Got called out for my terrible time zone juggling...

A client in Berlin flat out told me 'your 3am replies are weird, just pick a window.' I was trying to be always on across 9 hours difference. Now I only check work stuff from 10am to 2pm local time in Mexico City, no matter what. It felt scary at first, like I'd miss something. But honestly, my sleep is way better. How do you guys handle the time zone thing without going crazy?

2 comments

2 Comments

cameronb9720h agoMost Upvoted

My old boss tried to make us answer emails from Singapore at all hours, and I thought that was just how it worked. Reading what gray117 said about the anxiety fading after a week is totally true. I finally set a hard stop at 6pm my time, and after a few days of panic, I realized nothing actually burned down. That Berlin client did you a favor by being blunt about it. Protecting your own sleep is way more important than pretending to be available 24/7.

gray11721h ago

Honestly, setting those hard limits was the only thing that saved me... used to answer emails from Tokyo at like 2am my time just to feel caught up. The world doesn't end if you don't reply instantly. My calendar just shows two big blocks now, one for my morning and one for their morning, and that's it. Took a week for the anxiety to fade, but now my brain actually shuts off at night.