When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

By: Daniel H. Pink

Narrated by: Daniel H. Pink

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

The instant New York Times best seller

Number one Wall Street Journal Business best seller

Instant Washington Post best seller

"Brims with a surprising amount of insight and practical advice." (The Wall Street Journal)

Daniel H. Pink, the number one best-selling author of Drive and To Sell Is Human, unlocks the scientific secrets to good timing to help you flourish at work, at school, and at home. 

Everyone knows that timing is everything. But we don't know much about timing itself. Our lives are a never-ending 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: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Pink shows that timing is really 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 you 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 narrative packed with irresistible stories and practical takeaways that give listeners compelling insights into how we can live richer, more engaged lives.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2018 Daniel H. Pink (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"Pink is as comfortable behind the mic as he is with his subject matter as he reveals that it really is all about timing.... With a popular TED talk and a long list of public speaking engagements on his resume, Pink is more polished than many author narrators, and his high-energy style is infectious." (AudioFile Magazine) 

“Known for his popular books on motivation and creativity, Pink tackles the science behind how we organize our time and how we should set up the routines of our days.” (Washington Post, 11 Leadership Books to Read in 2018)

“Pink delivers the bad news about our time-based weaknesses with some good news about how to compensate for them. More delightful still, many of these tips involve simply slowing down, taking breaks and stealing naps. Alas, none of this advice will prevent time from flying by, but at least there are proven ways to fill our hours a bit better.” (The Wall Street Journal)  

Fun. Enlightening. Fast Paced.

This is an awesome book. So much going for it. The author, Dan Pink, is a great storyteller. He presents a lot of information but weaves it all into easy-to-follow stories. Some of the information - a lot of it, actually - is eye-opening and applies to everything one does. If you are like me, you’ll find yourself Googling this and that to help with applying these nuggets to your personal and professional life. You might even start thinking who you could buy copies for, only to find the list grow far too long to afford. Finally, Dan Pink is an excellent narrator. Nothing lacks or lags in the way he reads the book. It’s almost as if he’s talking personally to you. Yes, I loved it.

Interesting but not compelling

Interesting but not compelling. It's less about secrets of perfect timing than it is about how time influences our lives and decisions. There were a few new tidbits, but mostly a collection of concepts I'd learned before. It's no surprise that it works best to tackle difficult, analytical tasks in the morning or that teams ahead at half time usually win. At only 5 hours, it wasn't a waste of time, but it didn't change my life either.

Pink does a fine job of narration. I always enjoy the nuance that comes when an author reads their own writing.

Great Advice in the Most Unexpected Places

What did you love best about When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing?

I picked up Daniel Pink's When because a friend recommended it. However, I wasn't sure it would be pertinent to my stage in life and business. I read to improve some aspect of my life for business and expected this might be a dud despite Pink's recommendation.

Boy, was I wrong.

Pink tells his tale and spews statistics like a poet. I was held in the grasp of his voice and listened to every word. Many times I had to stop or take mentally take notes so I didn't forget a great insight or idea before I got to my destination - always the challenge when listening to books while driving.

This is a good one.

What was one of the most memorable moments of When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing?

I had some great insights about the timing of the start of things. The year I graduated from college in the midst of a recession had a measurable impact on my career trajectory that I shared with my cohorts.

What about Daniel H. Pink’s performance did you like?

He sounds very authentic and expresses his message quite naturally.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing?

Moving more quickly on an idea with follow-up actions and not letting "that moment" to wither away.

Informative, Entertaining and Thought Provoking

“When” is an informative and entertaining book. It could be particularly useful for people who are looking for ways to make their daily routines work better for them. But even if not looking to make such changes, it is very useful to understand the people in your life or just what’s happening in the world. This book is incredibly well researched and presented with great color. Pink is a great story teller. I read a lot of self help material and this book is unique in how it gives very practical steps as to how the information can be incorporated to make positive change. For example, the guidance on naps is very specific, when to take them, how long, the use of caffeine with naps, etc. Very, very practical! Pink’s books tend to jump around a lot, moving from subject to subject, sub topic to sub topic, very quickly. Personally I like this as I find it more entertaining. Also, Pink can get away (whereas others cannot) because he is a great writer and his subject is so well researched. Other readers however may not like this style. Lastly, I have to comment on Pink’s great skill in weaving in stories / examples from so many different areas, from basketball scores to lunch delivery men in India. I find this really adds to the work and may resonate with fans of Malcolm Gladwell and the Freakonomics series. I highly recommend this book.

Very light on content

Mostly a series of already familiar anecdotes on behavior with a few article length insightful chapters. Not worth the money.

A bit disappointing

I hoped for a lot more insight on the psychology of perfect timing. A significant portion of the book was focused on circadian cycles, but the content didn't seem like it evolved much vs what we learned in high school psych class 25 years ago.

I stuck with it to the end because the narration was pleasant, but overall was a bit bored with it.

Fun, accessible and actionable

Really enjoyable book. I've read quite widely on many of these subjects, but still fascinating to hear Pink's take on them and to have them all in one place. I'm a business strategy coach and ll be referring clients to this book for a long time. But there is much in here for everyone.

Included with the audio book is a helpful pdf that covers all the suggested items at the end of each chapter. Find it in your audible library. Often these addendums are less than stelar, but this is excellent. I'd been considering having to buy a physical copy of the book to remember everything (hard for me as a dyslexic to take notes from audio).

This is a quick, fun read that will affect many aspects of your life for the better

Not converted to audio book

This audio book is filled with the author instructing you to refer to “attachments”, “PDFs”, and fill in surveys on the pages. It’s an audiobook - there is a minimal requirement for adaptation - that minimum being not telling those listening to “look at the pages” and “turn to this attachment” but then not describing it in the reading. Very frustrating.

Fantastic!

This book, by one of my favorite authors, did not disappoint! I started implementing some of the ideas in this book before I even finished it (creating meaningful endings). I highly recommend it.

More anecdotal evidence than formulaic but informative

- More people prefer happy endings than disappointing ones. For example, more people would rather have the highlights of James dean‘s life and death instead of living much longer with life downfalls
- synchronization and sense of belonging improves team performance.
- recessions can impact one‘s earning power in comparison to those who enter into stable markets. Bull market entrance can alter the fate of one‘s life earnings more than the opposite
- Midpoints are good for teams because those are good periods that can help a team or a person get a sense of urgency and get the job done well
- there are specific ages for marriage. Most importantly, the earlier you get married the more likely you are to divorce