Daniel Pink: When

Daniel Pink has been listed by Thinkers50 as one of the top business thinkers in the world. His works include New York Times bestsellers, A Whole New Mind*, Drive*, To Sell is Human* and his new book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing*.

Key Points

Naps boost productivity, but they should be no more than around 20 minutes long.

Regular nappers get more benefit from naps than occasional nappers.

We don’t treat breaks with enough seriousness.

We do better on certain types of tasks at certain times of day.

Peak - Do heavy analytical work in the morning.

Trough - Do easier administrative work in the early afternoon.

Recovery - Do work that requires insight in the late afternoon and evening.

Ways to make the most of project midpoints when motivating teams:

Recognize midpoints.

Use midpoints to fire up your team.

Let you team know they are slightly behind when they hit the midpoint.

Resources Mentioned

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us* by Daniel Pink

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing* by Daniel Pink

Book Notes

Download my highlights from When in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

The Surprising Truth About Influencing Others, with Daniel Pink (episode 84)

The Way to Make New Behaviors Stick, with Marshall Goldsmith (episode 196)

The Best Way to Make New Habits Reality, with Kendra Kinnison (episode 217)

How to Make Deep Work Happen, with Cal Newport (episode 233)

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