On remote work and time zones
Tags: career, productivity
Published: 2021-02-15 19:33:24

---
title: On remote work and time zones
published: true
date: 2020-02-24 10:27:01 UTC
tags: Career,productivity
canonical_url: https://santoshhari.wordpress.com/2020/02/24/on-remote-work-and-time-zones/
---

Recently, I had the pleasure of working with a client on the opposite coast. However, this presented its own set of challenges, the primary one being dealing with time zones. So, I naturally learned to adjust my communication to factor in time zones since it would be embarrassing for me to schedule a 2pm call and then have the client not show up.

> Protip: when working remotely always state timezone clearly. Heck, do this even when not remote  
> "Are you available at 2pm US Eastern today?"
> 
> — Santosh Hari ![🤔](https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpcom-smileys/twemoji/2/72x72/1f914.png) (@\_s\_hari) [February 17, 2020](https://twitter.com/_s_hari/status/1229432822567522304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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I enable multiple time zones in Outlook, my chief timekeeper at work, as shown below.

![timezones](https://santoshhari.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/timezones.png)

Fwiw, you can also enable multiple timezones on Google Calendar

![timezones2](https://santoshhari.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/timezones2.png)

But the original tweet appeared to have sparked interest in the topic among my followers, largely techies and I received a lot of useful tips.

David Haney uses relative time, which is great for same-day scheduling.

> I also use relative time, as it applies the same way to everybody: "are you available in 90 minutes?"
> 
> — David Haney (@haneytron) [February 17, 2020](https://twitter.com/haneytron/status/1229432916314394630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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Steve Lorello uses UTC, which works great when scheduling meeting with a software-focused crowd.

> I usually use UTC when scheduling meetings with folks outside my time zone lol
> 
> — Steve Lorello (@slorello) [February 18, 2020](https://twitter.com/slorello/status/1229777386046214144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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Michael Godfrey uses the 24-hour calendar aka military time to avoid confusion.

> I have learned to do it all the time. Just to be safe. And to use 24 h time.
> 
> — Michael Godfrey (@mgodfre3) [February 18, 2020](https://twitter.com/mgodfre3/status/1229591024214978565?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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Oscar “OZ” Zamora always specifies the location. This is something I could start doing myself since I communicate with Canadian coworkers all the time.

> And location. Coworker from Mexico extended a teams meeting for today; holiday.
> 
> — Oscar "OZ" Zamora (@ZamoraO) [February 18, 2020](https://twitter.com/ZamoraO/status/1229579618950242304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

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A friend with a private Twitter account also mentioned blocking off time on the calendar if you don’t need to be disturbed. For instance, if you need to do heads-down coding all afternoon just block the afternoon off. Also, if you have coworkers or clients reaching you after-hours block those off on your calendar.

Do you have any additional time zones and calendar tips? Feel free to share in the space below