What I do so I don't specify a time zone is,
System.out.println("ldt " + LocalDateTime.now().atZone(ZoneId.systemDefault()).toInstant().toEpochMilli());
System.out.println("ctm " + System.currentTimeMillis());
gives
ldt 1424812121078
ctm 1424812121281
As you can see the numbers are the same except for a small execution time.
Just in case you don't like System.currentTimeMillis, use Instant.now().toEpochMilli()