What works for me is to get as much sunshine upon arrival as possible. I try to be outside (even if it's cloudy). I then try to stay up as late as possible. Again, next morning, get outside. I've read that sunlight helps to reset your internal clock.

I sleep on the plane as much as possible. You might even want to try to skip dinner on the plane (but bring something to eat if you wake up in the middle of the night hungry). And speaking of hungry, I often wake up the first few days in the middle of the night, wide awake and starving. I try to have something healthy to eat when that happens. Taking alleve (a muscle relaxant) or benedryl might help you sleep on the plane without getting too groggy. I meditate and even if I don't sleep, I am relaxed enough to be rested.

Generally, for me, going west is easier because it is easier to stay up later than to get up earlier. That's why Europe from the US is harder for me than Japan from the US.

Yeah, that is the same thing that the Webmd and Mayo sites said.

I use that funny card wheel device (can't remember who it's by) that lets you reset your body clock by telling you which acupressure points to press for a couple of minutes two or three times during the flight. I never really believed in any of that stuff but this one seems to work...

More often than not, I have been allowed to check in upon arrival, even if it's only mid-morning. I assumed it was a difference between European and US hotels, but maybe prior arrangements were made by my clients.

I agree with much of the above. I think the whole jet lag thing is over-hyped and I never spend time worrying about the time at home.

Sadly, though, I've had to learn to pace myself as I age. I ssed to be able to function on 6 or so hours of sleep a week, when necessary. Nowadays, 6 hours a night isn't enough. No matter how much I can sleep on the plane, I'm tired when I arrive. It's not jet-lag, I'm just not as tough as I used to be. Staying up the entire first day leaves me too tired to recover with one night's sleep, so I nap a bit after I arrive and then I am good to go.

Fwiw the main reason I've heard that one should avoid napping is that napping prevents one from sleeping later that night. Since falling asleep later has never been a problem for me, I disregard that little bit of convnetional wisdom. :)

I fly YYZ-HKG-SIN/KUL often. What I do is to put myself on a "meal clock". Since i usually eat around 7pm at home (in YYZ) and i don't snack, I'll try to time my meals on the stop over and on the plane to match my destination. I find that my sleeping pattern coincides with how long after i finish eating (usually sleep around midnight).

So my flight into SIN usually arrives at about 1am, thus 6 hours before, i'll try to eat my "dinner". That usually means once i get into HKG. So i'll eat a big meal in HKG, then won't eat again (no snacks). When i get into SIN, time for bed!

You can take that a step further (behind) and clock back when you would have lunch (i.e. on the YYZ-HKG flight, 7 hours before landing, or 6 hours in, you eat your "lunch"). Or further back if necessary.

my 2 cents...