So I got a call from a buddy in Guinea this morning. He wanted to schedule our video chat properly but we always mess up the timing. Figured I needed a foolproof way to handle this London-Conakry time difference without Googling every single time.
The Starting Point Confusion
Grabbed my phone thinking it’d be simple. London shows GMT+1 now cause of summer time. Then I searched Conakry – it said Greenwich Mean Time. Thought “okay same zone, easy!” Almost set the meeting until I remembered Guinea doesn’t do daylight savings nonsense. That’s when my old method crashed hard.
Flipping Through World Clocks
Opened my world clock app comparing both cities side-by-side. Right now, London’s 10:43 AM and Conakry’s 9:43 AM. Scrolled back to February screenshots – both showed same time during winter. Finally clicked: Guinea’s permanently glued to GMT while London jumps between GMT and GMT+1.
The Lightbulb Moment Pattern:
- From late October to late March → Same damn time
- Rest of the year → London’s 1 hour ahead
Building My Quick Method
Started scribbling on a sticky note: “Guinea always GMT. London GMT (winter) OR GMT+1 (summer)”. Slapped it near my monitor. Tested with random dates – Christmas? Both GMT. July? London ahead. Realized I can eyeball it based on UK’s clock changes.
Now I instantly know: if Brits are on summer time, subtract an hour from London time for Conakry. Otherwise, identical timing. Way better than my old “uhh wait let me check” routine. Feels good to crush timezone math!
