WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink

BATB score: 10/10 👏

*Daniel H Pink is my favorite non-fiction author*

Best as: nerdy, scientific, experimental, behavioral economics, entertaining, fun read

Best for: you need to digest and think of further optimizing implementation from these insights or else it’s just useless fun read

Best to: knowing that it is the last piece of chocolate, that last piece is the most yummy nom nom

Best quotes: “If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.”

BATB TL;DR on the major insights:

- “Morning Mortality Effect” people are less likely to lie and cheat on tasks in the morning than they are later in the day

- Typical worker reaches the most unproductive moment of the day at 2.55PM

- High performers work for fifty-two minutes and then break for seventeen minutes

- Hourly five-minute walking breaks boosted energy levels, sharpened focus, and improved mood throughout the day and reduced feelings of fatigue in the late afternoon; works even better if the walks are outdoors

- Caffeine followed by a nap of ten to twenty minutes, is the ideal technique for staving off sleepiness and increasing performance; set the nap alarm for 25-minutes to include 7-minutes to nod off

- “9-Enders Theory” you are more likely to run a marathon, commit suicide, or cheat on your spouse at 29, 39, 49, 59 than when you are 28, 38, 48, 58

- Merely telling people they were slightly behind an opponent led them to exert more effort

- “Fast Finish Effect” when we near the end, we kick a little harder; set mini-goals throughout big long goals

- “End of Life Bias” we believe people’s true selves are revealed at the end - even if their death is unexpected and the bulk of their lives evinced a far different self; given a choice human beings prefer endings that elevate (best if good news last)