A couple of years ago I was chatting to a doctor while researching an article on the effects of jet lag, when he cheerfully informed me that my travel habits could well be shaving a few years off my life. I had recently returned from three back-to-back trips through the US, Indonesia and Finland – zipping through several time zones in a couple of weeks – and this doctor pointed to the growing body of research that shows the negative effects of disrupting your circadian rhythm. At the time I brushed it off – after all, my unpredictable sleep routine was nothing compared to the doctors, nurses and other shift workers who manage challenging hours – but every now and then when I’m wide awake at 3am or my eyelids are drooping mid-afternoon following a trip, I think back to this conversation.
