I have a reputation online for reminding people that there is such a thing as the Mountain Time Zone, as I’m based in Colorado of the United States. We’re two hours “behind” Eastern, and one ahead of Pacific. (Yes, Central Time Zone, I see you too.) I’ve also been traveling quite a bit the last few months, and had issues with my computer not always automatically resetting even though it was set to do so…or even sometimes randomly reverted back to Eastern once I was home again. At that point, I found a way to have the clock ALWAYS show me the Eastern time zone, so I could see if the computer had screwed up again. Now, I’m using the same feature to help me out with a virtual conference I’m working.
This week’s conference is based in Denmark, and the company that hired me is in Eastern. Our spreadsheets feature those two time zones. I’m of course also translating things to my own time zone (as does the login view from the attendee side). I used a feature in Windows that I hadn’t realized was an option until recently. Now, when I hover over the clock in the bottom right corner of the computer screen, I see something like this:
Set this feature to whatever two time zones you like. When I was having issues with syncing, I set one to Mountain Time Zone just so I could doublecheck if “local” time was the same. Now I’ve set it to the two time zones I need for this conference. Here’s how you do that.
Right-click the clock in the bottom right corner, and you’ll get a menu, which includes “Adjust date/time” near the top. That will pop open a settings window for “Date & time.” Scroll down to Related Settings, and you’ll find “Add clocks for different time zones.”
Within this choice, you’ll get another pop-up window (shown below). The middle tab for “Additional Clocks” gives you the option of two additional time zones to add, what time zone to use for them, and the option to label them as you choose.
I now feel much more confident that I’m using the correct times for things! Now, to convince my body to wake up early enough this week. Even with some events not starting until 1:50p in Denmark, that’s 5:50am for me. Whee!
Update: Additional Website that Helps with Time Zones
I also like using Time.gov’s atomic time clock website, and would have it open on my computer for a nice visual of American time zones – particularly if I have something in my virtual conference going on autopilot at a given time. (When I’m doing things in person – particularly on a contract with union musicians – I may also have it open, or moreso use the Emerald Time app on my iPhone.)
