I’ve spent most of my life in the eastern time zone—even Michigan, to many people’s surprise, is on EST. One of the most discombobulating things about moving to New Orleans has been being on central time. When a New York client wants to do a 9am conference call, that’s 8am for me—a time when I like to be at the gym (or deep in snoozeland), not talking through research results.

In New Orleans, when I wake up in the morning, I already feel behind. I usually wake up to dozens of emails, and often end up cutting my envisioned hour-long workout to half an hour, skipping the yoga and meditation that grounds me for the day, and really shortchanging myself.

Why don’t I get up earlier, you ask? Good question. I could do that….or I could work from Buenos Aires! I’ve been here since right after Christmas, and there are a lot of things I love: the energy, the architecture, the graffiti, the temperature (it’s summer in the Southern hemisphere), the food, the wine…and being two hours AHEAD of east coast time!

That’s right. If I wake up at 7:30, I can work out, sit for meditation, have a relaxing breakfast on my beautiful terrace, and STILL start working by 10 a.m. local time—when New York is just getting going. If I oversleep, I don’t wake up in a blind panic that a client is trying to reach me and is feeling ignored. I have an hour or two in the morning (my best thinking time) to write and work without any interruptions.

So in just my short time here, BA has been great for my spirit and my work. What more can I ask for?