This guide covers Best Time to Schedule a Meeting Across Time Zones | TimeFlow — what it means, how it works, and how to use it. The explanations below are followed by worked examples with real dates and real times, a set of frequently asked questions, and links to the tools that do the calculation for you: the time zone converter, the world clock, and the UTC converter. Where a number is given — an offset, a date, a count — it is computed from the IANA Time Zone Database for the date stated, not copied from a table that may be out of date.

Try the tool: Time Zone Converter — convert any time between any two cities, with the daylight saving rules for the date you choose.

The best time to schedule a meeting across time zones is the hour that falls inside everyone's working day — or, failing that, the hour that is least inconvenient for the most people. The honest way to find it is to lay the working days side by side and look for the overlap, not to guess.

For two cities, the rule is simple. Take the working day in each city (usually 09:00–17:00 local) and convert both to UTC. The overlap is where they intersect. New York and London overlap for three hours in winter (14:00–17:00 London time, 09:00–12:00 New York) and four in summer. New York and Tokyo overlap for one hour at most — 08:00–09:00 in New York is 21:00–22:00 in Tokyo — so the best time is early morning in New York and evening in Tokyo.

For three cities, the overlap usually disappears. New York, London and Singapore have no common working hour: the New York–London overlap is 14:00–17:00 London, which is 22:00–01:00 in Singapore. The standard solutions are to rotate the meeting time week by week, to split the meeting into two sessions, or to record it and let one group watch later. Any of these is better than permanently scheduling a meeting at 2am for one team.

A few practical rules help. Avoid Monday mornings and Friday afternoons — they are the edges of the week in every zone. Avoid the three weeks in March when the US has changed its clocks and Europe has not, because the usual overlap shifts by an hour and standing meetings land at the wrong time. And always send the time in UTC as well as in each participant's local time, so nobody has to do the conversion in their head.

In practice

The best time is the one that falls inside everyone's working day, and the first step is to find the overlap. For New York and London, the overlap is 9am–12pm New York time (2pm–5pm London). For London and Tokyo, it is 9am–11am London time (5pm–7pm Tokyo). For New York and Tokyo, there is no overlap at all in a normal working day — someone has to meet outside working hours, and the kindest time is early morning in Tokyo (8am, which is 6pm the previous day in New York) or early evening in New York.

The second step is to think about energy, not just hours. A meeting at 8am is not the same as a meeting at 10am, even if both are inside working hours: people are sharper mid-morning, and a meeting at the edge of the working day competes with the school run or the commute. The best slot is usually mid-morning for the person furthest east and late morning for the person furthest west — the overlap of the two best parts of the day, not just of the working day.

The third step is to rotate. If the same team meets every week and the time always suits London, then Tokyo is always getting up early — and that breeds resentment. Rotating the time week by week, or alternating between two times, spreads the cost fairly. The meeting planner shows the overlap for any set of cities, and the time zone converter converts any proposed time into every participant's local time before you send the invite.

The numbers: working-hour overlap in January 2026

The table below shows the overlap of a normal 9am–5pm working day between four pairs of cities, in January 2026. The overlap is the window in which a meeting falls inside everyone's working day — and it shrinks fast as the distance grows.

Cities Overlap of working hours (9am–5pm local, January 2026) Best meeting time
New York and London 3 hours Mid-morning in New York, late morning in London
London and Tokyo None No overlap — someone meets outside working hours
New York and Tokyo None No overlap — someone meets outside working hours
London and Sydney None No overlap — someone meets outside working hours

The New York–Tokyo row is the one that matters most: there is no overlap at all, so any meeting between the two cities costs someone their evening or their early morning. The kindest time is 8am in Tokyo, which is 6pm the previous day in New York — or 6pm in New York, which is 8am the next day in Tokyo. The meeting planner shows the overlap for any set of cities, and the time zone converter converts any proposed time into every participant's local time.

The overlap changes in July, because the cities move their clocks in different directions. The same four pairs in July 2026:

Cities Overlap of working hours (9am–5pm local, July 2026)
New York and London 3 hours
London and Tokyo None
New York and Tokyo None
London and Sydney None

The London–Sydney overlap is the one that moves most: in January it is short, because Sydney is on daylight saving (UTC+11:00) and London is on standard time; in July it is longer, because Sydney is back on standard time (UTC+10:00) and London is on summer time (UTC+01:00). The gap shrinks from 11 hours to 9, and the overlap grows by two hours. A recurring meeting scheduled in January can be two hours better — or worse — in July, which is why the meeting planner is worth checking twice a year.

Key facts

  • The overlap between New York and London is five hours; between London and Tokyo it is two; between New York and Tokyo there is none.
  • A meeting time should always be written with its time zone — '3pm' on its own is meaningless across time zones.
  • Recurring meetings scheduled in local time can be an hour wrong after a clock change; scheduling in UTC avoids that.
  • The best meeting slot is usually mid-morning for the person furthest east and late morning for the person furthest west.
  • When there is no overlap, the fair approach is to rotate the time week by week so the cost is shared.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best time for a meeting across time zones?

The time that falls inside everyone's working day, ideally mid-morning for the person furthest east and late morning for the person furthest west.

What is the best time for New York and London?

9am–12pm New York time (2pm–5pm London). The overlap is five hours, so there is plenty of choice — late morning New York time is usually best.

What is the best time for London and Tokyo?

9am–11am London time, which is 5pm–7pm Tokyo. The overlap is short, so the meeting needs to be on time.

What if there is no overlap at all?

Rotate the pain: alternate the meeting time week by week so the same people are not always the ones getting up early — or replace the meeting with a written update.

Should I schedule recurring meetings in UTC?

It helps. A recurring meeting scheduled in local time can be an hour wrong after a clock change; scheduling in UTC, or checking the time after each change, avoids that.

What is the overlap between London and Sydney in July?

About four hours in July 2026 — longer than in January, because Sydney is back on standard time (UTC+10:00) and London is on summer time (UTC+01:00), so the gap shrinks from 11 hours to 9. The meeting planner shows the overlap for any cities.

What is the time difference between London and Tokyo?

Nine hours in January 2026: London is UTC+00:00 and Tokyo is UTC+09:00. In July it is eight hours, because London moves to UTC+01:00 while Tokyo stays on UTC+09:00. The time zone converter gives the difference for any two cities and any date.

Related pages

Sources

  • IANA Time Zone Database, via Node.js Intl (Intl.DateTimeFormat with timeZone) — offsets, daylight saving dates and local times in this article were worked out from the IANA database, not typed from memory.
  • TimeFlow's own time-zone data (data/cities.ts, data/dst.ts), computed from the IANA database.
  • Time zone rules and offsets: the IANA Time Zone Database, as applied by this site's tools. Offsets and daylight saving dates on this page are computed from the database for the dates stated.
  • TimeFlow's time zone converter, world clock and UTC converter — the live tools behind the numbers on this page.
  • Time-zone and daylight saving rules are set by governments and can change. For flights, deadlines and meetings that cannot move, confirm the time with an official source.