Jetlag is a familiar problem for me. As a flight attendant for one of the nation's largest airlines, it's something I've had to get used to. I've crisscrossed the globe, jet-setting from one side of the world to the opposite side in a matter of days. Sometimes I feel like a time traveler. Especially when a flight from Tokyo to New York that departs at noon arrives twelve hours later at eleven in the morning the same day. Such equations are why jetlag puts us in a fog. But there are simple steps you can take to mitigate and alleviate the symptoms of jetlag.

First, it's important to understand what jetlag is, and what its causes are.

Your body relies on cycles of darkness and light to know when you should sleep and when you should eat. This cycle becomes disrupted when you suddenly become displaced in a different time zone with light and dark cycles to which your body is not accustomed. Suddenly, you'll find yourself craving dinner at breakfast time, and wide-awake when you normally would be fast asleep. This is jetlag.