When I started working with a team spread across San Francisco, London, and Singapore, I realized I had no idea what time it was for my colleagues. I'd send a message at 9am my time, not realizing it was 2am in Singapore.
The obvious fix was world clocks. But where do you put them?
Options I Tried
Phone clock app — I added secondary clocks. But I never check my phone when I'm deep in work, so I'd forget they existed.
Sticky notes — Wrote the time zones on a Post-it. But time zones shift relative to mine depending on daylight saving, and I'd have the wrong offset half the year.
Browser bookmarks to a timezone converter — Better, but required opening a tab and doing mental math each time.
Browser extension with world clocks on new tab — This is what stuck. Every time I open a new tab (which happens constantly during the day), I see the current time in each city.
Why New Tab Works for This
The new tab page is unique: you see it briefly dozens of times per day, then move on. It's not a tab you keep open — it's a moment of context.
That makes it perfect for ambient information like time zones. You don't need to do anything to see it. You open a new tab, you glance, you've got context.
Compare to a sidebar tool or a widget: those require the app to be running and you to remember to look. A new tab clock just appears.
Weather & Clock Dashboard
The extension I use is Weather & Clock Dashboard for Firefox. It shows:
- Local weather with 3-day forecast
- Multiple world clocks, each labeled with the city
- A search bar
The world clocks update automatically — no manual offset entry. If you add "Singapore" it figures out the UTC offset itself.
Setup took about 3 minutes:
- Install from Firefox Add-Ons
- Open a new tab
- Click the settings gear
- Add cities by name in the world clocks section
Who This Helps Most
Remote workers with teammates in different zones are the obvious case. But it's also useful for:
- Freelancers working with international clients
- Travel planners checking if calls are reasonable for all parties
- Developers deploying or running standups across time zones
- Anyone who coordinates with family or friends abroad
The common thread: you need to frequently answer "what time is it there right now?" without it becoming a workflow interruption.
The Small Details That Matter
One thing I appreciate: the world clocks show day too, not just time. 11pm in London and 8am in Sydney — obvious it's different days, but it helps when scheduling "the same day" calls.
The weather is a bonus I didn't think I needed. It's useful for context ("ah, they're dealing with a storm, might be distracted") but honestly I look at the clocks more.
If your work involves even occasional cross-timezone coordination, a new tab world clock is one of those tools that stops feeling optional pretty quickly.
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