Working Remotely in Different Time Zones: Best Tools and Practices

Twice a year, the time zone differences get wonky due to daylight savings time. For example, the EU and the US do daylight savings about 1-3 weeks apart. The most important thing to do when working remotely is to grow comfortable communicating asynchronously whenever possible. Even though your whole team may be in different major cities or different countries, with geographic and time zone differences separating you—with effective async communication, none of that matters.

1. World Time Buddy helps visualize multiple time zones simultaneously, making scheduling easier.
2. For example, you can monitor your sleep quality and quantity, your nutrition and hydration, your exercise and movement, and your mood and stress levels, and make any necessary changes or improvements.
3. “If I planned well, we’d find magic in going to bed frustrated by a missing puzzle piece, and waking to find it in our inbox. It was like having a friend in the future.”
4. Light is the principal control of our day-night cycle, influencing everything from body temperature to metabolism to sleep.
5. Meeting times need to be adjusted for when people will be awake and available.

And while having a remote team has many pros, working with individuals in different time zones can also become tricky. There are more time zone tools at TimeandDate.com, too, so be sure to check it out if you want to find local times around the world for your event, convert times for any location, and more. If you have a large distributed team, you might not need to try so hard to stay connected.

I would either have to adjust the times for our meetings, or for their schedules. Elon Musk said that entrepreneurs spend too much time in meetings and too little time on making their service or product exponentially better. The Southeast Asian time zone is perfect for getting in that quiet, creative time in the morning. But if your business does not require so many meetings and phone calls, you might have more quiet time for creative work.

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For those expectations, and this meeting discipline to work, you will need to establish a clear communication process which gives everyone visibility into the goals and set tasks, and their progress. This also helps teams understand where their teammates are in the process and if they can help. That might not be enough to schedule meetings across a number of time zones, but it’s a quick way to figure out if you’re ok to call your boss at 6 p.m.

1. Both Google Calendar and Apple Calendar let you assign time zones when you create new events.
2. Maintaining a work-life balance can be challenging, increasing the risk of burnout.
3. That might mean you can move to a city where it’s easier to start a family, or extend your “vacation” to a few months on the beach each year.
4. The handbooks should contain information about company culture and policies and relevant records from each department.

But today, for many fully distributed teams and companies that have employees based in a hodgepodge of places worldwide, working across multiple time zones has become a daily reality. Businesses likely have even more schedules to juggle, with some workers awake and logging in for the day while others are just signing off. Another important aspect of remote work is having the right tools to complete everyday tasks. Companies need to make sure their teammates have what they need to thrive. If you are looking for an easy way to set up employees worldwide, give us a shout.

Time Management Tips When Working in Different Time Zones

This can make it more challenging to create a strong sense of togetherness. If your co-workers overseas are a little relentless, there are multiple ways to make sure a ping from your phone doesn’t interrupt your full eight hours of sleep. You can start by setting how notifications work inside individual apps, or even turn on the Do Not Disturb mode on your phone altogether.

Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate our circadian rhythm by working as a darkness signal. It’s been studied extensively, and supplemental melatonin is commonly used for jet lag treatment—it’s been shown to help with both sleep and reducing jet lag symptoms. It sounds like a bad horror movie title, but it’s pretty solid advice, especially if you land during daylight hours. Go for a walk, work in a cafe that’s nice and bright (or even sit outside), or get some light exercise. You’ll adjust faster to living and working in different time zones the sunlight and it will aid in your body clock’s reset process.

Allow Flexible Work Hours

“They worked the night shift while my team in Redmond worked days,” Berkun says. “If I planned well, we’d find magic in going to bed frustrated by a missing puzzle piece, and waking to find it in our inbox. It was like having a friend in the future.” We know that working from the other side of the world is certainly an exciting experience and the benefits are undeniable. I even keep my personal cell phone in military time, ever since I got back from living abroad. Open World Clock, and add the locations of your contacts, from Norway to New Zealand.

Remote and Hybrid Workflows

As a remote worker, you surely realize by now how clear communication is quintessential. Be transparent about your work hours, availability, and response times. Let your clients or colleagues know how soon they can expect to hear back from you and if there will be any delays due to time zone differences.

By taking care of yourself, you’ll be better equipped to handle the challenges of working remotely through various time zones and enjoy traveling the world. When scheduling meetings, tools like SimplyBook.me or Calendly can help you find a time that works for everyone. Remember to also take advantage of video conferencing tools like Zoom or Google Meet for face-to-face communication, which can help build rapport and trust among team members.