Coordinating a meeting across time zones — a quick reference
The hard part of a cross-zone meeting isn't the math, it's finding a slot that lands inside working hours for everyone. Here's how to think about it, plus the overlap windows that actually exist between the busiest regions.
The comfort bands this planner uses
Each person's local time is rated so you can see the human cost of a slot at a glance:
- Comfortable — 8:00am to 8:00pm. Normal waking, working hours; safe to schedule.
- Early / late — 6–8am or 8–10pm. Doable occasionally, but rotate it so the same region isn't always the one taking the hit.
- Overnight — 10pm to 6am. Avoid unless unavoidable; expect low attendance and lower energy.
Where the working-hour overlaps actually are
These are the realistic windows where both regions are inside 8am–8pm. They shift by an hour around daylight-saving changes, so treat them as a starting point and confirm with the live planner above.
| Regions | Best shared window | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| US East ↔ Western Europe | 1:00–4:00pm London / 8:00–11:00am New York | The classic transatlantic slot — mornings in the US, afternoons in Europe. |
| US West ↔ Western Europe | 8:00–9:00am Los Angeles / 4:00–5:00pm London | Tight — usually only an hour. Earlier for the US is often the only option. |
| Western Europe ↔ India | 1:00–5:00pm London / 5:30–9:30pm Mumbai | Comfortable for Europe, evening for India. |
| India ↔ US East | 6:30–8:30pm Mumbai / 9:00–11:00am New York | Evening for India, morning for the US. Very little other overlap. |
| Western Europe ↔ Singapore/Hong Kong | 9:00–11:00am London / 4:00–6:00pm Singapore | European morning, Asian late afternoon. |
| US West ↔ Asia (Tokyo/Singapore) | 4:00–6:00pm Los Angeles / 8:00–10:00am Tokyo (next day) | Note the date rollover — Asia is a calendar day ahead. |
| Australia (Sydney) ↔ US West | 2:00–4:00pm Sydney / 8:00–10:00pm Los Angeles (prev day) | One of the hardest pairs; someone is always outside comfort hours. |
Why daylight saving keeps breaking your schedule
The US, Europe, and Australia change clocks on different weekends, and much of Asia and Africa don't change at all. For a few weeks each spring and autumn the usual offset between two cities is off by an hour — the single most common cause of a "wait, the meeting moved?" mix-up. This planner reads the offset from your browser for the exact date you pick, so the times stay correct through those transitions. If you're scheduling a recurring call, re-check it after each clock change.
A few habits that make it painless
- Agree on one reference zone for the invite, then let each person read their own local time — that's exactly what the shared link does here.
- When a slot is early or late for someone, rotate who takes it across recurring meetings so the burden is shared.
- Always name the date, not just the time — a 9pm call can land on two different calendar days depending on where you are.
- For async teams, consider whether the meeting needs to be live at all; a shared doc often beats forcing someone online at 11pm.