What time is it for …? Find a time when nobody is asleep

By Kevin Buhl Jakobsen · Everything is worked out in your browser; nothing is saved or sent

How time zones work

The Earth is divided into time zones so the sun is roughly highest around noon everywhere. Most zones are whole hours apart, but not all: India is 5½ hours ahead of world time (UTC), and some places in Australia and Asia use half or quarter hours. That's why this tool uses your browser's own up-to-date time-zone data (the IANA database) instead of guessing.

Summer time makes it tricky

In the EU, clocks go forward one hour on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October. The USA and Canada change on other dates (the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November), and most countries in Asia and Africa don't change at all. So for a couple of weeks every spring and autumn, the difference to New York is an hour less than usual. The tool takes care of that automatically.

Good habits when friends live in other time zones

Read more in our article Keeping a friendship alive across time zones.

• Find a regular time that suits both of you, like Sunday evening for you and Sunday afternoon for them. Regular times make it easier to keep in touch.
• Write the time zone when you arrange something ("8 p.m. Danish time"), so nobody turns up an hour early.
• Use messages and voice notes for things that aren't urgent. They can be read when it suits.
• Look after your own sleep. Night owls are often the ones taking the late calls. A late call now and then is fine, but if it shifts your rhythm every week, read about social jetlag.

"Probably asleep" is a guess from the clock (11 p.m.–7 a.m.). Night owls live everywhere.