Notes on connecting people and ideas across time zones.
How Butterlag works across a 13-hour gap
· Working remotely · 3 min read
Mongolia stays on the same clock all year, while Chicago moves its clocks forward in spring and back in autumn. That means the difference between our two cities is 13 hours for most of the year and 14 hours in the winter months.
A few habits make that gap work in our favor:
Write the hand-off down. Before signing off, each side leaves a short note: what’s done, what’s next and what’s blocked.
Protect a shared hour. Early morning in Chicago overlaps with late evening in Ulaanbaatar. We keep that window for conversations that really need everyone at once.
Always say both times. “9:00 Chicago / 22:00 Ulaanbaatar” prevents more confusion than any calendar app.
Why “Let’s connect” is more than a sign-off at Butterlag
· Our approach · 2 min read
“Let’s connect” can sound like something people say at the end of a meeting and never follow through on. For us it is a commitment. When someone reaches out, the most valuable thing we can offer is a real reply from a real person.
That means answering the actual question, saying so when we don’t know something, and making the next step obvious. Small courtesies like these are what turn a single message into a long-term working relationship.
How Butterlag keeps it simple
· Notes · 2 min read
The tools we use change all the time, but the basics don’t: a clear message, an honest timeline and a friendly follow-up. Before adding a new process, we ask one question: does this make it easier for the people we work with?
If the answer is no, we leave it out. Simple isn’t the same as easy, but it is almost always better.