Daniel H. Pink

Illuminates the scientific factors that shape the hidden patterns of a day and challenge scheduled activities, drawing on research in the disciplines of psychology, biology, and economics to share practical advice and anecdotes for promoting a richer, more engaged life. Our lives are a never-ending stream of decisions: when to start a business, schedule a class, get serious about a person. Yet we make those decisions based on intuition and guesswork. Pink reveals how to use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule, and the ideal time to quit a job, switch careers, or get married. He distills cutting-edge research and data on timing into a fascinating, readable narrative that gives readers compelling insights into how we can live richer, more engaged lives.

The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

When

Nenad Nikolic

Book offers insight into time and timing, somewhat based on actual scientific research. As is the case with many books, it lacks structure and discipline needed to present such complex topics. This book is also one of those books that could easily fit in long blog post with references to literature. Ironically, book about importance of timing is way to long. Three stars are for the effort to base claims on research and for (sometimes) trying to present the case against those claims. Three stars for honesty and two less stars for last two chapers that are quite shaky compared to the rest of the book. Overall, this book is way better than most popular social science books that are used as self help.

Danté

A fun read. On the topic of timing I also recommend Wait: The Art and Science of Delay. 

Main takeaways:
- circadian rhythm is real (morning peak, afternoon trough, evening rebound). Examples of increased sentencing at end of day, bad public company earnings calls before lunch
- majority of people are "third birds" rather than being strictly morning larks or night owls
- DeskTime study showing ideal break to be 17min for every 52 min of work
- increase of marathon runners at age 29, 39, 49 (ending in 9 owing to wanting to do things before next decade of life)
- use arbitrary milestones as opportunity to start a project e.g start of week/month, start of quarter, end of previous project
- value of siesta / nappuccino

Nadine 

A few interesting insights, but much of it I'd heard before on various podcasts like Hidden Brain, Freakanomics etc. It seems there are only so many research studies to go around that can be repackaged and put into books by the same trio or quartet of authors.

3.5 maybe? It just really went downhill at the end, the beginning made it seem like it was going to be amazing

Everyone knows that timing is everything. But we don't know much about timing itself. Our lives are a neverending stream of 'when' decisions: when to start a business, schedule a class, get serious about a person. Yet we make those decisions based on intuition and guesswork. Timing, it's often assumed, is an art; in When, Pink shows that timing is in fact a science. Drawing on a rich trove of research from psychology, biology and economics, Pink reveals how best to live, work and succeed. How can we use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule? Why do certain breaks dramatically improve student test scores? How can we turn a stumbling beginning into a fresh start? Why should we avoid going to the hospital in the afternoon? Why is singing in time with other people as good for us as exercise? And what is the ideal time to quit a job, switch careers, or get married? In When, Pink distills cutting-edge research and data on timing and synthesizes them into a fascinating, readable narrative packed with irresistible stories and practical takeaways that give readers compelling insights into how we can live richer, more engaged lives.

The book is divided into three parts. We are surrounded by "how-to" to achieve success and little attention is paid to "when-to". I personally found the first two parts much more useful and insightful. Very smooth examples and research data. Recommended for all those who want to start having a daily methodical approach starting from the awareness of their own being.

Jeremy Cote

I thought the book was pretty good. It didn't belabour the point it was trying to make, and there were a ton of great examples to help give some inspiration. I do find myself increasingly skeptical of a lot of social science research due to the whole replication crisis dilemma, but the ideas presented here were quite interesting and me think about timing in my own life.

Sebastian

Kevin Wammer

Niels Andersen

Ethan Lee-Tyson

Kylie Frazer

Timing is everything . . . How can we use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule? Why do certain breaks dramatically improve student test results? When should you have your first coffee of the day?Why is singing in time with other people as good for us as exercise? And what is the ideal time to quit a job, switch careers or get married?In When, Daniel H. Pink distills cutting edge research and data on timing and synthesises them into a fascinating, readable narrative. Packed with irresistible stories and practical takeaways, it provides compelling insights into how we can live richer, more engaged lives.

When The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

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