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Update on my old way of handling time zones for client calls | Digital Nomad Life - Talk Freely

Update on my old way of handling time zones for client calls

I used to just guess the time difference and hope my phone calendar was right... which led to me missing a call with a client in Singapore while I was in Mexico City. That was about 8 months ago. Now, I use a tool called World Time Buddy for every single meeting. I put in both cities and it shows the overlap in a simple chart. I also set a second alarm on my phone 10 minutes before the call, just in case. It takes an extra 30 seconds to set up, but it's saved me from so much stress. I don't trust my brain to do the math anymore, especially after traveling. Has anyone found a better system than this, or do you just rely on one app?

3 comments

3 Comments

charlienelson5mo ago

Do you really need a whole separate tool for this though? I mean, I get missing calls is a pain, but World Time Buddy feels like overkill when your phone already does the time zone conversion for you. I just add the client's time zone to my phone's world clock, set the meeting in my calendar with their time zone, and my iPhone automatically shows me the converted time. I haven't missed a call in years doing that, even with clients in Japan and Brazil. Plus, I keep a sticky note on my monitor with the UTC offset for my most common clients, so I can do the math in my head fast without opening anything.

perez.patricia5mo ago

Bullshit, your phone method works until you have a client that changes their timezone for daylight savings and you forget to update your sticky note. World Time Buddy lets me compare 3-4 zones at once on the same screen which is way faster than flipping between clocks on my phone. Plus not everyone uses an iPhone or even has a smart phone dude.

jordan_young5mo ago

Man I totally feel you on this one. I do basically the same thing with my phone and it works fine most of the time, but @charlienelson, that sticky note trick is actually smart for quick mental math. My problem is I always forget to update my calendar when DST hits in different countries, had a 4am wakeup call for a client once because of that. Still, I think people overcomplicate it sometimes when the basics work just fine.