When by Daniel Pink (2018)
TL;DR: There are certain hours of the day when we are most effective. There is a science to starting and ending things, and in synchronizing a group.
For a moment, I thought I was reading Clive Cussler. Daniel Pink opened with the sinking of the Lusitania; a grand hypothesis that maybe the Lusitania sank because its captain made a crucial decision in the afternoon. It seems odd if an argument about time would hold water in a court of law. Can a person be absolved simply because the event happened in a person's less optimal hours? I honestly don't know.
This seems to be a common structure in Dan Pink's books. They are usually split in three parts. This book is no exception. The first is about what happens in a day. The second is about timing, and the last is about synchronizing groups.
All in a Day
Biologically, we mirror the time of day. Our body responds to its immediate environment. As the sun rises and sets, and as the birds chirp and the street lights go up, our body runs a process called "entrainment" which makes adjustments that synchs with what's happening outside of it. All made possible by a cluster of cells called the SCN.
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.
For most of us, mood follows a common pattern: a peak, a trough, and a rebound/recovery. In peak hours, it is best to do analytical tasks, tasks that require vigilance and focus. In a trough, it is best to do administrative work, paper works or emails. During recovery, it is best to do creative work.
This mood pattern works for most us. Because most of us sleep at roughly the same hours. To the rest of us, this pattern is flipped. And this is where Chronotypes come up.
a personal pattern of circadian rhythm that influences our physiology and psychology.
More simply the patterns of our day, and that almost always begins with sleep. There are other "chronotypes" out there. In this book, Dan Pink categorizes around three: The early birds or Larks, the night Owls, and most of the people in the middle: Third birds.
Depending on our chronotype, our mood pattern follows. A lark/third bird's mood tracks the peak, trough, rebound pattern. An owl on the other hand, follows a recovery, trough, peak pattern.
What matters is that our chronotype, the tasks we have to do, and the time when we have to do it are aligned. The "synchrony effect" puts this in place. When our type, tasks and time are aligned we perform better. When it isn't, we perform worse, we do more unethical behavior.
How do you manage that mid-day trough? Take a break, Eat your lunch and maybe have a nap.
Vigilance Breaks - brief pauses before high-stakes encounters to review instructions and guard against errorRestorative Breaks - brief pauses to recharge cognitive functions
The best kind of a restorative break?
1. Take an actual break
2. Moving is better than a sitting break
3. Being with a friend is better than being alone
4. Being outside is better than being indoors
5. Fully detach is better than a "working lunch"
The most important meal of the day is Breakfast Lunch.
Naps are awesome. Naps improve cognitive performance, and boost mental and physical health. The best kind of nap takes around 20 minutes or less. Any longer and you get that groggy feeling waking up.
Starting, Midpoints and Endings
Beginnings are important. When we start affects the whole. As in the case of school, research found that delaying school's start times improves kids' motivation, emotional well-being, and reduces depression.
Outside of the day-to-day, we typically start things at certain periods/time markers called Temporal Landmarks
Landmarks people use to navigate time. There are two types of temporal landmarks: Social and Personal. Social are those that everyone shares: Mondays, Holidays. Personal ones are unique to an individual: birthdays, anniversaries etc.
Temporal Landmarks are important for starting again.
- Allows people to open "new mental accounts" the same way a business closes the books at end of every month, quarter, year
- Allows people to see things in a bigger perspective, outside of the daily happenings
Nevertheless, there are situations outside of our control. Researchers found that when you graduate on a year of a down economy, it affects your income throughout. Since an economy is not controllable on an individual level, it would do us well to stick together and help each other. The system gets back up much faster
Instead of forcing vulnerable people to fend for themselves, everyone does better by starting together
Midpoints either bring us down or fire us up; The slump and the spark.
The slump is real, hence the term mid-life crisis. It is also true that reaching a midpoint gives a new sense of urgency: "The uh-oh effect"
When we reach a midpoint, sometimes we slump, but other times we jump. A mental siren alerts us that we've squandered half of our time. That injects a healthy dose of stress - uh oh, we're running out of time! - that revives our motivation and reshapes our energy.
One interesting finding in sports research: "being slightly behind [at halftime] significantly increases a team's chance of winning"
Endings shape our behaviors in four ways: Energize, Encode, Edit, Elevate
Near the end of a decade, people are more likely to sign up for marathons for the first time. As in at their 29th, 39th or 49th birthdays
The fast finish effect - when we near the end, we kick a little harder
Endings alter our perception and affects our moral judgments. The life of a storied celebrity is seen as most positive because it ended short and was intensely exciting. People judge a person's life with 29 years of bad things, and 6 months of goodness over a person's life with 29 years of good things, and 6 months of bad things as the same. Why? because..
"People are willing to override a long period of one kind of behavior with a relatively short period of another kind just because it occurred at the end of one's life."
Endings reveal what truly matters. A case of via negativa.
"When time is constrained and limited, as it is in act three, we attune to the now. We pursue different goals - emotional satisfaction, an appreciation for life, a sense of meaning."
Endings for storytelling, people want it to be happy
Given a choice, human beings prefer endings that elevate. The science of timing has found - repeatedly - what seems to be an innate preference for happy ending.
Take it up to Pixar
Every Pixar movie has its protagonist achieving the goal he wants only to realize it is not what the protagonist needs. Typically, this leads to the protagonist to let go of what he wants (a house, the Piston Cup, Andy) to get to what he needs (a true yet unlikely companion; real friends; a lifetime together with friends)
Synchronizing Groups
This requires a leader, a tribe, and a purpose-driven individual.
Group timing requires a boss. Someone to push the Why
someone or something above and apart from the group itself to set the pace, maintain standards and focus the collective mind.
Group timing requires belongingness
that everyone synch to the tribe and to one another
This sense of belonging is helped when a group has its language or codes, its uniform or markers of identification, and a healthy amount of touch
Group timing requires individuals in synch with their own
This is a bit ooey goeey, But group timing requires that individuals see their own sense of purpose and meaning.
The Experience of Time
At the closing chapter, Dan Pink writes of our experience with time. The past, present and the future. When we relieve the past, we are nostalgic. When are truly awake at present, we are in awe. When we imagine the future, we are "prospective". Dan Pink concludes
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
One thing I like about Dan Pink's books is there are actionable items, These are some listed after every chapter
How to figure out your chronotype
What to do if you don't have control over your schedule
When to exercise
Tips to a better morning
Make a break list
How to take a perfect nap
Five kinds of restorative breaks
Create a time-out checklist
Pausing for professionals
Recess for kids
Avoid a false start with a Pre-mortem
86 temporal landmarks in a year to make a fresh start
When you should go first
When you should not go first
Tips to making a fast start in a new job
When should you get married
Ways to awaken motivation during a slump
Organize project with form-storm-perform method
Ways to combat midlife slump
Read last lines
When to quit a job
What to quit a marriage
Areas where you can create better endings
Ways to find your "Syncher's High"
Three questions for group coordination
Improv exercises that can boost group timing skills
Techniques for promoting belonging in group
Other awesome books
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