When Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

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Brief Summary

Learning to use time to your advantage will help you to live a happier and more satisfying life. There are proper times to do certain tasks and by incorporating that into your agenda based on your chronotype, you will be much more productive.

About the Author

Daniel Pink is an American author, journalist, and television host. He has written six books, including four New York Times bestsellers. He hosted and co-executive produced the National Geographic Channel social science TV series Crowd Control. He was the speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore from 1995 to 1997. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Northwestern University, where he was a Truman Scholar. He graduated with a law degree from Yale Law School and was the editor-in-chief of the Yale Law & Policy Review.

Topics

Self Development Psychology

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Key Insights

Time surrounds us.

We are constantly meeting deadlines, having to be different places on time, and racing against the clock.

Time is everything.

In Daniel Pink’s, “When,” he explains why this pattern of relying on time is a very strong emotional pattern in human behavior.

You’ll learn to understand how important it is to have perfect timing when it comes to doing certain actions. Even, if it’s as simple as sending an email or making a call.

The Emotional Pattern

Our day-to-day life has an emotional pattern. We all do certain rituals such as have our coffee in the morning, brush our hair before we go out, and wash the sheets every Friday.

An observance-based study by Cornell University looked at Twitter to note people’s moods throughout the day. The results were that early morning people felt positive, in the afternoon moods would drop, and then they would return to positive in the evening.

According to the study, this mood rollercoaster happens to most everyone, everywhere. It doesn’t depend on location, race, or culture.

These sections of the day have been labeled the morning peak, the afternoon trough, and the evening rebound.

This pattern has a direct correlation with the work that we do throughout the day. Our positive attitudes bring positive results. So, work done in the morning is best.

Chronotype

It’s true there is a daily pattern of emotions. But, not everyone’s pattern is the same. It’s important to understand your own individual chronotype. This will allow you to reach your fullest potential.

“Each of us has a “chronotype”—a personal pattern of circadian rhythms that influences our physiology and psychology.”- Daniel Pink

Your chronotype is basically your internal clock. There are night owls and morning birds. Both have different internal clocks or chronotypes. So, they are more positive and productive according to their own hours.

Many studies have taken place on creatives who are night owls. And, the pattern is that most night owls are the creative types. They also showed more signs of being neurotic and depressed.

Morning birds, on the other hand, are usually more stable and positive. They also tend to be introverted.

In order to schedule yourself properly, define your type, and schedule your tasks accordingly. For example, if you need to write a paper and you’re a night owl, do it at your peak, which may be around 9 PM, rather than 7 AM.

Most people who need to work logically and methodically agree that morning work is best, while the creative work is best saved for the afternoon and later.

No matter what chronotype you are, try to schedule your mindless tasks during the afternoon when most people feel the 2 PM slump.

“Afternoons are the Bermuda Triangles of our days. Across many domains, the trough represents a danger zone for productivity, ethics, and health.”- Daniel Pink

Also, always book a morning appointment if you want the odds to go in your favor. For example, a job interview!