Best Meeting Times Across US, Europe & Asia
Find the best overlap hours for scheduling meetings across US, European, and Asian time zones, with practical examples for remote teams and global calls.
The Challenge
Scheduling a meeting between New York, London, and Tokyo means you’re spanning a 14-hour gap. There’s no single time when everyone is comfortably in their working hours — but there are smart compromises.
US ↔ Europe: The Easy One
US Eastern and Western Europe have a comfortable 5–6 hour overlap:
| EST (New York) | CET (Paris/Berlin) | Works? |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00 AM | 1:00 PM | ✅ Early for US |
| 8:00 AM | 2:00 PM | ✅ Good |
| 9:00 AM | 3:00 PM | ✅ Best slot |
| 10:00 AM | 4:00 PM | ✅ Good |
| 11:00 AM | 5:00 PM | ⚠️ End of day for Europe |
| 12:00 PM | 6:00 PM | ❌ After hours for Europe |
Best window: 9–11 AM EST / 3–5 PM CET
For US West Coast → Europe, subtract 3 hours — the window narrows to 6–8 AM PST / 3–5 PM CET.
US ↔ Asia: The Hard One
US Eastern and Japan Standard Time have almost zero overlap during business hours:
| EST (New York) | JST (Tokyo) | Works? |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00 AM | 9:00 PM | ❌ Night in Tokyo |
| 8:00 PM | 10:00 AM (+1d) | ⚠️ Evening US / Morning Tokyo |
| 9:00 PM | 11:00 AM (+1d) | ⚠️ Late evening US |
Best compromise: 8–9 PM EST = 10–11 AM JST (next day)
One side has to take an off-hours meeting. For US West Coast teams, it’s slightly better: 5–6 PM PST = 10–11 AM JST.
Europe ↔ Asia: The Middle Ground
London and Tokyo have a 1-hour overlap if you stretch working hours:
| GMT (London) | JST (Tokyo) | Works? |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00 AM | 4:00 PM | ✅ Early London, late Tokyo |
| 8:00 AM | 5:00 PM | ⚠️ End of day Tokyo |
| 9:00 AM | 6:00 PM | ❌ After hours Tokyo |
Best window: 7–8 AM GMT / 4–5 PM JST
Three-Way Meetings (US + Europe + Asia)
There is essentially no good time for a three-way meeting across all three regions. The most common strategies:
- Rotate the pain — alternate between times that inconvenience each region
- Async-first — use recorded updates and written summaries
- Hub-and-spoke — have one person bridge two calls instead of one large meeting
If forced to pick one time: 8 AM EST / 2 PM CET / 10 PM JST — Europe is comfortable, US starts early, Asia takes that late evening.
Tips for International Scheduling
- Use “ET” and “PT” instead of EST/EDT to avoid DST confusion
- Include the UTC offset in calendar invites (e.g., “3 PM ET (UTC−05:00)”)
- Set a date — DST transitions can shift the difference by an hour
- Use our overlap indicator — our converter shows working hours overlap for any timezone pair
Try the Overlap Indicator
Our timezone converter has a built-in working hours overlap indicator that shows the green band where both locations have 9 AM–5 PM working hours.