I’m generally a fan of Daniel Pink’s work, and while this was clearly an extensively researched labour of love, I felt like it was a little “all over the place.” His sections about “beginnings,” “midpoints,” and “endings,” blended together both the micro (for example, what happens if you get a bad start to your morning) and the macro (what happens if you’re part of a cohort that graduates during a recession). In my mind, those probably should have been separate chapters. Also, he cites a lot of research in the first two chapters around circadian rhythms – most notably that we have a “dual peak” rhythm of reasonably good mood / productivity in the morning, an afternoon slump, and improving mood later in the evening. But in my mind, he doesn’t do a good enough job at separating out the “what” from the “when.” As I looked at the charts, I said, “duh: people are happy when they’re not at work.” When I look at the chart, I see that people’s good moods exist at lunchtime and after work, and a slumping mood and productivity later in the workday makes perfect sense to me. I think plenty of studies have shown that the workday is way longer than it needs to be. I’d have loved to see research on populations that don’t have standard 9-to-5 schedules (like retirees or self-employed people who can set their schedules).  I did appreciate his insights into chronotypes (and the fact that high schools and colleges all start their classes way too early for chronotype-shifted teens), and I thought some of his research into midpoints (the “uh-oh” effect) was interesting. But on the whole, I’d probably say this is one of Pink’s weaker books, especially compared to “The Power of Regret.”