There’s no shortage of how-to books circulating these days: how to create better habits, how to increase your productivity, how to leverage your strengths; the list goes on and on. Given that we face a lot of decisions about how to approach the various challenges and opportunities in our lives, learning about the tools and strategies that maximize potential is crucial. But simply knowing how to accomplish your goals isn’t sufficient for achieving top performance. New research is revealing another critical factor that often goes overlooked when considering how to achieve our desired results: timing.
In his latest book, When: The Scientific Principles of Perfect Timing, Dan Pink synthesizes cutting-edge research into a compelling narrative that highlights the power of leveraging timing in order to amplify performance. Day-to-day, we are faced with a never-ending stream of “when” decisions: when to change jobs, when to exercise, when to double down on a project, when to end a relationship, and so on. Most people make these decisions relatively haphazardly, relying on unsubstantiated systems like intuition or guesswork. Worse, most tasks are scheduled based on nothing more than our availability; we give minimal thought to the kind of task we’re doing and how timing might affect our performance, and instead pencil in our to-dos whenever our schedule allows. In so doing, we are undoubtedly leaving peak performance on the table.
To support you in making the most of your time, here are three lessons from When: The Scientific Principles of Perfect Timing that will guide you in making better when-to decisions:
Everyone has a chronotype (a personal pattern of circadian rhythms that influence your physiology and psychology). You’ve likely heard the terminology “lark” and “owl” used to describe chronotypes, but most people do not fall into either extreme category. In fact, roughly 60-80% of people are “third birds” or a bit of both (Rayasam, 2016).
Knowing your chronotype is key to understanding how you experience the day and when you are most effective at various tasks. Each day is divided into three experiential stages: a peak, a trough, and a rebound. Larks and third birds experience the day in precisely that order, while owls experience the reverse. Use the research-backed chart below to better determine when to take different types of action:
Lark |
Third Bird |
Owl |
|
Analytic Tasks |
Early morning |
Early to midmorning |
Late afternoon and evening |
Administrative Tasks |
Early afternoon |
Early afternoon |
Early Afternoon |
Creative Tasks |
Late afternoon |
Late afternoon |
Morning |
Insight Tasks |
Late afternoon/early evening |
Late afternoon/early evening |
Morning |
Making an Impression |
Morning |
Morning |
Morning (sorry, owls!) |
Making a Decision |
Early morning |
Early to midmorning |
Late afternoon and evening |
To determine your chronotype, take the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire at https://www.danpink.com/mctq.
Afternoons are the Bermuda Triangles of our days. Something happens during the trough, roughly seven hours after waking, that makes it far more perilous than any other time of day. For example:
Becoming more aware of the trough is an important first step in learning to avoid making poor decisions due to bad timing. Research shows that the best way to combat the dangers of the trough is by taking restorative breaks. While there’s no single answer on exactly what those breaks should look like, Pink says science offers 5 guiding principles:
Just as physical landmarks help us to navigate space (“turn right at the gas station”), temporal landmarks help us to navigate time. Certain dates function like that gas station; they stand out from the repetitive march of other days, helping us to recalibrate and get motivated. To establish a fresh start, people use two types of temporal landmarks: social (landmarks everyone shares like Mondays, semesters, national holidays) and personal (birthdays, anniversaries, job changes). These time markers jumpstart change in two ways:
We spend countless hours researching and strategizing about how to tackle our daily tasks, but so rarely do we strongly consider when we tackle our tasks. When we fail to thoughtfully use time to our advantage, we short-change ourselves and limit our potential. Learning to leverage your chronotype, coupled with the power of restorative breaks and temporal landmarks, will help skyrocket your personal and professional success to the next level.
About the Author
Jess Hopkins is a Positive Psychology coach, speaker and trainer, working to maximize workplace well-being and performance. As a twice-certified Life Purpose and Career Coach, with dual Master's degrees in Counseling and Applied Positive Psychology, Jess is committed to affecting positive change within organizations that are driven by passion and purpose. For more information, please visit www.ThrivingWorkforce.com
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