Daniel Pink explores how to become the master of your when. We assume that timing is an art. In When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Pink shows that timing is a science.
He starts this book by describing the fluctuations of our mood during the day. There is a peak, a trough, and a rebound. In the peaks—which for most of us is in the morning—we are at our sharpest. This is when analytical work is best. During this peak, we’re better at analytic work, work that requires heads-down focus, vigilance, attention, batting away distractions – auditing a financial statement, writing a legal brief. Then a trough follows lunch. This is the time to focus on administrative tasks. In the recovery phase, in the late afternoon, we are open to insights involving abstract ideas. This is the time for creative things because we’re in a slightly better mood, but we’re less inhibited. Then our spirits rise again in the evening after work.
There is an exception to this rule, and that is our friends who are “owls.” Those of us who are strong night owls go in the reverse order. To determine where you fall on the lark-owl chronotype scale, find out the midpoint between when you wake up and when you go to bed. Or you can take this quiz to find out where you land on the scale.
Surgery errors occur much more often in the afternoon. So do parole revocations in front of a judge. If you can avoid matters that require analytical thought in the afternoon, then do it.
Researchers found that quarterly earnings calls were negative when made in the afternoon and positive in the morning, regardless of the fundamentals reported. NYU studied 26,000 quarterly earnings calls to reach this conclusion. I won’t be giving analytical presentations in the afternoon if I can avoid it!
The incidence of handwashing inside of hospitals dramatically drops in the afternoon. You look at colonoscopies – endoscopists find half as many polyps in colonoscopies in afternoon exams versus morning exams even with the same population – doctors more likely to prescribe unnecessary antibiotics in the afternoon than in the morning.
The Start.
How do you start your day? Pink’s research suggests you should get as much sunlight as possible the first thing in the morning, as this is a signal to your body to stop producing sleep hormones and start creating alertness. You should not drink caffeine immediately after you wake up in the morning because it interferes with the production of cortisol. Instead, drink a glass of water to re-hydrate. Drink coffee 60-90 minutes after waking up. In the afternoon, at 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm., drink coffee again.
How do you avoid false starts? Instead of a post-mortem performed when the patient is already dead, it is best to start with a “premortem.” By imagining failure before it happens, we anticipate some of the problems to avoid before the project begins. So before the start of a project, ask your team, “What went wrong?” by assuming it is 18 months from now, and this project was a disaster.
Do you need a fresh start? There are 86 days that naturally provide a fresh start. Use these social and personal temporal landmarks to create new beginnings. For example, the first day of the month, Mondays, a birthday, the first day of school, the first day back from vacation, or your anniversary.
When to Go First?
- If you’re on a ballot (county commissioner, prom queen, the Oscars), being listed first gives you an edge.
- If you’re not the default choice—for example, if you’re pitching against a firm that already has the account you’re seeking—going first can help you get a fresh look from the decision-makers.
- If there are relatively few competitors (say, five or fewer), going first can help you take advantage of the “primacy effect,” the tendency people have to remember the first thing in a series better than those that come later.
- If you’re interviewing for a job and you’re up against several strong candidates, you might gain an edge from being first.
When NOT to go first?
- If you are the default choice, don’t go first.
- If there are many competitors (not necessarily strong ones, just a large number of them), going later can confer a small advantage, and going last can confer a huge one.
- If you’re operating in an uncertain environment, not being first can work to your benefit.
- If the competition is meager, going toward the end can give you an edge by highlighting your differences.
You need a break.
Breaks are the answer. The most productive people work for 52 minutes straight, then take a 17-minute break. Pink suggests adding breaks to your calendar, just like any other meeting. Professionals take breaks, amateurs don’t.
Ideal Breaks. The perfect break is moving, with a colleague, outside, and entirely detached from discussing work. The best break is a “nappuccino.” It is a cup of coffee followed by a 10-to-20-minute nap. That time avoids sleep inertia that makes you tired after longer naps. You feel refreshed. Drink coffee before the rest, and the caffeine will kick in 25 minutes later. The best time for your nap is seven hours after waking up. That’s because our worst decisions are made at that time.
Eat. Lunch, not breakfast, is the most important meal of the day. Great lunches have two elements — autonomy and detachment. You must have the opportunity to exercise control over what you do, how you do it, and who you do it with. And you must be detached from work so that you can refocus after lunch. This means staying off your phone.
Timers. Before you start a task, set a timer. Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. If you are working at a computer, this short break will rest your eyes and improve posture, thereby fighting fatigue. Pink calls this the 20-20-20 rule.
Move. Stand up for a minute, shake your arms and legs, flex your muscles, rotate your core, and then sit back down.
The Middle.
Sometimes midpoints stall us; other times, they motivate us. Pink outlines how to use the middle to create a spark instead of a slump.
Midlife crises are real. Happiness climbs into early adulthood, and then starts a downward trend in the late thirties, with a low in the fifties. Then people quickly recover from that slump with happiness later in life higher than it has ever been.
When you’re in the middle, publicly commit to your goals. If you’re writing, stop a sentence halfway through it because it will help you begin the next time that you pick it up. Print out a calendar and mark off every day that you’re working towards your goal. With that physical reminder, it will motivate you not to break the chain of the days in the middle.
Be aware that every story has a middle. Don’t let it be invisible. Use the center to wake up rather than rollover. At that midpoint, imagine you are behind, but only by a little bit. And picture one person that will benefit from your efforts in the middle of a challenging project, and it will deepen your dedication to the work.
The End.
We want endings that are poignant, not happy. Good endings discard what we wanted and give us what we need. In fact, adding a small amount of sadness to an otherwise happy moment elevates that moment rather than diminishing it.
Endings of all types shape our behavior in four ways: by energizing, editing, encoding, and elevating. This is why someone who is 49 is four times more likely to run a marathon than someone who is just one year older. At the start of something, we are energized by how far we have progressed. And at the end, we are excited by the small gap remaining. The most intense moment, the peak is what we remember. But we also remember the ending.
Plan your endings to be unique. End that next vacation with a bang, do something special at the end of the school year, surprise customers at the end of their purchase.
At the end of each workday, take the last five minutes to bring the day to a poignant close. During the first two minutes, write down what you accomplished since the morning. During the next two minutes, make your plan for tomorrow. And use that last minute to send anyone a thank you email.
I used to believe in the value of happy endings. Now I think that the power of endings rests not in their unmitigated sunniness but in their poignancy and meaning.
Hammer Time
When is a compelling book with a lot of insight and practical ideas. But it did not keep me as interested as other books by this same author. Ironically, it does not have the unique special ending that he advocates in this book. It just ends. You will learn a lot in this book. But it is longer than it should be. I give it four out of five hammers!
This is a Goodreads win review. This book having perfect timing for everything in your life.. He talks about the patterns we have every day.
Thank you so much for those insights, Kumar. They are very helpful.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Studying the “when” is an interesting idea for sure. I didn’t think about timing until this post. I’ll think about it a lot more now.
Miranda, timing can be a simple matter or a highly elaborate one. Think of those food delivery workers who fan out across Mumbai each day. They are guided by the careful communication of information that “allows the walas to anticipate one another’s actions and move in harmony.”
Miranda, I didn’t think about those either until reading this book. I recommend it.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
I am fascinated by when people do things. It sounds like this book unpacks a lot of secrets about timing that I did not know existed. Thanks for teaching me something today sir.
Me too. I appreciate your comment, Jamie!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
It’s good to read about timing. Never in history have we had so much timing data to analyze. The things that we learn from it are fascinating, aren’t they? Hamilton Lindley, I would like to see you write some of your own insights though. Book reviews are great, but more personal stories would be even better. Thanks for reading.
Hey Jacob, the answer is that morning are when good things happen, while afternoons are times of flagging energy, surliness, and negativity. Perhaps surprisingly, the afternoon is also the time when ethical lapses are likeliest to occur, with some variation depending on one’s “chronotype.”
Jacob, You’re right. We have so much now. It’s interesting to analyze all this data.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
I didn’t realize that there were so many similar elements to success, Hamilton Lindley. I thought it was random. Because it sure doesn’t seem like the best get the recognition that they deserve. Thanks for bringing this interesting book to my attention.
Garrick, because human beings are not inexhaustible supplies of energy, we need that recharge with a nap. It is really important. And the whole idea of brakes is foreign to the American working tradition. I changed my ideas on this because of this When book.
Thanks, Andy. Welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Good. Glad this helps you Garrick!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Timing is going to help perform better at work and contribute more to my company. Thanks Hamilton Lindley.
You’re welcome. Welcome to the Hammer Blog.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Hamilton Lindley, you’ve done a good job of summarizing the information in this book. Thanks for for sharing it.
I’m glad that you think so, Doug. It’s a good book.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Since I seem to have the worst timing in the world, I really liked this post Hamilton Lindley. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Haha! That’s funny Emma. I’m glad that it helped you.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Hamilton Lindley, thanks for putting this article together about perfect timing. When looks like another great book by Dan Pink. I really like him as an author too.
I could not agree more, Dwight.
I’m glad that you appreciate it, Dwight!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Good job synthesizing When, the Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Hamilton Lindley. This was fun, engaging and informative.
Hi Ray,
By reading this book I learned how to make my days better through restorative breaks, how to better deal with fluctuations that affect long-term projects, and how to bring things to a successful close.
People with naturally late body clocks are 10 percent more likely to die over a given period than early birds who rise with the sun. So wake up people!
Glad that y’all liked it.
Sincerely,
Hamilton P Lindley
Hamilton Lindley this was great. Thanks for making this such a simple concept to understand.
Grace, I liked that honoring one’s natural rhythm by doing the “right things at the right time” during the day makes things more effective. The book is a nice read. But I recommend first reading the “guidebook” at the end of each chapter to see what to actually do.
In a group of 300 people in Utah, one of my studies showed that 134 or 44% were morning types, 96 or 32% were evening types and 24% were undifferentiated.
It’s good that it touched you. Welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
I liked reading about the secrets of perfect timing from you, Hamilton Lindley. Your article was interesting and fun. What did you get from the book that you haven’t already mentioned here?
Katie: with a group of sixth graders today I read aloud the introduction to WHEN about Captain Turner’s decision on the Lusitania. I asked the students to close their eyes and picture in their heads the sinking of the ship. And it was a very productive exercise about critical thinking. I can’t wait to read the rest of it.
I’ve read other studies that debunked some of the pseudo-science in Dan Pink’s book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. The early riser is called the lion; the middle, which is a bear; the late evening people, which are wolves; and then there are the insomniacs, which are dolphins.
Lions rarely have problems in the mornings because they’re my early risers. They get up around 5:30 and they’re ready to go. Lions should exercise in the afternoon or early evenings. It turns out that if they exercise later, it actually helps them extend their day and they can stay up a little later because, socially, that’s become a problem for lions.
For dolphins — those late-night loving, problem sleepers — it’s important to eat a high-protein breakfast. An omelet with avocado, for example, would be a good choice.
For bears, fun-loving people with easy-going attitudes, it’s important to wake up without hitting the snooze button. Bears should then drink a glass of water before they reach for a cup of coffee.
We’re very intentional about what we do,” said Pink. “We’re intentional about who we do things with — that’s why we have HR departments. We’re intentional about how we do things. But when it comes to when we’re kind of loosey-goosey about it.”
I hope to mention it all here. Welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Timing is something that I have been studying for a long time. I think that Dan Pink has missed a few important parts. But maybe I learn more by reading this book. In any regard, thank you for making me aware of this book for my studies, Hamilton Lindley.
Riley,
I thought I was good at time management. And then I read Dan’s new book. Now I realize that I knew nothing about the science of timing or true productivity.
What is Pink missing, Riley? I’d love to hear more!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Philip Lindley
This article has great ideas about timing.
It is. Thanks for commenting, Jefferson. Welcome to the Hammer Blog.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Timing is critical in planning. It’s fascinating to see it as a science. Thanks for writing this. I think I’ll check out the book.
Pink cited examples of time-of-day effects in the world of medicine:
Anesthesia errors are 4 times more likely at 3 p.m. than 9 a.m.
The crucial act of hospital workers washing their hands drops as the day goes on.
In colonoscopies, they find half as many polyps in afternoon exams as in morning exams.
Doctors are more likely to prescribe unnecessary antibiotics in the afternoon than in the morning.
Study of timing is an important part of my career. Dan Pink has made sense of a lot of the things that confused me about it.
I did some research on the sleep patterns of Americans after reading When by Dan Pink.
Larks (early risers) = 14% of the population.
Third birds = 65% of population.
Owls (late risers) = 21% of population.
Interesting, Michael!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
The science of timing is a great study. This will help me assign better work and do better scheduling my own day. Thanks for sharing this article about When we should do things, Hamilton Lindley.
Good. That’s just what I hope it will do for you, Oliver.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
The science of timing is a good measurement of how to make your day better. This was a good read. I’ll have to pick up a copy of When soon.
Pink’s talk, like his new book, was about the oft-overlooked importance of when we do things. Among the questions he would answer, either at the talk or in his book, were:
When should you exercise — early or later in the day?
Why should you never go to the hospital or schedule an important doctor’s appointment in the afternoon?
Why does beginning your career in a recession depress your wages 20 years later?
Why do both human beings and great apes experience a slump in midlife?
Why is singing in a choir good for you?
When during the year is your spouse most likely to file for divorce? “One of them is next month,” quipped Pink. “Check your email.”
I hope that you will. You won’t regret it.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
I got through this book quickly. I kept wanting to see what was next.
Me too! Thanks Edgar.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Pink uses research and great storytelling to teach us about time and the science of when. I now think differently about timing, productivity, and teamwork.
Good ideas, Mike.
Thanks, Mike!
Sincerely,
Hamilton P Lindley
This is an amazing book! I’ve listened to WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing audiobook THREE TIMES.
Getting the audiobook is a great idea. I wish that I would have thought of that, Joseph.
Sincerely,
Hamilton P Lindley
“Everything is timing”, so concludes the author. And you know that this ending was especially poignant because endings are a key component of when.
That was a good ending sentence. Welcome to the Hammer Blog, Leonard!
Another exceptional work. If you are curious about the effect of timing on your life, read Daniel Pink’s book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.
Readers of this book will be able to solve this riddle:
Ernesto is a dealer in antique coins. One day, someone brings in a beautiful bronze coin. The coin has an emperor’s head on one side and the date 544 BC stamped on the other. Ernesto examines the coin, and instead of buying it, calls the police instead. Why?
I’m glad that you like it Mr. Pineda. Welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Like all of Daniel Pink’s books, he certainly does his research! This When book, about the scientific secrets of timing, is no different.
That’s one of the things that I admire about his work too. There are years worth of research boiled down into simple concepts.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
This is the book I was looking for years ago. And I’m beyond delighted to have found it!
Interesting thoughts Don!
I’m glad that you did too!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
I heard Pink speak on the topic of When on a recent podcast. I was impressed enough by the concept that I purchased the book.
Very cool. What podcast was it, Victor?
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
When is a quick read. You can probably fly through it in an evening. So there is a good bang for your TIME.
I see what you did there, Isabel. Haha!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
I look forward to new books by Daniel Pink so I picked up WHEN as soon as I heard about it. This is the best book I have read this year. I am already quoting it in most conversations and thinking differently about everything. That’s the highest praise I can give any book.
That is high praise, Mr. Ahmed. Thanks for commenting and welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Pink supports his points with data and simple, clear graphs. The depth of his research is apparent in every paragraph, and supported by his extremely comprehensive (26-page) notes section detailing references for each chapter. As well as six suggestions for further reading, Pink includes an 8-page index. But the most useful thing about this book is his Time Hacker’s Handbook: salient points from each section are condensed into summaries full of hints and tips and practical exercises that appear after each of the first six chapters.
Good way to describe it, Laura. Thanks for your insight. Welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
As a decidedly non-scientific fine arts major, being exposed to “perfect timing” is a good thing when Daniel Pink does the so-called heavy lifting without being “heavy” in his delivery.
I agree. Thanks Shannon. Welcome to the Hammer Blog.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
It is a difficult book to put down but now that I have better identified my peak, trough and recovery periods – I know when is the best time to read it!
It really is! Thanks for leaving a note, Rocky.
Sincerely,
Hamilton P Lindley
This is a fun read. But take it with a significant amount of skepticism. Human bodies and brains are really different from each other. One-size-fits-all recommendations sound like a fun story. But human beings are too complex to be lumped into one. in the reality of human complexity, and if you’re a business, you might not get a good ROI for trying them.
Thanks for that insight, Wolf. It’s important to think critically about these topics. I’m glad that you commented about that. Welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
I like it that he distinguishes power naps from longer naps. That looks like it is grounded in good research on how napping affects sleep inertia. It’s great that he points out the role of time of day in test results, trial outcomes, and parole hearings.
Those were good contrasts. Thanks for commenting on the Hammer Blog, Ken!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Here are the best points about this book– It is great that he’s out there advocating for companies to give workers breaks, and even allow naps.
Those are good highlights, Mo. Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
This is a really enjoyable book. But it’s just not very scientific. Instead, it is designed to sell copies!! Beware.
And I’m okay with that. Thanks for your insights, Paul. I appreciate some contrarian thinking.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Great book idea — we all need to make our finite resources work harder. Why not time? It is the most finite resource of all!
That is a very strong point, Bill. Welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
This book looks at when we should do things to be the most efficient, the most productive, and the most inspired. The “when” he discusses is the time of day, the time of the year, or even the point in a project where we should or shouldn’t do certain things.
Yes. It’s very good. Welcome to the Hammer Blog.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Pink closes the book by summing up all he learned when writing it, saying the many things he used to believe about time and timing. As he says, “I used to believe that timing was everything. Now I believe that everything is timing.”
That’s good. Welcome to the Hammer Blog, Anna!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Baked into the chapters of this book are short sections called Time Hacker’s Handbook, where he gives practical tips for working with these variations in our energy and efficiency. Highly recommend reading those parts. I got the most out of them.
Good shout out, Jose. Thanks for bringing that to our attention here on the Hammer Blog. I look forward to more comments from you.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Now that I know my personal chronotype I can help better schedule my important meetings, presentations, and even downtime. Thanks for sharing this article. I would have not read the book otherwise.
I didn’t even know that word existed until this book. It has taught me more about myself.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Everyone has different chronotype. Pink says that our “personal pattern of circadian rhythms influences our physiology and psychology.” The author claims that people are classified larks or owls, because of preference for mornings or evenings. Pink says, in reality, most of us are “third birds,” or somewhere in middle.
Yes, that’s right Melvin. Thanks for the comment on the Hammer Blog.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
It was interesting to learn about the science of chronobiology. As Pink explains, that examines how time affects us. Pink references research that looks at how our emotions, feelings, and motivation and different change as we move through the day. We each have a peak, a trough, and a rebound.
That was interesting wasn’t it? Thanks for that commentary, Zhang!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
I am one of the quarter of all people that are night owls. My pattern does occur in reverse: recovery/trough/peak.
Interesting. I’ve got kin like that. Regrettably, the workplace is not built for the night owl folks. But thanks to the gig economy, we will likely see better treatment of people that have that daily schedule.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
With having so much content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My website has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either created myself
or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my agreement. Do you know any ways to help prevent content from being ripped off? I’d certainly appreciate it.
Tobias: I do. But since it is 2019, there is not much we can do to stop it. But it does depend on the level of the offense. Most of the time, I just take it as flattery.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley.
I learned why I’m a lark and my brother is an owl. This will help us get jobs done better. It has already helped me understand him more.
It really should! Thanks, Gerard. Welcome to the Hammer Blog.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Whether you’re a Lark, Owl, or Third Bird, you should adjust what you do to match the peak-trough-recovery pattern:
During the peak, you should do analytic work.
When in the trough, do rote, mechanical work: administrative tasks and other things that can be done “on autopilot.”
The recovery period is one where your analytical powers are improved, and your mind is more flexible, which is great for insight tasks.
That is a great summary, Tonya. Thanks for rehashing that for us. Welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
I am going to test my Chronotype right now! Thanks for teaching us about this book.
Good! Let us know what it is!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
This book, while frequently counter-intuitive, is not all dogmatic or loaded with jargon, and is accessible and humorous.
That’s a good description, Arlis. Thanks for that.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Pink tells us that he and two other researchers analyzed over 700 reports from economics and anaesthesiology, anthropology and endocrinology, chronobiology and social psychology to “unearth the hidden science of timing”.
Yes. That’s right. Good recitation of the book there, Morgan. Welcome to the Hammer Blog!
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing can help us to know when we should tackle problems demanding a logical or an intuitive approach, take a break or exercise, drink a cup of coffee or even quit our job, get married or avoid a medical examination.
It really can. Thanks Mr. Chandrayaan! Welcome to the Hammer Blog.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
Many of us have heard the proverb “strike when the iron is hot”, but like all such sayings, rarely do we apply it to ourselves.
Good point, Joy. We rarely give grace to others that we give to ourselves.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
That is right, Aditya! Welcome to the Hammer Blog. I hope that you comment more.
Sincerely,
Hamilton Lindley
I am going to use my timing in a lot more intentional way now. Thanks for sharing this interesting book.
Our goal is to assist members of our community in dealing with thoughts, emotions, or behaviors that are causing them or their loved one’s distress.
I’ve learned that timing isn’t everything, but everything is timing.
This timing advice is priceless. Where can I buy this book?
I liked learning about the secrets of timing from Dan Pink. It was a great book and you’ve put together a great summary here.
thanks for teaching me about the scientific secrets of perfect timing, Hamilton Lindley!
these secrets of perfect timing are just what I needed to read today.
I do want to read more of this book after examining your summary. Thanks for making this known to me.
thanks for writing about these secrets of timing. i’m going to start using them today.