Learn Lots Book Review: When
When: the Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink
“I used to believe that timing was everything, now I believe that everything is timing.”
-Daniel H. Pink, When
If you ever feel like you’re trudging through mud just to do some good in the world, Daniel Pink’s 2018 book, When: the Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, will show you how to work smarter, not harder.
Daniel Pink’s writing synthesizes workplace trends with research to pinpoint productivity-enhancing techniques. In When, you’ll find tips on how to effectively structure your day, enrich your work relationships, even the ideal time to restart or call it quits. With light humor, Pink geeks out over mounds of chronobiology data and illustrates statistics with context and emotion, using stories to engage us.
Your Clock
Whether you’re leading a household, classroom, charity, or corporation, there are takeaways in When for you. For my first run through, I opted to listen to the audiobook. The upside of this format, especially if you use Audible, is the ease of clipping and noting or bookmarking sections to review later. The audiobook also includes a pdf of the “Time Hacker’s Handbook,” the cheat sheet for implementing each chapter’s advice.
Early in, When offers a tool for figuring out your chronotype. Are you a lark, an owl, something in-between? Determining this is your first step to optimizing your schedule to meet your natural energy. I was surprised to find that I hit a trough around 3 pm, usually signaled by aggressive grazing, limped through with the support of strong coffee. So, what about those important interactions during the daily slump? Instead of reaching for a coffee or bag of hot chips to invigorate your attentiveness, Pink details how to get back in your zone with several options for a brief, reviving rest.
Midpoint Premortem
Beyond micro-managing your day, Pink explains why so many campaign projects sink at midpoint, buoyed only by the group panic of an impending deadline. Not one to leave you hanging your head in shame, he offers methods for preempting that lag of inspiration or surge of doubt. For example, spend some time predicting what will get in the way of your success before you even start. As nurturer-in-chief of my household and work team, I foresee that others’ needs will interfere with my independent progress, so I plan time when I am unapproachable.
Sync for Success
No one succeeds on an island, though. The bonded team performs in synchrony, which, in turn, energizes everyone’s efforts. Chatting is a rejuvenating brain break and a group will get more done, evidence makes clear, “the more they chat and gossip.” If harmony doesn’t happen organically, there are ways to spark it. The “Time Hacker’s Handbook” for chapter 6 points to organic rituals, games, and hobbies to sync up with your team. Before you know it, you’ll be finishing each other’s thoughts.
Surf Your Waves
Make time to read When ASAP, or as soon as you’re ready to make better use of your time. Even the author’s perspective on timing changed through the writing of this book. Pink says, he “used to believe in ignoring the waves of the day, now [he believes] in surfing them.”
Once you’ve read When, you may want to dive into these many useful resources.
Have you read this book? What was your favorite takeaway?
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