The Impact of Time Zones on Your Productivity

Time zones are not a common thought when you think about your day-to-day tasks and the manner in which you will go about managing them. Although it is not something that you can control, time zones can significantly affect your productivity and you can enhance your work life with a few easy tips and tricks despite this impact.

For instance, if you are a resident of the United States, your overall productivity could depend on the area where you live. According to several studies conducted by experts, people in the Mountain and Central time zones are 4% more likely to be up and about at 7:00 am. Moreover, they are 3.5% more likely to be at their place of work by 8:00 am. But what if when they need to work with people in distinct time zone. At that time, many people use time zone converter to get accurate time zone differences. Although this might sound like an insignificant piece of information, the difference is actually people in paramount regions have been known to be much more productive.

On the flip side, people who live in a time zone of the Pacific are 5% more likely to be up and about at 7:00 am as compared to people who come from the Eastern time zone. Researchers have also discovered that people who come from the Eastern time zone start working much later than the ones who are in the Central. This means that Easterners are much more likely to start working over lunch, possibly erasing the gaps in productivity. It is interesting to note here that another study that took place in Indiana from the years 1997 to 2006 showed a clear correlation between the SAT scores of students and the local time policy, showing that students scored lower when they were in Daylight Savings Time.

On the other hand, if you live in Europe, you might have heard of the attempt of Spain to modify its time zone to increase productivity. The commission of the Spanish Government states that Spaniards sleep an hour less than what is recommended by the World Health Organization because they must be in a similar time zone as Portugal and the UK as opposed to Central European Time.

It cannot be disputed that little sleep is related to absenteeism, accidents, stress, and loss of productivity. In addition to that, in Spain, the timetable is determined by the sun more than by the clock. They have their lunch at 1:00 pm as well as their dinner at 8:00 pm as per the sun. However, according to the clock, it is 3:00 pm and 10:00 pm respectively.

Recently, Russia went on to reduce its time zones to nine from eleven. The country has also settled the debate of late over daylight saving time versus standard time by adopting permanent daylight saving time when it comes to all its nine time zones. Chile is another interesting example as they use the eastern time zone of their stipulated standard time. Moreover, they use daylight saving time each summer and spring for an extended period so that they can conserve energy.

3 Great Ways to Increase Productivity, No Matter Where You Are in The World

Let us check out three of the top ways to increase your productivity regardless of where you are in the world!

● Find and make the most of your time of the day when you feel the most productive. According to a study, people are the most productive on Monday mornings at 10:01 am. Hence, it is important to find out and above that, respect your peak hours so that you can arrange your daily schedule as well as to-do list accurately and accordingly.

● Use music! Even though you might need to wear sunglasses at 9:00 pm in your specific time zone, you can use music to best boost your productivity and power through your daily tasks.

● Make to-do lists that work for you. Regardless of your time zone, always make sure that your to-do list is properly organized and you have color codes, sub-tasks as well as breaks so that you can make it work for you and be your most productive self at all times.

Final Words

Are you someone who has also felt your productivity being hindered by your time zone? Do you usually convert time zones using online sources to feel less anxious about a certain time of the day? Let us know the time of day you feel the most productive! We would love to hear from you.