World Clock for Remote Teams
Lessons from accidentally scheduling calls at 3 AM.
I once scheduled a "quick sync" with a colleague in Sydney. I picked 9 AM my time because that seemed reasonable. I didn't check. Turns out that was 1 AM for them. They showed up (good sport), but I felt terrible.
Now I keep a world clock open whenever I'm working with anyone outside my time zone. It takes 2 seconds to glance at it before sending a meeting invite. Much better than the alternative.
Common Time Zone Relationships
| When it's 9 AM in... | It's this time in... |
|---|---|
| New York (EST) | 2 PM London | 11 PM Tokyo | 6 AM LA |
| London (GMT) | 4 AM New York | 6 PM Tokyo | 1 AM LA |
| Tokyo (JST) | 7 PM prev New York | 12 AM London | 4 PM prev LA |
| Sydney (AEST) | 6 PM prev New York | 11 PM prev London | 3 PM prev LA |
Finding Overlap Windows
The key to remote team coordination is finding "overlap windows" - times when everyone is in their working hours. For common team distributions:
US + Europe
Best overlap: 2-5 PM London / 9 AM - 12 PM New York
US (East + West)
Best overlap: 12-5 PM New York / 9 AM - 2 PM Los Angeles
Europe + Asia
Best overlap: 8-10 AM London / 4-6 PM Singapore
US + Asia
Challenging! Usually requires early morning or late evening calls. Consider async communication.
What I've Learned Working Remotely
Always Say the Time Zone
"3 PM" is useless. "3 PM EST" is better. "3 PM EST (8 PM London)" is best - shows you actually checked.
Glance Before Messaging
Before sending that "quick question," check the clock. If it's 11 PM for them, it can probably wait until tomorrow.
Take Turns Being Inconvenienced
If someone always takes the 7 AM or 10 PM calls, they'll burn out. Rotate meeting times so everyone shares the pain.
Most Things Don't Need a Call
Record a Loom. Write it down. The best meeting is no meeting. Save sync time for things that actually need discussion.
Watch Out for Daylight Saving
Daylight Saving Time (DST) creates chaos twice a year. Not all countries observe it, and those that do change on different dates:
- US: Second Sunday of March, first Sunday of November
- Europe: Last Sunday of March, last Sunday of October
- UK: Same as Europe (but called BST)
- Australia: First Sunday of October, first Sunday of April (reversed)
- Japan, China, India: No DST
For 2-3 weeks around DST changes, your usual meeting times may shift by an hour. Double-check with a world clock.
Quick Time Zone Math
Common Offsets from UTC
Two numbers = winter/summer (DST). Single number = no DST.
Respect Working Hours
Just because you can reach someone at 11 PM their time doesn't mean you should. Use the world clock to be mindful:
Add Your Team's Cities
Add the cities where your team is located. Keep it in a browser tab. Glance at it before scheduling anything. Takes 30 seconds to set up, saves you from sending meeting invites for 2 AM.
Open World Clock