"I'm absolutely strict about it. When I land, I put my watch right, and I don't care what I feel like, I will go to bed at half past eleven. If that means going to bed early or late, that's what I live by. As soon as you get there, live by that time"

David Attenborough describes a personal discipline when adjusting to new time zones. Upon arriving in a new location, he immediately resets his watch to the local time and strictly aligns his behavior to it, particularly in terms of sleep. The choice to go to bed at “half past eleven” every night, regardless of how he physically feels, stands as a deliberate method of command over the body’s urge to act according to its “old” sense of time. This embodies a philosophy of adaptation that prioritizes routine and structure over subjective feelings of tiredness or confusion that typically arise with travel and jet lag.

By insisting on living by the local clock from the very moment of arrival, Attenborough emphasizes the importance of fully immersing oneself in a new environment. Rather than allowing the body’s internal rhythms, disrupted by travel across time zones, to dictate one’s actions, he uses external structure as an anchor. This approach can be interpreted as a commitment to experiencing the place authentically, operating in sync with the local world rather than being out of step with it.

Such discipline may seem rigid, yet there’s a practical wisdom to it. Modern science acknowledges that quickly adapting to the local time accelerates the body’s adjustment and mitigates jet lag. Attenborough’s method removes indecision or negotiation from the process, he does not “care what I feel like”, meaning feelings of fatigue or wakefulness are ignored in favor of consistency. This attitude not only speeds physiological adjustment but also fosters a sense of agency and purpose in unfamiliar contexts.

Underlying this ritual is a broader principle about responding to change: adaptation, order, and control can help overcome disorientation. By setting a firm rule for himself, Attenborough ensures that new surroundings are not daunting disruptions but environments into which he seamlessly integrates, starting from the moment he arrives.