How to work across multiple time zones with Google Calendar

Today we started working with a new contact in Japan, we knew instantly there was going to be limited opportunity to virtually meet at a time that worked for both of us but instead of trying to count on GMT+9 every time we use the Time Zone feature in Google Calendar.

What it does:

As you can see from the image below I have two columns, one showing my time zone and the other showing Japan's. You can display two time zones in this way, but you can also have the world clock gadget showing a time zone below your month view.

How do I do it?

1. In your calendar screen, go to the settings wheel (cog) in the top right

2. Click 'Settings'

3. Scroll down to the 'Time zone' section, tick 'Display secondary time zone' and choose from the drop-down list.

How can that help us?

It can make organising meetings with people in other time zones much easier, you can change the displayed time zone at any time by following the steps above. We find ourselves going from the USA to Canada to Denmark then Japan before returning to the UK time zone, all in an afternoon!