What not to do with a jetlag

I write this piece at 04:00 in the morning. At least that's the time here in New York. For you, it's 10:00 in the morning. A great time to wake up. But if you have a whole day ahead of you, waking up at this time is no fun. And I've been doing it all week. Because I'm doing everything, everything, everything wrong. The advantage of doing things wrong? It always results in another post.

 1. Don't use your phone as an alarm clock

You wake up and grab your phone to check the time. Immediately, you get a blast of light in your eyes that makes you even more awake. Now that you're at it, you quickly check if there are any new WhatsApp messages and if that last Instagram post has gained any new followers. By then, you're already too late.

 2. Don't compare

Applies to currency and time difference. Don't convert. You're in a different country now and there you pay with wokkels (that's what Liesbeth calls any form of money other than euros; how many wokkels is that?), you name the temperature in Fahrenheit (at least in NY) and you live by their clock. Don't secretly set your watch to Dutch time. Then it will never work. Believe me, I am living proof that it doesn't work if you keep converting.

 3. Don't go to bed early

I thought last night at nine o'clock that it was enough. The day was over and it was a great time to go to bed. Don't. Do it. Then you wake up seven hours later. Right, at 04:00 in the morning. You don't want that.

 4. Keep refusing aids

Somehow, I feel very good about myself when I don't seek support from earplugs and sleeping pills. Until I hear the heating pipes alternately hissing, pfff, pfff at night and I, lightly sleeping due to the jet lag, am immediately wide awake. What do I do then? Go back to step 1 and know; I am a hopeless case.