24 Oct 2022
What is the one thing you conveniently overlook when travelling to another country, whether as an expatriate or a regular international traveller? It is the difference between time zones. You would hardly work the difference between time zones out when you tend to travel to another country to earn a better livelihood. Mostly people from developing countries like Pakistan go to developed countries worldwide seeking promising employment opportunities. Like many other low-to-middle-income countries, several Pakistani households depend on foreign remittances. $31 billion in remittances to the country in FY22 is evident that countless Pakistani overseas workers regularly send money to Pakistan from foreign countries.
Your understanding of the difference between the time zones is mainly limited to the difference between your country of origin and the other country. Your only concern is knowing how many hours ahead or behind the destination country’s time is from yours.
But you conveniently forget that the impact of the difference between the time zones is far beyond jetlag. It exacts a heavy toll on your physical as well as psychological health.
Its impact aggravates when left untreated, and you confine it to completing your sleep only on your arrival after being jetlagged.
Here is how you can cope with the difference between the time zones. You will have a better understanding of it after knowing the background and also the time zone itself.
The scarcity of resources in developing countries like Pakistan drives most of the population into deep poverty. The shrinking investment, both domestic and international, lack of opportunities, and burgeoning population straining the limited resources of these countries make it difficult for the people to make ends meet.
Despite having limited resources, many people put in extra effort and somehow manage to travel to developed countries like the UK, European countries, Australia, Switzerland, etc. Their core objective is to find reasonable employment opportunities with better earnings.
These expatriates send money to Pakistan from overseas to financially support their families. Their success margin is always high as the 5th largest economy of the UK with a $3.376 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is always welcoming to job-seeking expatriates and easily accommodates them into its folds.
Some Pakistani expatriates worry about the time zone differences as they know that not correctly understanding and preparing for it could land them in trouble leading to decreased energy.
This could further erode their abilities and creativity to earn and send money to Pakistan online for financial support.
Let’s now try and understand what a time zone is.
A time zone is an area that follows a uniform standard of time for regulating life and all the associated activities, including education, work, business, legal, commercial and social purposes.
It makes it easy for two or more countries to stay connected for different purposes, particularly trade and commerce, etc., without confusion.
The world is divided into 360 longitudes. Each longitude is different from the other for about 4 minutes. Now, if you multiply 360 by 4, you will get 1440. This is the number of total minutes in 24 hours—360*4=1440 (24 hours or one day).
Now let’s see the six proven tips to adjust to a different time zone.
The human body has a biological clock known as the circadian clock. It helps regulate the body's functioning and adjusts itself to see the daylight at different times of the day. But, its adjustment can slow down or even run into trouble if you travel between different time zones and get jetlagged.
Remember that even though getting jetlagged is almost inevitable, you can quickly mitigate its effects on you. Here’s how!
Of course, you never happen to travel all of a sudden. You plan and schedule your travelling beforehand. Therefore, you need to plan your sleep cycle accordingly. If you are headed east, try to wake up early and retire to bed early. It will be difficult in the beginning, but work it out. Repeat this practice no matter how hard it turns out to be. And several iterations later, you will feel comfortable.
If you are headed west, try sleeping and waking up later than your routine. This will help your biological circadian clock adjust to the new time zone.
If you are going to land in the daylight hours, try to stay up as soon as you land. The best remedy to ward off the repeatedly attacking sleep is to go for a walk or have coffee in a nice restaurant you might find nearby. You can also do some light exercise.
Try not to sleep on the plane. And also, stay up till your bedtime in the new time zone.
On the other hand, if you happen to arrive at night, try to find a place to sleep if it is your bedtime right away. But do not forget to have a light snack before sleeping to have a sound sleep, as you will be unable to sleep tight, empty stomach.
After rolling out of bed the following day, take some sunlight as it helps reset your body clock. Sunlight is the most significant source of vitamin D, and that too directly from the sun. But what if you go to a country with primarily gloomy and densely cloudy weather? In that case, supplements and tablets rich in vitamin D are recommended, but in light of a doctor, it's over dosage can cause harm.
It is pretty standard for you to feel sleepy during the day. But it would help if you eliminated daytime drowsiness in a new place. Find some cheerful company of energetic people around you and keep drinking tea and coffee unless you begin to feel fresh.
Melatonin hormone is created in a small gland in the brain called the pineal gland. It is secreted in the darkness. It helps your body’s sleep cycle and also the circadian clock. Medicines are of little help for jetlag but if you feel jetlagged extensively, try to use supplemental melatonin, as studies have shown that this can help you with jetlag. But beware of the exact usage and dosage, lest you run into the high dosage.
If your current stay in a particular area is drawing to a close, try to prepare for the following location if one is located in a different time zone.
Following the tips mentioned above will help you adjust to the time zone of your upcoming location pretty easily since you have already practised these once.
A little understanding of the time zones that is amply explained above and following the tips provided here can help you overcome the troubles the difference in time zones brings.
One of the biggest worries that Pakistani expatriates face after finding work in a foreign country is finding a company that provides the best international money transfer services. An online money transfer to Pakistan with banks has become difficult due to high fees, sluggish movement of funds and uncompetitive currency exchange rates.
But many online money transfer companies, including ACE Money Transfer, have addressed this worry by providing the best ways to transfer money internationally.
