Timing Is Everything

Daniel Pink is the author of six books.   His most recent one, When, is about timing.  His conclusions are all based on scientific studies, and the results are remarkable.  First, the brain is not static all day.  We are sharper, more productive at different times of the day.  Some people are more productive in the morning, some at night, but generally, people are sharper and make less mistakes earlier in the day.

Daniel Pink makes one very important conclusion.  Go to the doctor or have an operation scheduled for early in the day.  The research is overwhelming.  Anesthesiologists make four times as many errors in the afternoon as they do in the morning.  It's true.  For those having a colonoscopy, twice as many polyps are found in patients who have the procedure in the morning.  Doctors seeing patients in the afternoon are more likely to prescribe drugs, rather than looking for another way to treat the patient.  From now on, all my important doctor appointments will be in the morning.

Marriage, according to Daniel Pink's research, is more likely to be successful in couples that finish their education before marriage, and for those that marry between ages 25-32.  As I said before, people are generally more productive in the morning than they are later in the day.  Happiness, almost universally, is pretty much the same.  People are very happy in their 20's and 30's, then it dips in the 40's and 50', and people are most happy in their 70's.  People's group of friends shrink as they get older, and in their 70's people have fewer, but closer, friends.  Most people have ended friendships that are not healthy for them, and keep a close circle of good friends.

I am intrigued by what else Daniel Pink has to say, so I will check out his book, When.  Fareed Zakaria had him on his show in August, and I was fascinated by his conclusions.  Most importantly, I will be making morning appointments for surgery or office visits in the future.