Does anyone have tips for taking red-eye flights?

Most important - Don't plan to work. Get those urgent emails read before you go. After that - Do what your body tells you it wants to do. If it says read - read. If it says sleep - sleep.

Drink lots of water, avoid alcohol and bring earplugs/headphones/sunglasses or eyeshade. Get on the new timezone right away - don't go to sleep in the arrival destination until it is bedtime there. These tips were given to me long ago and have worked!

Tips for taking red eye flights based on my experience:

1. Working is nice and all, but I find for longer flights I do much better when focusing on sleep. For one thing, it's natural for your body want/ need/ expect sleep at night. And for another, you feel like a piece of dog meat the next day if you're running on just a few hours. Particularly when traveling for business, feeling fresh in the am is critical.

2. Bring a facemask, ear plugs and something to rest your head on. Who cares if you look silly, these items will help you sleep and avoid getting that horrible crook in the neck!

Don't take them...it usually takes me a day or two to recover. Not worth it.

I agree with Daniel, though I have taken them. I always have the mindset that I'll be more productive with my time by taking a red eye, but without a solid night's sleep, that doesn't really work as planned. For me, it's a last resort.

If you do take a red-eye, don't be overly concerned about getting the aisle - you might get woken up by your neighbor to exit the row. For red eyes on smaller planes, get a window seat. On the wide-bodies take a window or a middle seat.

While red-eye's always seem like the best way to maximize time they tend to minimize my productivity. If possible I would rather take and earlier flight even if it gets in at 2am and assure myself a few hours of sleep before meetings. If you have to take a red-eye I agree with all of Brian's points - face mask, ear plugs, pillow, and if you can't sleep you may want to ask your Dr for sleeping pills depending on how long the flight is.

1) Bring eye shades
2) Wear noise-canceling headphones.
3) ALSO, wear earplugs. Headphones deal with low frequencies (engine roar), earplugs work on the higher ones (baby screaming)
4) Hydrate

Just say No. Do everything possible to avoid red-eye flights!

AlShultz
http://www.alshultz.com/

I travel about 85% of my time. I take red-eye's whenever possible. I fortunate that I can fall asleep before we take off and usually wake up when I feel the bump on landing. Some key things I do:

1. Comfortable clothes on red-eyes.
2. Hydrate.
3. Immediately on landing, go to an airline club and take a shower and have breakfast. Most of the major airports have airline clubs or a facility that you can go take a shower, change clothes and relax for a few minutes. Freshening up after the flight is critical.

For those that can't sleep on airplanes, I agree with the others, avoid red-eyes, the recovery time more than offsets the time saved.

If you mean the European or Asian flights.
The flights to Europe can typically be handled by getting a few hours of sleep and all the other suggestions for hydration, ear plugs, eye blinds, sitting by the window, not drinking, etc.
I prepare early so I am ready on landing or shortly thereafter for European trips. Unless I am staying more than a few days, I try to keep my time versus adjust to theirs. Seems to work for me.
Asia/Australia is a different ball of wax completely. I try to get in a day or two early and adjust to their time cycle. All the other plane arrangements for sleeping, etc. are the same. These trips are exhausting if you push too hard to work on arrival or work on the plane. Enjoy and have fun on the plane.