Originally Posted by El Peso (Post 3255601)

Reminds me of that Charles Lindbergh passage.

Originally Posted by freezingflyboy (Post 3254995)

My redeye pro tips would be the 5 S's (I can't take credit, these were passed down to me). These have served me well doing multiple redeye's per month for years now:
S schedule shifting (stay up late, wake up early)
S segmented sleeping (multiple 4-5 hour sleep opportunities vs one long one)
S kip the caffeine day of (at least until show time)
S un exposure (stimulates natural melatonin production)
S leep opportunity (prepare and plan for good nap - 4-5 hours. But don't get worked up if you find sleep elusive.)

The final thing I'll add is a good workout, whatever that means to you. I always sleep better when I've had a good workout or been very active that day.

Originally Posted by freezingflyboy (Post 3254995)

My redeye pro tips would be the 5 S's (I can't take credit, these were passed down to me). These have served me well doing multiple redeye's per month for years now:
S schedule shifting (stay up late, wake up early)
S segmented sleeping (multiple 4-5 hour sleep opportunities vs one long one)
S kip the caffeine day of (at least until show time)
S un exposure (stimulates natural melatonin production)
S leep opportunity (prepare and plan for good nap - 4-5 hours. But don't get worked up if you find sleep elusive.)

The final thing I'll add is a good workout, whatever that means to you. I always sleep better when I've had a good workout or been very active that day.

Originally Posted by marcal (Post 3255089)

….The best thing is to nap in the seat for 20-30 ala “controlled rest”, like the rest of the entire world except our FAA doesn’t think our passengers are “ready” for that.

Originally Posted by Slop (Post 3256479)

I recently tried a new method as far as napping before a RE. The evening before, I limit my sleep to 4-5 hours, even though my body obviously wants 8 hours. Once awake, I limit caffeine intake to maybe half a cup of coffee, or avoid it altogether. Then around 1500, I go down for that nap, and usually I am so dog tired by that point, I don’t have a problem getting in 5-6 hours of sleep. YMMV.

Originally Posted by El Peso (Post 3255601)

What works for me:

My body clock is on East Coast theatre. When I get into my West Coast layover that’ll be followed by a red eye home, I try to stay up as long as possible. I mean really late. Go out, have a drink. Play on the phone, listen to a podcast/music, whatever it takes to stay up. Fall asleep around 2-3 am pacific time. Sleep in until at least noon if possible. (3 pm EST). I’ll be landing at home at 6-7am the following day so that’s about 16 hours of wake time. No problemo. Got to keep experimenting to find what works for you. Good luck, I know how much it sucks to show up tired for a red eye. Reminds me of that Charles Lindbergh passage.

Originally Posted by Slop (Post 3256479)

I recently tried a new method as far as napping before a RE. The evening before, I limit my sleep to 4-5 hours, even though my body obviously wants 8 hours. Once awake, I limit caffeine intake to maybe half a cup of coffee, or avoid it altogether. Then around 1500, I go down for that nap, and usually I am so dog tired by that point, I don’t have a problem getting in 5-6 hours of sleep. YMMV.

Originally Posted by freezingflyboy (Post 3256540)

Exactly what I do. It's worked well for me for a long time now. The trick is to skip the caffeine. I'll usually have a cup of coffee when I wake up the morning before a redeye but always make sure not to have any more caffeine after about 10am that day.