Who: Daniel Pink

Claim To Fame: Daniel Pink is the author of six provocative books, including his newest, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. WHEN is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, and Publishers Weekly bestseller. Pink’s other books include the long-running New York Times bestseller A Whole New Mind and the #1 New York Times bestsellers Drive and To Sell is Human. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into 37 languages.

For the last six years, London-based Thinkers 50 named him as one of the top 15 business thinkers in the world. And his TED Talk on the science of motivation is one of the 10 most-watched TED Talks of all time, with more than 20 million views.

Where To Find Daniel: His Website, Amazon, Twitter

Praise For Daniel: “Daniel Pink is one of the few non-fiction authors alive today capable of filtering the work of so many scientific minds through his original human stories and onto the page.” — Harper’s Bazaar

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing unlocks how timing is a science, not an art. How did you apply what you learned in writing that book to your writing routine and when you write?

One of the most important insights from the science of timing is that our cognitive abilities do not remain static over the course of the day. They change — in predictable and sometimes extreme ways.  That’s why it’s important to do the right work at the right time. Most of us have a period of the day when we’re highest in vigilance, in our ability to focus deeply and bat away distractions. For me, that peak occurs in the morning — between about 830 am and Noon. So, on writing days, I isolate and protect that chunk of time. I don’t open my email. I don’t even bring my phone into the office. Instead, I give myself a word count — say, 800 words — and don’t do anything else until I written that many words. Whenever we sit down to write, the entire universe begins conspiring to distract us.  That’s why it’s essential to do our writing during the time of day when we’re least distractible and most vigilant.

Do you have any pre-writing rituals that help you get in the zone?

Not really. My two go-to pre-writing moves are guzzling some coffee and stumbling into my office.

Anything you do when the writing isn’t coming easy?

For me, the writing never comes easy. Never. When it’s especially difficult, sometimes I’ll take a walk. But most times, I’ll just sit there, suffer, write shitty sentences, and hope I can make the next draft less putrid.

Given your expertise on workplace environments that nurture motivation, creativity, and innovation, what do you think makes for an ideal writing workplace?

That depends on the person — which means that the two most important broad criteria are choice and configurability. Some people enjoy working around other people. Others prefer to be sealed off. Some writers like the ambiance of coffee shops. Others like the serenity of silence. If people can choose — or configure — the workspace that’s right for them, that’s the ideal.  As for me, I work alone in a refurbished garage behind my house. The space is silent. But I still often wear earplugs, noise-canceling headphones, or both when I write. I’m not sure what this says about my sociability, but I do my best work when I’m sealed off from the rest of the world.

Deciding on an idea to pursue writing about can be the most challenging aspect for a writer. How do you come to the point of ‘this is something I need to write about’ as opposed to ‘this is something I enjoy reading about’?

That’s a tough one.  But it’s one reason I always write a 30-to-40-page book proposal before committing to writing a book. That allows me to test whether this idea is one with which I’d like to go out on a few dates — or one I want to go steady with and maybe marry. I have several proposals in my files for ideas that I initially thought were great — but ultimately abandoned because they weren’t strong enough or I didn’t care enough to devote several years of my life to the topic.

All of your work is very research intensive. What is your method for researching and organizing material you might want to use for your future writing?

I’m a hard-core filer.  I keep voluminous paper files — always carefully labeled with my labeler and often encased in a larger Redweld expandable folder, which itself has a label. I also rely heavily on Dropbox. I have probably about 200 separate folders in Dropbox and more subfolders than I’m willing to admit.

Writers have to be master prioritizers — juggling all sorts of projects and deadlines at the same time. That’s certainly the case for you. Do you have any methods for managing tasks and time to stay productive and not let overwhelm sneak in?

It can be a struggle. But one secret is knowing and being comfortable with your own preferences. For example, I’m terrible at parallel processing — at having several projects going at once. I’m much more of a serial processor — going deep on one and only one project for an extended period and then moving on to the next thing.  So I try not to commit too much, even if it requires saying no to things that might be interesting. I believe in Peter Drucker’s advice to do first things first and second things not at all.

What are the best pieces of writing advice that you’ve ever received or read?

Many years ago, I turned in a draft of a long magazine story. I knew the piece was off, but I couldn’t figure out why. My editor read it, then asked me: “What’s the promise you’re making to the reader?” I’d never thought about writing that way — and it’s something I never stopped thinking about. Some writers might view this approach as too transactional and not sufficiently inspired. But I disagree.  If somebody takes time from their life to read something I’ve written, that’s a huge privilege. I want to make sure I deliver on the promise.

What writers and books have had the greatest impact on your writing and thinking?

Too many to mention. When I was a kid and obsessed with sports, a librarian directed me to the works of John McPhee, who wrote about basketball and tennis in ways that woke me up and widened my vision.  Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird made me realize that I wasn’t crazy — that most writers encountered the same struggles I did.  Studs Terkel’s Working, another book I read as a kid, got me interested in work and the workplace. Today, there are so many good writers doing such good work — from narrative nonfiction writers like Michael Lewis and David Grann to novelists like Margaret Atwood and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to dozens and dozens more — that I try to learn something from every author I read.

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