When
The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
Dan Pink is the author of a number of bestselling books. We’ve covered a couple of those books so far: Drive and To Sell Is Human. This one, of course, is about timing. Specifically, as per the sub-title: “The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.” As with all of his other books, it’s brilliantly written—weaving in fascinating stories with solid science and practical tools to cap it off. Big Ideas we explore include: The hidden pattern in everyday life, the importance of breaks (for the strong not the slothful!), your afternoon nappuccino, beginning before you begin, midpoints as sparks rather than slumps, and your new end-of-day ritual.
Big Ideas
- The hidden pattern of everyday lifeIn everyday life.
- Give yourself a break!Give yourself some today!
- Your afternoon NappuccinoGive yourself one today?
- Beginnings: Begin before you beginBegin before you begin.
- Midpoints: Slump vs. SparkSlumps vs. Sparks.
- Endings: Your Work dayYour new end of day ritual.
- Everything is timingSo let’s Optimize it!
“This is a book about timing. We all know that timing is everything. Trouble is, we don’t know much about timing itself. Our lives present a never-ending stream of ‘when’ decisions—when to change careers, deliver bad news, schedule a class, end a marriage, go for a run, or get serious about a project or a person. But most of these decisions emanate from a steamy bog of intuition and guesswork. Timing, we believe, is an art.
I will show that timing is really a science—an emerging body of multifaceted, multidisciplinary research that offers fresh insights into the human condition and useful guidance on working smarter and living better. Visit any bookstore or library, and you will see a shelf (or twelve) stacked with books about how to do various things—from win friends and influence people to speak Tagalog in a month. The output is so massive that these volumes require their own category: how-to. Think of this book as a new genre altogether—a when-to book.”
~ Daniel H. Pink from When
Dan Pink is the author of a number of bestselling books.
We’ve covered a couple of those books so far: Drive and To Sell Is Human.
Drive is about the surprising truth about what motivates us. While To Sell is about the surprising truths about how to move people.
This one, of course, is about timing. Specifically, as per the sub-title: “The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.”
As with all of his other books, it’s brilliantly written—weaving in fascinating stories with solid science and practical tools to cap it off.
As per the inside flap, it’s “bursting with big ideas and enduring lessons” and “will transform how you think about your past, your present, and your future.” If that sounds like fun, I think you’ll enjoy the book as much as I did. (Get a copy here.)
The book has three parts. We start by looking at “The Day” (in which we learn how to optimize our daily rhythms) then we move on to “Beginnings, Endings, and In Between” (in which we step back and look at more macro rhythms in life and projects) and then we wrap up with “Synching and Thinking” (in which we put it all together with teams and big picture thinking).
Of course, it’s packed with Big Ideas. I’m excited to share a few of my favorites so let’s jump in!
Download MP3
Download PDFTime isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing.
Get the BookThe hidden pattern of everyday life
“Across continents and time zones, as predictable as the ocean tides, was the same daily oscillation—a peak, a trough, and a rebound. Beneath the surface of our everyday life is a hidden pattern: crucial, unexpected, and revealing. …
Since de Mairan’s discovery nearly three centuries ago, scientists have established that nearly all living things—from single-cell organisms that lurk in ponds to multicellular organisms that drive minivans—have biological clocks. These internal timekeepers play an essential role in proper functioning. They govern a collection of what are called circadian rhythms (from the Latin circa [around] and diem [day]) that set the daily backbeat of every creature’s life. (Indeed, from de Mairan’s potted plant eventually bloomed an entirely new science of biological rhythms known as chronobiology.)
For you and me, the biological Big Ben is the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN, a cluster of some 20,000 cells the size of a grain of rice in the hypothalamus, which sits in the lower center of the brain. The SCN controls the rise and fall of our body temperature, regulates our hormones, and helps us fall asleep at night and awaken in the morning.”
That’s from chapter 1 in which we study a little chronobiology, meet our suprachiasmatic nucleus (or SCN) and discover “The Hidden Pattern of Everyday Life.”
Get this: You can track the mood of people’s Twitter posts and what you’ll find is that “People feel increasingly happy throughout the morning, less happy in the afternoon, and happier again in the evening.” (Good news: It’s not just you. lol.)
Dan walks us through a bunch of studies that show us a consistent “peak, a trough, and rebound.” Across all continents and time zones. As predictable as the ocean waves…
We all oscillate. The first section of the book is all about helping us understand these rhythms and, of course, optimize them. Let’s take a deeper look.
(btw: If you haven’t already: check out Masterpiece Days 101 for more ideas on the subject!)
If you even have modest control over your schedule, try to nudge your most important work, which usually requires vigilance and clear thinking, into the peak and push your second-most important work, or tasks that benefit from disinhibition, into the rebound period. Whatever you do, do not let mundane tasks creep into your peak period.
Give yourself a break!
“In chapter 1 we learned about some curious results on Denmark’s national standardized exams. Danish schoolchildren who take the tests in the afternoon score significantly worse than those who take the exams earlier in the day. To a school principal or education policy maker, the response seems obvious: Whatever it takes, move all tests to the morning. However, the researchers also discovered another remedy, one with applications beyond schools and tests, that is remarkably easy to explain and implement.
When the Danish students had a twenty- to thirty-minute break ‘to eat, play and chat’ before a test, their scores did not decline. In fact, they increased. As the researchers note, ‘A break causes an improvement that is larger than the hourly deterioration.’ That is, scores go down after noon. But scores go up by a higher amount after breaks.
Taking a test in the afternoon without a break produces scores that are equivalent to spending less time in school each year and having parents with lower incomes and less education. But taking the same test after a twenty- to thirty-minute break leads to scores that are equivalent to students spending three additional weeks in the classroom and having somewhat wealthier and better-educated parents. And the benefits were greatest for the lowest-performing students.”
That’s from chapter 2 in which we learn about “Afternoons and Coffee Spoons: The Power of Breaks, the Promise of Lunch, and the Case for a Modern Siesta.”
Key idea: “A growing body of research makes it clear: Breaks are not a sign of sloth but a sign of strength.”
We’ll talk about some tips from the “Time Hacker’s Handbook” (which accompanies each chapter) in a moment. First, let’s talk about that study on Danish schoolchildren.
So… The kids’ performance on standardized tests was WAY better in the morning vs. the afternoon. Like crazy better. (That’s because of the “trough” we talked about before.)
BUT… If they took a twenty- to thirty-minute break before taking the test? BAM! They’ll do even better than the morning test-takers. Like, WAY better.
That’s a very Big Idea.
Again: “A growing body of research makes it clear: Breaks are not a sign of sloth but a sign of strength.”
We’ve talked about this in various contexts (see The Power of Full Engagement and this +1 on oscillating and honoring ultradian rhythms for example) but it’s time to roll up our sleeves and take it a little more seriously.
So… How are your breaks? Seriously. How are your breaks? Do you think much about them?
Here are a few time-hacker tips to have in mind today:
“Frequent short breaks are more effective than occasional ones.”
<- This is another reason why I use my 1,000-second (16 minutes and 40 seconds) countdown timer—to avoid being sedentary for too long while keeping my mind and body fresh with constant micro-breaks coupled with longer breaks every 60-75-90 minutes. On that note, Dan tells us that “microbursts of activity” are even more effective than a 30-min walking break—
“so much so that the researchers suggest that organizations ‘introduce physically active breaks during the workday routine.”
<- Hello, burpees! (Hah.)
“DeskTime, a company that makes productivity-tracking software, says that ‘what the most productive 10% of our users have in common is their ability to take effective breaks.”
They say their top performers work for 52 minutes and then take a 17-minute break. (You?)
Remember that not all breaks are equal. You REALLY want to completely turn off your brain from work stuff AND leave your technology behind. Note: Tech-free breaks
“increase vigor and reduce emotional exhaustion.”
So… Go for a walk (outside beats inside), chat with friends, relax. Restore. Repeat.
P.S. Dan also walks us through the fact that LUNCHES are super important. And, that we should ban the eat-at-the-desk sad lunch variety. Get out. Unplug. Reboot. Enjoy.
P.P.S. In addition to the crazy test score results, Dan walks us through some data on whether or not judges grant parole to prisoners. Short story: They’re much more likely to do so when they’re fresh and rested—earlier in the day or after a break. Then we have the “Hospital of Doom.” Short story there: Got an important check-up or surgery? Schedule it for early in the day. It’s astonishing how many errors occur later in the day/when everyone is tired.
In this chapter, we’ve seen that breaks matter—that even little ones can make a big difference. Vigilance breaks prevent deadly mistakes. Restorative breaks enhance performance. Lunches and naps helps us elude the trough and get more and better work done in the afternoon. A growing body of science makes clear: Breaks are not a sign of sloth but a sign of strength.
Your afternoon Nappuccino
“One study makes this case. The experimenters divided participants into three groups and gave them all a thirty-minute midafternoon break before sitting them at a driving simulator. One group received a placebo pill. The second received two hundred milligrams of caffeine. The third received that same two hundred milligrams of caffeine and then took a brief nap. When it came time to perform, the caffeine-only group outperformed the placebo group. But the group that ingested caffeine and then had a nap easily bested them both. Since caffeine takes about twenty-five minutes to enter the bloodstream, they were getting a secondary boost from the drug by the time their naps were ending. Other researchers have found the same results—that caffeine, usually in the form of coffee, followed by a nap of ten to twenty minutes, is the ideal technique for staving off sleepiness and increasing performance.
As for me, after a few months of experimenting with twenty-minute afternoon naps, I’ve converted. I’ve gone from a nap detractor to a nap devotee, from someone ashamed to nap to someone who relishes the coffee-then-nap combination known as the ‘nappuccino.’”
Nappuccino.
That just makes me laugh.
I thought our “napitation” was pretty good but “nappuccino”?! (Hah.) I’m in!
Basic idea: We all tend to dip into that afternoon trough. We can Optimize that by noticing when we tend to dip. Dan says it tends to be around 7 hours after rising. New plan (for the bold among us!): Have some caffeine, set your alarm for 25 minutes and go rock your nap—with a 7-min induction time (normal for most people), you’ll keep your nap between 10 to 20 minutes (longer creates sleep inertia which we don’t want) and VOILA!
You’ll wake with the double benefit of all the restorative mojo you get from a nap AND the bump from the caffeine. I’m excited to test. You? :)
P.S. One more note on breaks: “Anders Ericsson is ‘the world’s expert on world experts.’ A psychologist who studies extraordinary performers, Ericsson found that elite performers have something in common: They’re really good at taking breaks. …
In Ericsson’s study, one factor that distinguished the best from the rest is that they took complete breaks during the afternoon (many even napped as part of their routine), whereas nonexperts were less rigorous about pauses. We might think that superstars power straight through the day for hours on end. In fact, they practice with intense focus for forty-five- to ninety-minute bursts, then take meaningful restorative breaks.
You can do the same. Pause like a pro and you might become one.”
Check out our Notes on Peak for more. For now, remember: INTENSE (!) ON. INTENSE OFF! Make the amplitudes of your waves nice and big!
The most fulfilling jobs share a common trait: They prod us to work at our highest level but in a way that we, not someone else, control. Jobs that are demanding but don’t offer autonomy burn us out. Jobs that offer autonomy but little challenge bore us.
Beginnings: Begin before you begin
“Executive advisor Michael Watkins recommends picking a specific day and time when you visualize yourself ‘transforming’ into your new role. It’s hard to get a fast start when your self-image is stuck in the past. By mentally picturing yourself ‘becoming’ a new person even before you enter the front door, you’ll hit the carpet running.”
That’s from the Time Hacker’s Handbook in the chapter on “Beginnings.”
Although it’s one of the tips on how to make a “Fast Start in a New Job,” I think the wisdom of leveraging our self-image applies to basically every “start” in our lives—from the big ones (like a new job) to the micro-ones we make as we transition from one role to another all day every day.
Let’s start big. Then we’ll go small.
Big: Are you stepping into any new identities these days? Maybe it’s a healthier/more athletic you or a wiser, more patient parenting you or a more productive/successful creative you…
Pick one! And, let’s combine this idea with Richard Wiseman’s wisdom from The As If Principle and ACT AS IF we’re that new version of ourselves RIGHT NOW!! Visualize yourself with that new self-image and BE that version of you. Now. (Check out Self-Image 101 for more here, btw.)
Micro: Now let’s talk about the tiny little transformations we all go through every day. I’m reminded of a recent chat I had with Phil Stutz. We were talking about ways to Optimize my relationship with Alexandra. As part of that, we identified the sub-optimal times.
Basically: The TRANSITIONS from the work day to the fam time. The Tool? To TRANSFORM into the next version of me BEFORE I make the transition from work to fam. I need to SEE it and then BE it. Letting go of the “old” me and stepping into the “new” me.
How about you? Big. Micro. See it. Be it.
Midpoints: Slump vs. Spark
“Midpoints are both a fact of life and a force of nature, but that doesn’t make their effects inexorable. The best hope for turning a slump into a spark involves three steps.
First, be aware of midpoints. Don’t let them remain invisible.
Second, use them to wake up rather than roll over—to utter an anxious ‘uh-oh’ rather than a resigned ‘oh, no.’
Third, at the midpoint, imagine that you’re behind—but only by a little. That will spark your motivation and maybe help you win a national championship.”
As you may have guessed, that’s from the chapter on “Midpoints.”
Dan walks us through a bunch of great stories here and tells us that, in the inevitable midpoints of our lives and projects, we can experience either a “slump” or a “spark.”
An “Oh, no!” or an “Uh-oh!”
Obviously, we want to be antifragile about and use any sense of falling behind as a catalyst to spark our motivation and go crush it.
So… Are you at any “midpoints” in your life? Perhaps feeling just a little behind of where you’d like to be? Perfect. Let’s use that as a catalyzing spark to the next phase of your greatness!
Step 1. Be aware of it.
Step 2. Make it a wake up call.
Step 3. See yourself as just a little behind—not crazy behind.
And, finally, know this: Research shows that the teams that’re just a point behind at half-time tend to OUTPERFORM those that are a point ahead.
P.S. Specific tips Dan recommends to keep Mr. Mo on your side? Break down big goals into little interim goals (Progress Principle style). Don’t break the chain Seinfeld style. And, think of ONE person who will benefit from all the hard work you’re doing!
When we reach a midpoint, sometimes we slump, but other times we jump. A mental siren alerts us that we’ve squandered half our time. That injects a healthy dose of stress—Uh-oh, we’re running out of time!—that revives our motivation and reshapes our strategy.
Endings: Your Work day
“When the workday ends, many of us want to tear away—to pick up children, race home to prepare dinner, or just beeline to the nearest bar. But the science of endings suggests that instead of fleeing we’re better off reserving the final five minutes of work for a few small deliberate actions that bring the day to a fulfilling close. Begin by taking two or three minutes to write down what you accomplished since the morning. Making progress is the single largest day-to-day motivator on the job. But without tracking our ‘dones,’ we often don’t know whether we’re progressing. Ending the day by recording what you’ve achieved can encode the entire day more positively. (Testimonial: I’ve been doing this for four years and I swear by the practice. On good days, the exercise delivers feelings of completion; on bad days, it often shows me I got more done than I suspected.)
Now use the other two or three minutes to lay out your plan for the following day. This will help close the door on today and energize you for tomorrow.
Bonus: If you’ve got an extra minute left, send someone—anyone—a thank-you email. I mentioned in chapter 2 that gratitude is a powerful reserve. It’s an equally powerful elevation.”
Science says: Endings matter. A lot.
Want to end your days strong? Try that process!
Everything is timing
“I used to believe in ignoring the waves of the day. Now I believe in surfing them.
I used to believe that lunch breaks, naps and taking walks were niceties. Now I believe they’re necessities.
I used to believe that the best way to overcome a bad start at work, school, or at home was to shake it off and move on. Now I believe the better approach is to start again or start together.
I used to believe that midpoints didn’t matter—mostly because I was oblivious to their existence. Now I believe that midpoints illustrate something fundamental about how people behave and how the world works.
I used to believe in the power of happy endings. Now I believe that the power of endings rests not in their unmitigated sunniness but in their poignancy and meaning.
I used to believe that synchronizing with others was merely a mechanical process. Now I believe that it requires a sense of belonging, rewards a sense of purpose, and reveals a part of our nature.
I used to believe that timing was everything. Now I believe that everything is timing.”
Those are the last words of the book.
You know that I’m a big fan of the last words of books. Well, Dan tells us just how important the “endings” are and actually encourages us to STUDY how great writers finish their great books—referencing Ernest Hemingway who, apparently, drafted dozens (!) of endings to A Farewell to Arms. (Maybe go pick up your favorite book and read the last lines?)
Here’s to your Masterpiece Days and Optimized Beginnings, Middles, and Ends, my friend!
Taken together, all of these studies suggest that the path to a life of meaning and significance isn’t to ‘live in the present’ as so many spiritual gurus have advised. It is to integrate our perspectives on time into a coherent whole, one that helps us comprehend who we are and why we’re here.
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