When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink Audiobook: 6 hours Paperback Book: 416 pages Genre: A When To instead of How To book
GREAT BOOK. Everyone should take the time to read or listen to this book – you will learn so much you will come away thinking you have just attended a master class to understand the significance of not just time but also the timing of when you should do certain things and when you shouldn’t. Big lesson – Teaching hospitals turn doctors in training pretty much loose on patients in the month of July in the United States in order to learn. Statistics prove that there are more instances of patient deaths through infections, misguided prescribing and administration of medications that can be lethal, misdiagnoses, etc. The teaching hospitals in the U.K. turn their doctors in training loose on the patients in August. This time is sadly referred to as the “Killing Fields of August,” by the U. K. medical set. While it can be argued that the students have to learn, who wants to be the person operated on without that prior knowledge? Or who wants one of their loved ones undergoing treatment? Things are better to the degree that rather than letting one person be the sole person in charge now in most cases there is a team working together on each case, but… Not knocking it, I know they have to learn but, I am glad I have this knowledge now. The author talks about when students undergo tests it has been proven worldwide that testing is best to be given in the mornings rather than the afternoon and lobbying is ongoing trying to get this in place that all significant testing be done in schools during mornings, though the U.S. has not totally gone along with those findings. It has also been proven that recess is a necessary time out needed to keep students actively involved in their schoolwork otherwise they burn out and become fidgety or listless throughout the day and are not able to keep focused on the material in front of them. In Finland, one of the countries with the highest test scores worldwide, children get a 15 minute play break every hour they are attending school. Man, now that would keep your attention focused knowing in 45 minutes its playtime! And it is paying off in ridiculously smart kids and fewer drop outs. Knock, knock – wake up call – U.S. Schools. Also, Governor Chris Christie – KIDS NEED RECESS (he vetoed a bill requiring a 20 minute recess for kids K-5 in New Jersey schools. Only 1 recess? Geez, we used to get a 15 minute recess in the morning and another 15 minute recess in the afternoon. Pink says timing is everything and makes his case for it. Also, he cites cutting edge data and studies done recently on how while elementary children do well starting school early – high schoolers are in a different mode and should be able to start school later in order to achieve better grades. During the Middle School years our bodies change and tend to stay up later and should be able to start our day later for more positive results in whatever we are doing. This too has been proven worldwide. High schoolers should not start their day before 8:35a.m. for better results in their studies and hard classes like Math and Foreign Languages should be among the first classes of the day rather than later. It has been proven that students perform better, remember formulas and languages better at the beginning of their days so curriculums would do well to restructure for the highest possible good of the students. However, in the U.S. this would mean teachers would have to stay later and Coaches might not get in all the practice time they would like. Reorganizing the day would require a lot that many would protest so even with statistics in great favor of this it will likely not happen in the U.S. But the statistics are so good showing less depression in teens, car accidents go down (they aren’t as tired in the mornings). So much good information here, and he offers counselling on when the best time to marry, divorce, change jobs, start a new project all based on our circadian rhythms. He says there are peak times, trough times and rebound/recover times during the day for all of us whether we are night owls or day larks or third birds, a little mix of each. He says NEVER make important decisions in the afternoon. Consider the type of thing you want to do, and Daniel Pink gives you instructions on how to find your best time to accomplish it with the greatest amount of focus and positivity. He will also warn you when not to do a project, take a class, hold a meeting, etc. This book is loaded with so much good information it is hard to believe it doesn’t come in volumes. Does this guy teach a class? He could definitely do TED talks if he hasn’t yet. Very interesting and entertaining. He presents complex info from his studies of psychology, biology, neuroscience, economics you name it, this guy has researched it or cites others well-known in their fields of study to bring you the best of the best on getting to your best WHEN? Such good information on whatever you might want to succeed in or at and when best to reach that goal and how to adjust any goals that may have had a slow beginning because the timing was off. He offers fixes, too. Pink says timing is not an art like people think it is a science and we can learn to use it to our advantage. He also shows that people tend to lie less in the morning the later it gets the easier it is for the mind to come up with a lie and justify doing so. The author even gives a bit of advice from Warren Buffet. Buffet’s advice is to make a list of the top 25 goals you have for life. Then prioritize the top five and circle them. Immediately start planning how to achieve those top five goals and don’t look at the other 20 until you have achieved the 5 most important to you. Achieving the 5 most important things in your life means you will have taken the time to achieve your top priorities, the rest really aren’t as important to you and may no longer be worth your time. Really this book is so good it is a must read for everyone. You will never look at time the same way again and you will find this book is absolutely worth your time. Twenty stars for this one.
