Bali sunrise views are nice, but 3 AM work calls are killing me

I moved to Bali to mix work and travel, but my team back in Europe keeps scheduling meetings at 3 AM my time. Last Tuesday, I had a big project review and slept through my alarm. When I woke up, I found five missed calls and a panicked email from my boss. Now I'm stuck playing catch-up while everyone else is at the beach. Why do companies act like time zones don't exist when you work remote? I love this life, but some days it feels like I'm just working in a different time zone, not living a dream. How do you all deal with this without going crazy?

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3 Comments

julia_butler6mo ago

Actually, companies know time zones exist, they just expect remote workers to handle it. The real issue is not setting hard limits early on. You have to block your calendar for sleep and tell your boss those hours are non-negotiable. If a 3 am call is a true emergency once in a while, fine, but making it a regular thing means your work setup is broken. Maybe propose recording the meeting for you to watch later, or shift one important sync to a time that works for both zones.

2

miac436mo ago

I blocked my calendar and stuck to it, no exceptions.

5

hannah9195mo ago

Honestly the bigger issue is when your own team in the same time zone schedules late calls just because they work weird hours.

1