How to Watch the 2024 Paris Olympics Live from Abroad Without Turning Into a Sleep-Deprived Zombie!

The 2024 Paris Olympics have begun. For sports lovers and patriotic people worldwide, it can involve lots of time glued to the couch checking out the live action.

For people living overseas like myself, it can also mean some serious sleep disruption for the next 16 days. Especially if you prefer to watch an event live when it is happening, rather than having to record the events overnight and then watch the replay when it most suits you.

I don’t know about you, but there can be something special about watching an event live. As much as I try to tell myself that it is similar, watching a replay of an NBA or AFL game when the result is already out there and only one click away doesn’t feel quite the same.

But what about the eight hour time difference between Melbourne and Paris? Or the nine hour time difference between Paris and Los Angeles and San Francisco? It might come down to a preference to experience the event live but sacrifice some sleep, or to watch the replay and potentially having the results spoiled by well meaning friends or family. Or even social media or the news.

The easiest and probably best option for people that want to preserve their sleep at night and energy levels during the day is to record the events you want to see or use streaming services that allow you to watch the replays at times that best suit you.

For certain events and certain people, that just might not do. I know that there were a few of my friends that made sure that they were awake to support the Matildas at 3am this morning. Some of them that already work in hospitality until fairly late just stayed up until the game and slept afterwards. For others that work the standard 9am to 5pm, they would have woken up early and would already be feeling pretty tired in their first few hours of work.

Strategies for Managing Sleep During the Olympics

1. Know Your Body Clock:

• Morning People (“Larks”): Try to wake up early to watch events. Have a short nap of under 30 minutes during the day if needed. Go to bed a bit earlier than usual the following night if you are feeling sleepy, but then get up at your usual time the day after.
• Evening People (“Night Owls”): Stay up to watch events and sleep in a bit later (but not too late) if possible. Have a short nap of under 30 minutes during the day if needed. Go to bed at your usual time the night after.

2. Minimize Disruption:

• If you stay up later than usual, limit your sleep-in to a maximum of 30 minutes later per extra hour that you have been awake for to avoid disrupting your sleep cycle too much. For example, if you normally sleep from midnight to 8am, but are awake until 4am, try to only sleep in until 10am.
• If you wake up earlier than usual, try to go to bed a maximum of 30 minutes earlier for each hour of less sleep you have had the next night to maintain your regular sleep routine. For example, if you normally sleep from 10pm until 6am, but then wake up at 4am, try to sleep the next night between 9pm and 6am (as long as you feel sleepy around 9pm).

3. Plan for Recovery:

• After a late night or early morning, expect to feel more tired and possibly irritable the next day. Get back into your regular sleep schedule as quickly as possible to help recover and get back on track as soon as possible.
• Avoid staying up all night multiple times, as it can have a compounded negative effect on your sleep and overall health.

4. Prioritise Safety:

• If you’re too tired to drive, consider using public transport rather than driving.
• If you need to perform tasks that could be risky or unsafe or require lots of concentration, consider taking a day off work if possible.

Four Key Aspects of a Good Night’s Sleep

Dr Matthew Walker, a sleep scientist and author of the mega selling book, ‘Why We Sleep’, mentioned in a podcast that I was listening to recently the four things that he thinks are important for sleep over time. He called this “QQRT”.

Q: Ideally, we want a certain quantity of sleep. For most adults, this is likely to be somewhere between 6 and 9 hours a night. 7 hours a night is often found to be the healthiest in longitudinal studies, but sleep needs vary a bit from person to person, so see what tends to make you feel the way that you would like to during the day and aim for that. Remember that quantity is only one of the four elements of a good night’s sleep, so doing the other three things right can help people to feel better the next day even if they obtain less sleep than they would like to.

Q: We want to do things to improve our sleep quality. For me, that is minimising my alcohol intake, doing things to wind down and relax before sleep, not eating too large a meal too close to bedtime, waiting until I feel sleepy before going to bed, and only being in bed for a maximum 8.5 hours each night.

R: We want to have good regularity in when we sleep from night to night. For me, that means going to bed between 11 to 11:30pm most nights and waking up between 7 and 7:30am seven days a week. If someone’s sleep schedule has lots of variability in it across the week, it will be much harder for their brain to help them to sleep when they want to at night, and help them to be alert and function well when they would like to during the day. Social jetlag is a real phenomenon, and can happen if someone’s weekend sleep schedule varies a lot from their weekday sleep schedule.

T: Finally, we want to be sleeping at the right time for ourselves and our internal body clock. A “lark” might sleep best between 9pm and 5am. An “owl” might sleep best between 1am and 9am. Think about what 8 hour window in a 24-hour cycle is likely to be when your body and brain most want you to sleep, and try to sleep and wake up around those times. For me, it is between 11:15pm and 7:15am. If you can do this, you will find it a lot easier over time to feel sleepy and sleep well in bed, and feel alert and perform well during the day.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the key is balance. If watching live events is a priority, be mindful of how it affects your sleep and adjust your routine to mitigate any negative impact. If the sleep disruption outweighs the enjoyment, consider replays and avoid unnecessary fatigue. Enjoy the Olympics and make sure to take care of your well-being in the process!

If you’d like to hear a radio segment that I was a part of on ABC discussing this topic, here is the link.

Dr Damon Ashworth

Clinical Psychologist