime was sleeping.

TRAVEL TIPS
With more than one million frequent flyer miles to his credit, Joe O’Leary, a member of the Boston College Club, is a travel warrior. His job as a labor lawyer takes him to cities largely on the East Coast and in the Midwest seven or eight times a month. Still, for O’Leary, slumber on the road comes easy. His secret to good sleep is found in his routine. Since he travels often to the same cities, he opts for familiarity and stays in the same hotels each time.

“You don’t have that ‘I’m awake, where am I?’ type of routine,” O’Leary says. He sticks to his low-fat eating regimen, avoids late-night meals, and squeezes in at least 30 minutes of daily exercise. He also sets a regular sleeping schedule, turning in and waking up at the same time each day.

The experts we spoke with say strong habits such as regular exercise and smart sleep-wake routines make O’Leary a sleeping pro. They offer these additional tips to business travelers looking for a good night’s sleep:

• Despite the temptation, limit alcohol and caffeine intake. A nightcap might make you drop off more quickly, but it interferes with REM sleep, the most restorative sleeping phase, and you will probably feel tired the next day. Caffeine and cigarettes during the day also can keep you up at night.

• Reduce environmental factors, such as noise or light. Close the hotel room drapes and use a sleeping mask to block out light. Try earplugs to reduce city sounds.

• Take advantage of hotel voice mail to escape the shrill of the ringing phone, and post the “Do not disturb” sign on the hotel door to avert an early wake-up by the hotel cleaning service.

• Try a warm bath, a warm glass of milk, a cup of decaffeinated tea, or 10 minutes of reading to relax you before bedtime.

• Use your bed just for sleep. It’s tough when space is limited, but avoid working in bed. Instead, use your room desk or table for business.

• Stress is the biggest sleep stealer. Write down your concerns or make notes for that morning business meeting before you hit the sack. Doing this will help you stop ruminating about your problems at night.