How to Schedule Across Continents
When running a distributed remote team or serving international clients, scheduling a single team meeting can be a nightmare. Using a time zone overlap tool is the most efficient way to ensure you are respecting everyone's standard business hours (typically 9 AM to 5 PM local time).
The Rule of Thirds in Global Startups
If your team spans across the US (PST/EST), Europe (GMT/CET), and Asia-Pacific (IST/AEST), it is mathematically impossible to find a time where everyone is working 9-to-5. Standard practice requires utilizing standard "anchor times":
- US / Europe: Early morning EST overlaps perfectly with late afternoon CET.
- Europe / Asia: Early morning CET aligns comfortably with afternoon/evening IST.
- US / Asia: The most difficult gap. Typically requires late evening mapping for the US to catch the morning shift in Asia.
Use our free Time Zone Overlap Calculator to visually drag the master slider until you find the largest section of "Green" (Working Hours) overlap for your selected team members.