1 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the tactics 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:09,799 Speaker 1: used by leading innovators to get so much out of 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 1: their day. I'm your host, doctor Amantha Imba. I'm an 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: organizational psychologist, the CEO of Inventing, and I'm obsessed with 5 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: finding ways to optimize my workday. Today's show is another 6 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:25,280 Speaker 1: my Favorite Tip episode, where I go through the archives 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: or the back catalog if you like, of How I 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: Work and pick out my favorite tip or piece of 9 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: advice from all of the interviews that I've done so 10 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: My guest today is Dan Pink. Dan is the author 11 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: of six best selling books, including Drive, a Whole New Mind, 12 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: and his latest book When, the Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, 13 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: which has spent four months on the New York Times 14 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: bestseller list. You might also be familiar with Dan through 15 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: his ted talk about the Surprising Science of Motivation, which 16 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: has been viewed over twenty million times. I'm a big 17 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: fan of Dan Pink and have been for a long time, 18 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,839 Speaker 1: so I was very excited to be able to chat 19 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,759 Speaker 1: with him on How I Work. I think Dan has 20 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: such a knack for dissecting complex science and finding a 21 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: way to make it not just accessible but also memorable 22 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: and impactful for his readers. In this episode, I've selected 23 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: an excerpt where Dan talks about how he structures his workdays. 24 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: So on that note, let's hear from Dan. 25 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 2: For instance, one of the ideas in When has to 26 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 2: do with the pattern of our performance and our attention 27 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 2: and our mood over the course of a day, and 28 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 2: how we go through this day typically in three stages, 29 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 2: a peak, a trough, and a recovery. Most of us 30 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 2: go in that order. Night outs go in a very 31 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 2: different order. And I realize I'm looking at some of 32 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 2: this research that I should be doing my heads down 33 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 2: analytic work writing first thing in the morning, and definitely 34 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 2: in the morning. And I changed my schedule around there 35 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 2: so that on writing days, I will set myself a 36 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 2: word count, however many words, you know, not a lot, 37 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 2: seven hundred words, say, and I will come into my office. 38 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 2: I don't come in exceptionally early. I come in at 39 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 2: half past eight, and I'll say, okay, today I got 40 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 2: to write a seven hundred words. And I won't bring 41 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 2: my phone into the office with me, I will not 42 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 2: open up my email, I will not do anything until 43 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 2: I hit those seven hundred words, and then I'm free 44 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 2: to do other things and that. And so the idea 45 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 2: that this peak period, this idea that the research showing 46 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 2: that I had this three or four hour peak of 47 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 2: vigilance and ability not to be distracted, that I shouldn't 48 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 2: furtit it that a way answering email or going on 49 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 2: Twitter or any of that nonsense. I really stuck to 50 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 2: that and use that kind of schedule to actually write 51 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 2: this particular book. And this is the first. Out of 52 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 2: the six, five of them were late, only one was 53 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 2: on time, and this was the one on time. I 54 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 2: use the early to mid afternoon typically for answering email 55 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 2: and putting I'm a big I have a lot of files, 56 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 2: paper files, and like filing stuff away and oh I 57 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 2: need to scan this thing and put it into drop, 58 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:33,920 Speaker 2: you know, that kind of stuff that doesn't require heavy load. 59 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 2: And then during their recover period, which is basically like 60 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 2: the mid to late afternoon and early evening, I generally 61 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 2: do interviews. So interviews like this one are also even 62 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 2: interviews when I am asking questions, So that period of 63 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 2: the day, so the peak again for most of us 64 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 2: early in the day, that's when we're the most vigilant. 65 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 2: We should be doing our heads down work the trough 66 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 2: early to mid afternoon. That is a really bad time 67 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 2: of day. Our mental performance, cognitive skills are way down, 68 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 2: and so I do my administrative stuff then and then 69 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 2: when I come out of the trough, you know, around 70 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 2: whenever three o'clock, three thirty four o'clock in the afternoon. 71 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 2: I tend to do interviews like this or things that 72 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 2: require not necessarily be lockdown and vigilant, but just to 73 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 2: be open to possibility, open to ideas, a little bit 74 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:27,839 Speaker 2: more mentally loose. 75 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: Hello, it's Amantha here again. I loved hearing Dan talk 76 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: about this because it's such a simple and practical approach 77 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: to thinking about the structure of the workday that is 78 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 1: best for you, that is based on science. I think 79 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: that most people, unfortunately, have a much more reactive work date, 80 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: and its structure is determined by other people's priorities, which 81 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: come in the form of meetings, emails, phone calls, and 82 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: so on. So I think it's a great experiment to 83 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: dedicate maybe one day this week or next week, to 84 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: exercise some control over your diary and just see how 85 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:03,160 Speaker 1: much you achieve that day. I know that in my 86 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: own life, my days have run on a similar structure 87 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: to what Dan describes for about two years now and 88 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: for me, it completely transformed my output. So that is 89 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: it for today's show. If you liked this extract, you 90 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: might want to go back and listen to the whole 91 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 1: interview with Dan Pink. And if you're enjoying How I Work, 92 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: make sure you subscribe to the show in iTunes. And 93 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: if you're feeling particularly generous today, you might want to 94 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,039 Speaker 1: leave a review in iTunes. It's great getting reviews, it 95 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,039 Speaker 1: helps more people find the show, and it just makes 96 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: me really happy to be honest. So that is it 97 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: for today and I'll see you next time.