The Science Of Timing: When To Do Things
This book is about timing. It talks about how you should structure your day, when to start and end things, how to manage midpoints, and how to synchronize large groups of people.
How to structure your day
Your mood is not constant throughout the day but it has a pattern. The author cites studies that says a typical day has three phases: Peak, Trough, Rebound/Recovery. These phases have a big effect on your emotional state and cognitive abilities.
The pattern of these phases follows your chronotype. This is your personal pattern of sleeping and waking cycles. Chronotypes are best represented in three groups: early risers, night owls, and most people somewhere in between. Most people experience a typical day the usual pattern: peak – trough – recovery. Night owls experience the reverse: recovery – trough – peak.
Knowing which hours your typical daily phases occur will help you determine the kind of task you should do. In peak hours, it’s best to do analytical work, or work that needs focus. In trough hours, it best to do admin tasks. In rebound/recovery hours, it’s best to do creative work, or work that requires insight.
To setup your day for success: determine your chronotype, define your tasks, and select the appropriate time to do them.
Why Beginnings, Midpoints And Endings Matter
Beginnings matter because, as the author cites, ‘when’ you start an activity can impact how long you stick to it, or whether you underperform with a bad start. The lesson is to choose the right time to start. And your best bet is to start on a temporal landmark. These are certain dates which are meaningful to you. Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc.
Midpoints are crucial because these are when you usually slump, but if treated correctly it can give you a spark instead. The idea is to treat halfway marks as an alarm or information, instead of a resignation that you may be behind.
Endings are impactful and it’s helpful to understand what’s going on when you’re near it otherwise you risk trailing off. When you’re near the end of an activity, you tend to push harder as a sense of urgency is much more salient. Also. when your time is limited, you pursue different goals than when you started
Synching With Others
Relationships matter. Most of the time you’ll have other people to interact with. Learning how to sync with others helps strengthen your social bonds. If you are a leader, learning how to sync groups and massive amounts of people are important. You have to direct like a conductor keeping the pace in check. You must also foster a sense of belonging so that everyone feels in sync with one another.
Timing is important
In some instances, its harder to differentiate if time or timing is merely incidental with regards to outcomes. Is it a lagging or a leading metric? Does it prove causation or correlation? This isn’t discussed as much. Nevertheless, it’s there. It’s a variable. And studies have been made seeking its pattern and our reactions within it.
You’ve already read about how performance varies in different times of the day. The same principle applies in activities such as medical surgeries, judicial sentencing or earnings calls. Studies have found that there are big differences when the timing of these activities are compared. It might be wise to schedule major operations in the morning. In this sense, timing matters a lot.
See more:
Like, Follow, and Get notified in advance through social media sites:
https://www.instagram.com/booknewb/
https://www.facebook.com/booknewb/
https://twitter.com/booknewb
book newb 
Leave a comment