Repeated sleepless nights, copious meals, constant interactions with others. You feel exhausted, out of sync, as if the end-of-year festivities have thrown your internal clock out of whack. You are approaching 2025 with only one desire: to hibernate the first months of the new year and catch up on your sleep. This phenomenon has a name: social jet lag. A form of lag that has the same effect on you as a long-haul flight, only worse.
You have difficulty getting back into your rhythm and recovering from this overflow of social exchanges. In a few days, you have gone from collective euphoria to dead calm and you can no longer set your record straight. Here’s how to mitigate the effects of social jet lag and start 2025 with full force!
What is social jet lag?
In general, we talk about jet lag after a Paris-New York plane ride. We have to sleep twice as long to readjust to the new time. Well, social jet lag is what offset between internal clock of our body (regulated by our daily habits) and the hours that society imposes on us. During the holidays, we often indulge in late nights, well-deserved lie-ins, and meals at improbable times. We don’t even pay attention to the time on the phone anymore.
We go to bed at one in the morning, we eat our bowl of cereal after noon and we eat aperitif cakes at snack time. Once the holidays are over, it’s time to get back into rhythm of the week, aka “the daily routine”… And that’s where we find ourselves completely out of phase.
Getting back to normal is difficult. The eyelids don’t flinch before midnight and in the morning, we struggle not to send the alarm clock straight into the wall. Result: fatigue, irritability, loss of concentration, even sleep problems. This discrepancy can even have impact on our mental and physical well-being if we don’t pay attention to it. Social jet lag is even more acute after the holidays, a period when we suddenly go from everything to nothing.
Why is the start of the year so difficult?
The end-of-year holidays completely shake up our bearings. Between the endless meals, the celebrations that extend late into the night, and the cocooning days to recover, our biological clock is totally unregulated.
In addition, the holiday season is often full of emotions. We go from one excitation constante to a kind of dizzying void. Until the end of December, we immerse ourselves in the world and from January 1st, the magic suddenly stops. The day before, we clink the glasses of champagne and sing at the top of our lungs to Céline and the next day, we have to go back to work. Which amplifies the effects of social jet lag.
-Signs You’re Suffering from Social Jet Lag
Social jet lag is often confused with extreme fatigue. We then say to ourselves “It will be better when I have slept 9 hours straight” or “I just need a little vitamins and a good energizing juice in the morning”. It is therefore not always easy to self-diagnose social jet lag. Here is symptoms in which you might recognize yourself:
- Difficulty getting up at the usual time.
- Feeling of permanent fatigue despite a good night’s sleep.
- Change in appetite or disturbed digestion.
- Irritability or feeling of being “out of your depth”.
Social jet lag feels like you haven’t slept for two weeks. We feel exhausted at the slightest effort and we no longer have a taste for anything. You have to experience it to understand it. The good news is that it is entirely possible to recover from this lag. Here are some tips for regain control.
Recalibrate your internal clock
Try to go to bed and get up at fixed hourseven on weekends. Your body loves regularity, and it will help your internal clock align with your schedule. Don’t neglect the signals your body sends you either. If you feel tired, don’t try to fight it and take a nap.
Expose yourself to natural light
Light plays a key role in regulating your circadian rhythm. Spend time outdoors, especially in the morning, to help your body regain consistent day/night cycle. Finish your journey on foot to get your quota of light or go for a walk outside during your lunch break.
Eat a light, regular diet
After the holidays, bet on simple and balanced meals to ease your digestion. Favor foods rich in tryptophans (such as eggs, nuts and bananas) to promote production of serotonin and melatoninhormones that regulate mood and sleep.
Move!
Physical activity, even gentle ones like marchecan help eliminate fatigue and boost your energy. Prefer sessions in the morning or afternoon, to avoid disturbing your sleep.
Social jet lag puts you in a bit of a “parallel” state. You feel like you’re part of another dimension and you’re losing your grip. So in 2025, make a promise to yourself to listen to yourself better and take care of yourself!
