When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing

The good news is that everyone can achieve this. It's not rocket science – it's the science of good timing. And, once we're aware of the science behind timing, we can plan our work and monitor our teams to get the best results for our organizations.

This book is a fascinating exploration of the characteristics of timing. Using its insights, you can learn to tweak schedules, and your own expectations, to help your teams work smarter.

Some elements of how we use timing are so detrimental to progress – and yet so easily remedied – that you'll want to implement changes right away. And you can. Each chapter offers practical tips on incorporating the science of timing into daily practice.

Daniel Pink is the perfect mentor for our journey into the secrets of good timing. He's the author of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers "Drive," "To Sell Is Human," and "A Whole New Mind" – and he has a wealth of experience in management and behavioral science. He's also served as an aide to US Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, and as chief speechwriter for former Vice President Al Gore, so we can safely rely on him to introduce us to the importance of timing.

So keep listening to discover what the dabbawalas of Mumbai can teach us about working together, how to mitigate the effects of the afternoon energy slump, and how temporal landmarks like birthdays can help us achieve our goals.

On first read, it's best to tackle this book in the order in which it's written, as Pink sometimes refers back to studies he's detailed in previous chapters. And be prepared to learn as you go. Each of the book's three parts ends with a "Time Hacker's Handbook" containing practical exercises, tools and tips to help you put the insights into action.

The introduction is titled "Captain Turner's Decision," and it gives a flavor of the study of timing and why it's important. The Captain Turner in question is William Thomas Turner, captain of the ship, Lusitania, which was torpedoed during the First World War, killing more than 1,000 people. It's an arresting example to kick off this topic – vividly showing how bad timing can have disastrous consequences.

Part One, titled "The Hidden Patterns of Everyday Life," explores how all living things have internal biological clocks, from single-cell organisms to human beings. We learn how, in 1729, a French scientist discovered that the furling and unfurling of the leaves on his potted plant had nothing to do with daylight and darkness, and everything to do with its own internal clock.

Pink shares insight into human circadian rhythms, too. Cornell University sociologists Michael Macy and Scott Golder studied 500 million tweets by 2.4 million users in 84 countries. When they analyzed these tweets for positive emotions such as enthusiasm and alertness, and negative emotions such as anger and lethargy, they found a pattern. Positive mood rises in the morning, dips between 2pm and 5pm, and rises again in the evening. And this is true across all cultures. Similar studies have noted the same pattern.

This natural fluctuation of positive and negative mood can have an enormous impact on business. Take earnings calls, for instance – meetings where companies give information about their performance. With stock analysts and journalists in the audience, it's crucial that executives appear positive, confident and upbeat.

Three American business-school professors analyzed 26,000 earnings calls from 2,100 public companies over six and a half years. They found morning calls were more positive and competent than afternoon calls, when responses to questions were often unconvincing or clumsy. This negativity was reflected in the communications sent out by analysts and journalists, and share prices fell.

In the mornings our brains are usually good at filtering out distractions that might interfere with our ability to analyze. This is the time to tackle problems that need us to be alert and process data logically, such as calculations or writing a report. For creative or insight problems, the afternoon is better, because then we're more susceptible to distractions. Paradoxically, this helps us make creative connections that may have been closed to us when our filters were tighter.

But it's not quite as simple as this. This morning-peak-afternoon-slump pattern is true for most people, but we all have our own personal circadian rhythms. Around 75 percent of us are "larks" who rise early, are energized during the day, and fade out in the evening. The remaining 25 percent are "owls," who experience the day in reverse – recovery, trough, peak.

The problem is that our corporate world is generally configured for the larks among us, which doesn't work for the owls. So, we can all perform better when we're aware of our rhythms, and managers can match tasks to the circadian rhythms of individuals, as far as that's possible. In the Time Hacker's Handbook at the end of Chapter One, you'll find a really simple test for identifying personal rhythms, along with tips on how to schedule your day accordingly.

Of course, most of us don't have complete control over our schedules, and the book suggests ways of dealing with this, too. For instance, if you're an owl who has an important early meeting, Pink suggests you prepare the night before, when you're at your best, take a quick walk before the meeting, and repeat back any questions you're asked during the meeting to make sure you've understood them correctly.

Regardless of our personal patterns, we all experience a dip in the afternoon. A UK study demonstrated the point by showing that sleep-related vehicle accidents peak between 2pm and 4pm. Researchers in many other countries have seen the same pattern.

One antidote to this afternoon slump is to take a short break to socialize and move around – preferably outside. Doing this can make a big difference to your performance. Researchers in Denmark illustrated this when they found that students' test results worsened in the afternoon, but when they were given a 20-30 minute break to eat, play and chat, their scores increased.

Pink then goes further, suggesting we might even want to take a nap. We'd be in good company. A NASA study of pilots found that those who took a short nap before flying showed a 34 percent improvement in reaction time and a twofold increase in alertness.

A nap of around 10-20 minutes boosts short-term memory, cognitive performance, and creativity. Any longer, though, and you may experience sleep inertia – that groggy, confused state from which you have to recover, which reduces the benefit of the snooze.

You can boost the positive impact of your nap by taking what's known as a "nappuccino." A cup of coffee containing around 200 milligrams of caffeine taken before your 20-minute nap will kick in when you wake up – alert and ready to roll.

Part Two of the book considers beginnings, middles and endings. It looks closely at our behavior at these landmark points during long-term projects, our careers, and life itself.

Think for a moment about temporal landmarks, such as birthdays and January 1 – or indeed, the first day of any month. Researchers analyzed eight and a half years of Google searches and found that the word "diet" soared on January 1. These landmark days boost people's motivation, allowing them to disconnect from their "old self" and past imperfections, and move more confidently into the future. They also encourage us to focus less on the mundane minutiae of daily life and more on our long-term goals. In short, we make a fresh start, and our motivation and engagement increases.

Midpoints, however, can make us slump or jump. In midlife, for instance, we can experience a slump, when we reflect on our lives. On the other hand, that reflection may galvanize us into action, as we recognize the importance of seizing the day while we still have time.

Scholar Connie Gersick studied a range of groups and found that progress on projects is not consistent; it fluctuates over time. At the beginning, groups have a prolonged period of inertia when they talk but don't achieve much. Then, midway through, they're galvanized into action and experience a sense of urgency that's referred to in the book as the "uh-oh effect." In team projects, midpoints can act like psychological alarm clocks. Leaders can use them to set direction and accelerate the pace.

Endings, too, can energize us. We kick harder when we have the end of a project in sight, which is one reason why deadlines are effective. The motivational pull of endings leads us to act with greater urgency.

Part Three takes us to Mumbai, to explore the intricacies of group timing. Here, we find out how 5,000 people collect 200,000 lunches from the homes of workers, and deliver these lovingly prepared delicacies to the right person, in the right building, on time, every day. The only technology involved is a bicycle and public trains.

These dabbawalas (as they're known) have been running this system since 1890. How on earth do they do it, in one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the world?

First, each dabbawala syncs to "the boss," which, in this case, is the clock, the train schedule, and the Mumbai lunch hour – between 1 and 2pm. Then they sync to each other, meeting at the station to distribute the lunches they've picked up from the families of the workers. Each dabbawala then heads out to specific areas to deliver the food.

There's a strong team spirit, which is intensified by the fact that the dabbawalas all speak Marathi, rather than the dominant language of Hindi. They earn an equal share of the profits and they all wear a distinctive white hat. They also share a secret code to identify and match each lunchbox with its owner and destination.

But, more than this, their work transcends the mere delivery of a meal. The dabbawala is the link between one family member lovingly preparing the lunch and the other family member enjoying it. These lunchbox carriers are therefore involved in maintaining and enhancing those family relationships. All the people involved in this system need to be in sync, which satisfies a basic human need, Pink says. Working in harmony with others makes us happier and more collaborative.

In the Time Hacker's Handbook at the end of this chapter Pink suggests some ways to find your own "syncher's high," to lift your physical and psychological well-being. These include behaviors like singing in a chorus. At work, enhancing feelings of belonging could come from nurturing group rituals, like celebrating birthdays or lunching together.

Although its main focus is business, "When" explores perfect timing in life, too. It considers the optimum time for exercise, marriage, and starting a diet, alongside such issues as when to be creative, change jobs, or plan your personal goals.

In our view, it's a book everyone can benefit from. Throughout, the writing is clear and engaging, although some readers may not share Pink's enthusiasm for sports-related analogies and case studies. There's a comprehensive notes section and an index at the back, along with a further reading section giving a brief summary of Pink's source material. So if you want to explore more secrets of perfect timing, you know where to look.

Pink sets out to provide insights into timing that can help people work smarter and live better. We think he succeeds in this, giving readers a comprehensive and engaging lesson in how to use the power of perfect timing to their advantage.

Some of the ideas here will have you shaking your head and muttering, "Wow, who knew?" Others may sound familiar, although you probably won't have seen them validated by research before. You'll likely finish the book with a better understanding of the importance of timing, and maybe a desire to tweak your schedule to make the most of your new insight.

"When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing," by Daniel H. Pink is published by Canongate Books and Riverhead Books.

That's the end of this episode of Book Insights. Thanks for listening!