Do you think traveling and living in Europe for months at a time is off-limits because you have a successful career in the United States?

Well, let me change your mind…

Here are two things I know for certain:

1) Life is short

and

2) The future of work is remote.

That is why it’s never been easier to fulfill your travel dreams by leveraging the power of remote working.

With a few pieces of information and a real-world example, you will be on your way to making your European travel dreams a reality without sacrificing your career or waiting for retirement.

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Time Zones

Time zone differences might seem like a concern for US workers thinking about working remotely in Europe, but it’s actually an advantage!

Let’s quickly recap the different time zones in the US and in Europe and then review how they align with the US business day.

United States

Most of the US is comprised of 4 different time zones: Eastern (ET), Central (CT), Mountain (MT), and Pacific (PT). Each time zone is 1 hour apart, starting with ET: CT is 1 hour behind ET, MT is 1 hour behind CT, and PT is 1 hour behind MT.

For example, there’s a 3-hour time difference between New York City on the East Coast and Los Angeles on the West Coast.

Here is a map from the US Map Guide to help you visualize the time zones in the US:

Europe

Most of Europe is made up of 3 time zones, each 1 hour apart: Western European (WET), Central European (CET) and Eastern European Standard (EET). WET is 1 hour behind CET which is 1 hour behind EET.

For example, there is a 2-hour time difference between Athens, Greece in EET and London, England in WET.

Here is a map from TimeTemperature.com to help you visualize the time zones in Europe:

Depending on where you are in Europe, you will be 5, 6, or 7 hours ahead of people on the East Coast in the US.

For example, the UK is 5 hours ahead, Italy is 6 hours ahead, and Greece is 7 hours ahead.

The US Workday

Now let’s look at how business hours on the East Coast of the US translate to the 3 European time zones.

Here is a table of US business hours in ET and the equivalent times in Europe:

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Types of Work

A conversation about working across different time zones wouldn’t be complete without a quick discussion on the different types of work that have emerged in the past 2-3 years.

There are two types of work you need to be aware of and thinking about when traveling and working remotely outside your company’s time zone: synchronous and asynchronous work.

Synchronous

Synchronous work can be defined as tasks that are completed with participants at the same time with real-time back and forth communication.

Here are some simple examples of synchronous work at the leadership level of an organization:

• Real-time collaboration & brainstorming meetings
• All-hands meetings
• Team meetings
• Customer or client calls

Asynchronous

Alternatively, asynchronous work can be defined as tasks that focus on goals and contributions, not activity and presence. The timing of this type of work can be completed and reviewed on an individual’s unique schedule.

Here are some simple examples of asynchronous work at the leadership level of an organization:

• Developing strategic vision
• Reading & writing emails & memos
• Educational reading or learning
• Staying up-to-date on current events

One of the hottest topics circling the corporate world is the concept of re-thinking and re-imagining how we complete  synchronous work.

As companies continue to accept and adopt more remote work arrangements, we will see more teams distributed across varying time zones. Because of this global distribution of workers, we are also going to need to figure out how to complete more of our work in an asynchronous manner.

To boil all this down, we can expect to spend MORE time working asynchronously and LESS time working synchronously in the future.

Ken Yarmosh, a fractional COO, who has run high-performing remote teams for the last decade, advises companies about how to get started with asynchronous collaboration. He defines it this way:

It’s a calmer way to work where there’s no expectation to respond immediately. Knowledge workers get to focus on creating knowledge instead of managing messaging apps and sitting in meetings all day.

As you will see in the following example, the European lifestyle is well-suited for those who work both synchronously and asynchronously.

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Real-world Example

My partner and I are full-time travelers, and we run US businesses that require both synchronous and asynchronous work. We’ve also spent a significant portion of the last 3 years living and working remotely from Europe.

We find the time zone difference between the US and Europe to be ideal for a happy and healthy lifestyle!

To help demonstrate why we like spending time living and working in Europe, here is a breakdown of our typical workday in Europe:

8:00-9:30

Wake up without an alarm and get ready for the day.

9:30-12:30

Enjoy coffee and a croissant while planning the day and working on asynchronous tasks.

12:30-2:00

Enjoy a local lunch and any of the following:

• • • Hiking in nature
    • Biking around town
    • Doing tourist things in the area
    • Relaxing by the pool/sea
    • Reading/writing/listening to podcasts
    • Going to the gym to workout 
    • Continue working asynchronous tasks

2:00-7:00

Work on synchronous tasks now that the business day is open in the US. [We also work on asynchronous tasks between our synchronous work.]

7:00-9:00

Enjoy a local dinner (and maybe a glass of wine or two).

9:00-11:00

Complete any synchronous work if needed, continue asynchronous work, read/write/listen to podcasts, or just call it a day and go to bed.

As you can see, living in Europe while running our US businesses offers us a really great lifestyle.

We complete our asynchronous work in the morning (and throughout the day as needed).  Then, we complete our synchronous work in the afternoon and evenings when the time is aligned with US business hours.

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Conclusion

Well, there you have it…

Everything you need to know to leverage the time zone difference to effectively work from Europe.

If you’re interested in joining our private online community of corporate executives like you who are fulfilling their dreams of travel, join us HERE.

So, now I’d love to hear from you…

If time zone differences are no longer a roadblock, what holds YOU back from achieving your dreams of travel?