Who Needs Jet Lag? I Have a Job 🛩️

There is something very glamorous sounding about working with people in different time zones. It makes you feel important. International. Connected. Like you're some kind of corporate citizen of the world. Until you actually have to do it. Then it becomes a giant game of, “What time is it where you are, and more importantly, what time is it supposed to be where I am?”

Working across time zones sounds easy enough when you think about it. You look at a clock, figure out the difference and move on with your day. At least that's what I used to think. Then you start having meetings with people who are an hour ahead, two hours behind, or several hours away, and suddenly you are doing time-zone math before you've even had coffee. I have discovered that my brain does not appreciate time-zone math before coffee. Or after coffee, for that matter.

The real problem is that your calendar may understand time zones perfectly well, but your body does not. Your calendar says, “Meeting at 8:00 a.m.” Your brain says, “Okay.” Your body says, “Absolutely not. It is still nighttime and we would like to file a complaint.” And heaven help you when meetings start stretching across the day. You can begin your morning feeling relatively normal, attend a meeting with someone who is already well into their workday, and then have another meeting with someone who is winding down their afternoon. Meanwhile, you're sitting there wondering why you're exhausted when you've only been working for a few hours. Apparently, your brain has been traveling without you.

Working across time zones creates a special kind of exhaustion. It's not always the kind where you feel like you could fall asleep at your desk. Sometimes it's more subtle. Your brain just starts getting confused. You forget what day it is. Then you forget what time it is. Then someone says, “I'll send that over tomorrow morning,” and you have to stop and calculate whose tomorrow they mean.

At some point, I just give up. If you tell me something is happening tomorrow, I'm going to assume you mean the tomorrow that exists in my time zone. If you're talking about a different tomorrow, that is between you, your calendar and whatever time zone you've decided to live in.

Then there are the meetings scheduled at what someone considers a perfectly reasonable hour. “It's only 4 p.m. here!” Wonderful. It is also 4 p.m. here. Unfortunately, I have now been working for several hours and my brain has started packing its belongings. By late afternoon, my brain is no longer interested in hearing about your project. My brain would like a snack and perhaps a few minutes to stare blankly at a wall.

This is where people who work across multiple time zones develop an entirely new professional skill: pretending to still be alert. You nod. You make appropriate facial expressions. You say things like, “Absolutely,” and “That makes sense.” Sometimes you have no idea what was just said, but you are participating. Technically. It's amazing how convincing a well-timed nod can be.

And then there is daylight saving time, because apparently the universe wasn't complicated enough. Twice a year, the clocks change and suddenly everyone has to spend several days asking, “Wait, what time is it there now?” The calendar says one thing, the clock says another and your brain has officially resigned from the conversation.

I used to think working across time zones was impressive. Now I think it is a test of endurance. You start the day knowing exactly what time it is, what you're doing and when you're supposed to do it. By the end of the day, you're staring at your calendar wondering why there are meetings scheduled in three different realities.

And somewhere in the middle of all of it, someone will cheerfully say, “It's still early!”

Maybe for you.

My body has already submitted its resignation.

So if you work across time zones and occasionally find yourself exhausted, confused, hungry at inappropriate hours and completely unsure whether you're ahead, behind or somehow both, just know you're not alone. Your body isn't broken. Your brain isn't broken. You just work across multiple time zones.

Who needs jet lag?

I have a job.