Education

Working Across Multiple Time Zones: Tools and Strategies

This might mean using instant messaging platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams to stay in touch throughout the day or scheduling regular check-ins to ensure that everyone is on the same page. It's also important to be proactive in your communication, asking questions and seeking clarification when necessary. At Deel, we offer a wealth of knowledge and tools that empower remote managers to manage their teams successfully. Explore Deel Engage tools and discover the power of collaboration and connectivity in the remote work environment.

  • Clearly define goals, roles, responsibilities, and deadlines so that everyone on the team knows what needs to be done and by when.
  • You pick the cities where everyone lives, and the date for your meeting, and it'll show in green, yellow, and red the times that are best, not too bad, and terrible for everyone.
  • To not waste any more time attempting to figure out how time zones work and converting time, you should consider setting up some time zone management tools.
  • You'll be surprised how many meetings aren't needed if you do this.
  • Luckily, our step-by-step guide is here to help you navigate these challenges.
  • Using tools like world clock websites and Google Calendar (allowing you to set a secondary time zone) can be invaluable in keeping track of time differences.

You may find your tastes broadening 🎧, and discover wonders you might not have appreciated in the past. Find a tennis/baseball/racquet/cricket ball 🎾⚾ or even a dryer ball. Roll your feet on it for 5 minutes – getting the pressure just how you like it ☺️. Foot reflexology massage has shown to reduce stress, https://remotemode.net/ depression, and blood pressure and improve immune functions. Helping others obviously helps the receiver, yet did you know there are many benefits for the giver? Volunteering at the local food bank 🥫 is always a good option, but any small acts of kindness will brighten your day and those around you.

How to Adjust Your Routine When Working in Different Time Zones as a Digital Nomad

We also have a lot of tools for asynchronous, everyone-at-their-own-pace communication, including Threads, Trello and Paper. In these tools, we can log what we’ve done, what we’re doing or questions and comments we have and know that other team members can read and comment later on their own schedule. Using these tools to keep time zones top of mind makes sure that all team members have an equal opportunity to work smarter, not harder, and that they can engage or disengage when they want.

  • It's absolutely possible to do great work with a dispersed team, but you must plan work accordingly.
  • Eastern Standard Time (EST) covers the states in the eastern part of North America and runs from Maine to Florida, while Central Standard Time (CST) includes Texas up to Montana.
  • Gregory dedicates the first few minutes of every meeting to simply chatting with co-workers and clients.
  • Try shifting your start time or breaking your workday into chunks (using the Pomodoro timing technique is an ideal starting point) 🍅 .
  • Mastering async communication offers increased flexibility, improved focus, better global collaboration, and inclusive participation as you allow remote employees to complete their work in their own time.
  • Self-care doesn’t need to look like the messages we see about intense workout routines or immediately jumping into a daily meditation.
  • But it can be hard to know where to start when you want to encourage your employees to engage in it, as it’s such a personal thing.

By applying these lessons from remote work, global teams can collaborate across time zones with confidence. Team selling is all about collaboration, which means remote team selling—especially across time zones—can be challenging. However, as we’ve learned, there are numerous strategies and tools to improve remote collaboration.

Communicate time zone boundaries

Asynchronous communication should be the norm for remote teams working across time zones, especially those with personnel in multiple time zones. Firstly, when you are planning to host meetings for your remote team, consider whether you can achieve working remotely in a different time zone the desired outcome without having a meeting. While having contact and hosting meetings are important, meetings can be challenging with diverse time zones. Minimizing and streamlining meetings efficiency and productivity can offer solutions.

self care working across time zones

There are so many benefits, including increasing empathy, creativity 🎨, and inclusivity awareness; improving sleep 💤 and relationship management skills; and lowering stress! Not too shabby for an evening on the sofa 🛋️ with book in hand. Living a “life of luxury” doesn’t have to be expensive 💸, and as the song goes “the best things in life are free [or inexpensive].” Take a fika break in the park 🍰. And remember, give yourself the freedom to fully enjoy your time. It’s sometimes easier to forgive others than to practice self-forgiveness 🤟. And not practicing self-forgiveness may negatively affect your health in so many different ways.

Ready To Master Remote Work Across Different Time Zones?

And if you’re not able to get out of your house, mix it up with at-home workouts. It’s more important than ever to prioritize your full health and give yourself some self-care. Apart from the short-term impacts of reduced stress, increased focus, and refreshed energy levels,  you’ll also build a foundation to sustain your effort from month to month.

  • Plus, you need to understand the differences between synchronous and asynchronous communication, and when to use each.
  • At Deel, we offer a wealth of knowledge and tools that empower remote managers to manage their teams successfully.
  • Even for remote employees who have worked remotely for years, knowing the time difference between CEST, PDT, and other time zones may still be challenging.
  • After years of working remotely—for companies in India, Canada, Australia, and the U.S.—I've learned a lot.
  • By doing so, we may be left with feelings of inferiority 😖 or even superiority 👑 —and neither creates an emotionally healthy version of us.

However, this freedom comes with its own set of challenges, especially when it comes to adjusting your routine when working in different time zones. In this article, we will explore some tips and tricks to help you adjust your routine and make working across time zones a breeze. Embrace the future of work with BorderlessHR and unlock the full potential of your globally distributed team. With BorderlessHR, you can confidently navigate the complexities of remote work and lead your organization into a more productive and connected future. Whenever possible, adopting an alternating meeting time strategy can help distribute the burden of inconvenient hours equitably among team members.