Discover Your Chronotype--and the Best Time to Eat Lunch

This book colludes with people who want to be told how to live their lives. The "types" are cliches. And if you take the test more than once (as I did) you may find yourself becoming a different "type." The style and tone and slight defensiveness (because most people won't feel they are one "type") takes grievous advantage of the role of the "expert" in a profession that is not yet a science. Like many diet plans it assumes a nine to five world and is pitched to people in the frantic atmosphere of the workplace. An extension of Linked-In. And embarrassing for the profession of psychology. This definitely cashes in on the Forer or Barnum effect. To quote Wikipedia: The Barnum effect, also called the Forer effect, is a common psychological phenomenon whereby individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically to them but that are, in fact, vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people.

This book has been so fascinating. Many of the suggestions I already learned through painstaking trial-and-error experimentation with myself over years. And the new suggestions are also quickly showing promise. I've already had some of the very best napping of my life based upon adjusting the timing just a bit. I'm looking forward to put even more principles into action. I also dig that there are gobs and gobs of scientific studies supporting the assertions; it's clear Dr. Michael is an expert who really did his homework putting this book together.

Awful book. It simply splits people into four catogeries and choose their traits based on that. General questions that means nothing (Do you get anxious when while waiting for your school grades? You must be a dolphin because they're the anxious folks!) 10% of people are dolphins, 20% are.... what a load of.

The book simplifies the critical and small details that shaped - and may still do - our life, our personalities and simply put it all under a biological clock that dictates when we can sleep, have sex and other activities. I don't want to add anymore negativity in my review, but would advice you to flip the pages in you book store before and begin with the silly test to fully understand how shallow this book is.

Yes, schedules are important. Timing is important. Follow your biorhythms in order to have everything run smoothly. BUT he wrote in circles. I felt like he could have written all those information in the first few chapters, which he did. The rest were just repetitive. The diagrams in the last few pages summarized the book. If I had known that, I would have stopped forcing myself to actually read every word. Have I mentioned he was repetitive?

I agree that we should have a time for everything. People are moody or happy at different time, and so it's important to know their chronotype before striking a deal or a confrontation. However, his explanation of the science behind it all seemed wish-washy. Eh. I like the book. Will I recommend it? No. Will I tell people to not read it? No. Do what you want. All I can say is, it wasn't all completely a waste of time. Just prepare to read some repetitive stuff. If you think my review is redundant, avoid this book then :)

I was fortunate enough to receive a review copy of this book. "I couldn't wait to get through this book! I had my suspicions as to which "chronotype" I might be but was pleasantly surprised at what I found. My husband's type was easy to figure out, but not mine. After reading through the book, I decided to implement the suggestions - in my case, to move my workouts from the morning, to the afternoon, between 3-5pm. What a difference! Just that small change was able to give me energy for the second half of the day. All this time, I was so focused on getting everything done in the morning when I'm just NOT a morning person! This is a must read! It's not just how or why you do things, but WHEN that will enable you to be most successful!"

Originally I scored everything but the wolf but came back later & turns out I'm the bear going through stress .. the suggestions on the Bear daily routine were right-on - especially drinking water first thing in the morning & stalling caffeine until 10.

Anyone who knows what the Forer effect (aka "Barnum Effect") is will recognize it in this book. The descriptions of types are ambiguous enough that once placed in a type, most readers will find enough similarities to go with it, but if they take the time to read the descriptions of other types they'll find that each of them will feel equally applicable. I was hopeful that there might be some useful information in in the book, but very disappointed to see the author using the same well-known technique used by con artists to deliver fraudulent palm or astrology readings for centuries. Many readers will of course say, "But he described me perfectly!" This isn't surprising. It's the reason con artists have been relying on the Forer Effect for generations. If their marks didn't fall for it, they'd have abandoned it long ago.

The website associated with the book (Thepowerofwhen.com) allows you to take a quiz to determine your type for free. Before buying the book, I'd suggest doing two things. First, familiarize yourself with the Forer or Barnum Effect and then take quiz a few times. I took it twice with the same answers and got placed in 2 different types. Watch the videos for all three types, and really pay attention to the actual words. If you don't see the Forer Effect in play, by all means, buy the book.

After receiving a review copy of this book I discovered my chronotype and the benefits of knowing it. The quiz was very helpful and fun to take. As my family just entered into a new phase of life with our children in school, this book could not have come at a better time. I love that it points out the best and worst times to be productive and successful in all areas of life. You can use this to benefit and advance yourself personally and professionally. An easy to follow format and read.

11-13-16
Flashy and fashionable, but not very useful. After reading this book all in one day, I felt like I’d binged on infomercials for diet aids and financial schemes. (Even though I didn’t read Dr. Oz’s forward or the author’s introduction. I jumped straight into the meat of the book.) If you’re looking for recommended peak times for sleep, sex, meals, bowel movements, or requesting a raise, take his one-minute quiz, then skip to the end-of-chapter pages recommending times of day. Remember, they’re his recommendations based on what’s worked for others. Only you know your own body. Two stars because it’s ableist, elitist, and the latter third boring.

Caution: Don’t change your medications schedule without first checking with your own doctor.

Accessibility: Not once does he mention persons with disabilities or how they can modify his systems.

His theory that the time of day you eat affects weight gain more than how much you eat is interesting. However, he seems to equate skinny with healthy. Aside from his observations about one small study on the Freshman Fifteen originating from the time of day students (not amount) eat and how much they sleep, he frequently glosses over weight, nutrition, and what food people can afford to buy with mainstream stereotypes about overeating.

His recommendation to eat a protein-rich breakfast within an hour of waking does reflect my personal experience and the medical resources I’ve read in recent years.

He’s a clinical psychologist, but his recommendations for gamers dealing with addiction to online gaming sound dangerous and pat. It was a small section, like an afterthought in the middle, and I don’t think this book was an appropriate place for it.

336 pages, 16 chapters. Could have been thirty percent shorter. Writing style is mostly interesting, most of the time. Checked it out of the public library.

Recommended reading: For general tips and concerns, check out the three-star review, “Doesn't work if you're between types,” by the store user “A Reader,” posted September 20, 2016.

I am mostly Wolf and basically don't function well before 11am, & then only marginally. Also routinely stay up till 2am. An article in the New York Times that I read after this book (Maybe Your Sleep Problem Isn't a Problem, Aug 25 2018) put the dilemma of wolves in a bear's world much more clearly in far fewer pages.

And, very important, the article didn't even mention trying to convert wolves & other night people to bears / day people. That's what I found most annoying about this book -- after determining your chronotype you have to then adjust sleep / wake-up times & all the other stuff we do .... to a Bear schedule! That's great if you have to but there are many of us who don't.

The Times article made an important point that may have been made in this book, but that I might've missed because it was buried in all those words: Chronotypes are not a preference, they're hard-wired in our DNA.

To learn more about all this, try "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker, director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at UC Berkeley.

Disclaimer: I got my copy from local library--which I usually do before buying a book. From this book, I greatly appreciate learning about my sleep type...for sleep is my #1 concern (as it "should" be since I'm a Dolphin type mostly). I'm applying some of the author's suggestion, with great results. BUT, that he fails to even mention, much less discuss SLEEP APNEA is a huge oversight. Many, many people have this problem, UNdiagnosed. It messes with your sleep, your heart, your thinking, driving, mood, EVERYTHING--as sleep deprivation does. My husband, a Lion-type,--who looks Dolphin like since he's thin, wiry, etc. had a heart attack caused from undiagnosed sleep apnea. Now he sleeps using a bi-pap machine...there's no doubt in my mind this is lengthening his life span.

The Power of When by Michael Breus is extremely informative and inspiring but also provides humor and easy to follow steps. Finding out what your chronotype is will help you learn more about your bio-time rhythm and provide perspective how how to live a happier and healthier life. Everything is so extremely detailed and straightforward which really helps to keep you engaged and you don't even realize that you finished the book because of how captivating the information is. This not only will help each individual but also to understand those around you such as your spouse, children, friends, and family members. Buying The Power of When will help you become more in touch with yourself by helping you understand what you can do better. I have enjoyed reading this book because it has helped me to understand myself and my bio-time rhythm, and those around me that I come in contact with everyday which has allowed me to be able to communicate in a more efficient way.

This is a stupid book. The "chronotype test" is absurd and it's really hard to get past this area of the book and drudge forward with any seriousness at all. Stupid trash. Don't waste your time or money on this idiotic mumbo-jumbo. It gets one star ONLY because it would not allow me to post this without it.

The book is so simplified its ridiculous, and there are countless of other variables in your life that affect your sleep and other aspects of life way more. If you can't eat in the morning for instance, just supplement with some vitamin B6 for a few days and you'll have appetite will have appetite in the morning, and so will your answers to the questionaire. Tweak a few other aspects in your life and your 'genetic predisposed cardiac rythm' will suddenly be different.

Anyone who knows anything about methodology and data analysis will shake their head the questionares (powerofwhendotcom) and the conclusions. Very bad science. Good way to cash in on people who don't know any better though.

This is a well written book, with a certain amount of entertaining style. The most useful portions of the book are on optimizing sleep through timing of meals and exercise. A key thing to consider is that your hormonal ultradian pulses are not written in genetic stone. You can adjust over time using the techniques described in this book.

I dove into this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. The author presented his findings and expertise in a way that was engaging and accessible. I like how it was arranged so that you didn't have to read the book from cover to cover. Essentially you can read the first part of the book and then cherry pick the middle section to determine what you'd really like to work on. I really enjoyed that.

This area of research is fascinating to me so I'm probably a bit biased in my review, but I felt that the overall structure and cadence of the book was great. If you are looking to feel good about how your body clock is wired and want practical and tactical ways to adhere to what your body is telling you in terms of sleep, food intake, exercise, and someone, then give this book a read before you read any other sleep book. This book will definitely get you thinking positively about making changes and embracing your body clock so that the changes you make are sensible and best suited for you and your lifestyle.

A book that is long overdue and I'm glad that I read it.

The insights that I gained from reading The Power of When were phenomenal. I had a feeling that my husband and I were the same chronotype, and the mini-tests confirmed my assumptions. I was following the majority of Michael's recommendations for my type already, but I've started having breakfast shortly after I wake up (and before my workout), which has given me more sustained energy throughout the day. I'm looking forward to looking more deeply into changes that we can BOTH do to stay in sync. Thanks, Sleep Doctor! Glad I picked up your book!

After recieving an advanced copy of the book I was fascinate to learn my chronotype. Now that I know I am a "Bear" I will use the principles and advice in the books to maximize my days by doing things at the right time! Changing my schedule will be challenging but I am excited to be a better version of myself!

I was given this book to review pre-publication. As a new mom, and proclaimed A-type "Dolphin" chronotype who never really fully sleeps, the book has helped me learn how to make smarter decisions on maximizing every second of my day to its full potential. Simply by using a few of the useful guidelines on when to sleep and eat (on days the baby's schedule allows of course), I've found myself to have a little extra pep in my step, which is a huge win as a parent. :)

This book clearly explains what kind of Chronotype you are and gives you the necessary circadian information to live your life to the fullest. After reading Dr. Breus' book, I now undertsand my circadian rhythms (as well as my wife's) and can better plan when to eat, exercise and sleep. It's a fun read and provides new insight on why and when the people you know have different energy levels throughout the day. I highly recommend this book for people who are interested in learning more about how their circadian rhythms flow and how they affect moods and energy patterns.

I was given this book to review pre-publication.

I read this book with one of my adult children. It was interesting to discover and discuss what chronotypes we are and then guess about the rest of the family. It was helpful to think about how our family relates to one another in light of this information. I believe this book will help people be become better spouses, parents and friends. I look forward to applying the various principles to my life.
LB

I was fascinated with this book after receiving a review copy. The concepts make so much sense, but I would have never thought of them! As a working mom with five kids, I can use all the help I can get with managing my time. After discovering my chronotype, I am so excited to make little changes in my life with big results!

Amazing research and book by Dr Breus. Besides breaking our natural daily patterns into fun types theres a ton of original research in here. How to move your clock a bit if necessary and how to take advantage of the power of already present sleep wake patterns. Also he's a great speaker and very kind (spoke recently at an event I went to) A must for any human!

If you love taking quizzes to better know yourself this is the book for you. Before taking the Bio-Time quiz I was sure that I would test out as a "wolf" - big surprise I am a solid "bear". This book is full of very useful and practical advice for men and women at all stages of life. I received it as a review copy but definitely would recommend it for purchase. I think the Money chapter and especially the Buy section are worth the price of the book.

I learned so much about myself, my husband and my children after reading my review copy of The Power of When! This book truly helped me understand how powerful "when" can be. After knowing my chronotype, now I know the best time to workout, the best time to sleep and best of all the best time to be the most productive. It's a must read!

Honored to have received a review copy of this amazing book! Powerful, insightful and all while educating not only what's best for me, but also my spouse and my children!! I have ear marked pages and am certain I will be referring back to this throughout life.....as I wonder if our Chronotypes change from time to time.