I recently worked on a project with a team based on the west coast. I’ve never been really good at time travel or collaborating in a different time zone. This time I decided to try something different.
I downloaded a virtual machine, installed the necessary software and changed the time zone to Pacific time. All of my applications, including email and calendar, are set to match the clock time of all other members of the team. It has definitely helped with communication, even something as minor as discussing when to break for lunch.
The VM pictured below is Windows 11. I have Windows 10 installed on my machine so this also gives me an opportunity to test out Windows 11 without committing to new drivers. 😑
When I need to switch to my normal time zone, it is as easy as minimizing the virtual machine window (running in VMWare) and working on my desktop.
I have used VMs to access software that I did not have licenses for but never considered using it to align with a team time zone. I cannot believe I didn’t think of this before!
Got something to share about how you are doing your best work virtually? Send me a message and let me know! Let’s share ideas!
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