When do you feel most productive?

Hmm… I was actually going to write a post on an entirely different topic when I saw this prompt and decided to jump right in.

When do you feel most productive?

Duh! In the morning, of course.

I remember a time period more than a couple of years back when I’d have answered this same question with an ‘After 10 p.m!’ without a second thought. Yup. I was an owl for long, whose most productive time was from 10 p.m. to around 2 a.m. Perhaps it was the insomnia that made it so, but whatever, there it was.

Inevitably so, that played havoc with my health. The goody-goody girl/young woman, who went early to bed to the amusement and envy of those who longed for sleep had somehow become one of them. My health suffered.

Fortunately for me, I was saved from this situation…… by I don’t know what! I somehow started falling asleep earlier and waking up refreshed at dawn, and by dawn I mean somewhere between the unearthly (to some!) hours of 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.

And that is when my dears, my productive time starts.

By 6 a.m. I am usually done with my walk and back home. After a while I have my tea. Or what I call tea. You may call it whatever you like. It has barely any milk in it (I hate milk!), a teaspoon at the most , and according to those around me looks like water used to wash the tea residue. But as far as I am concerned, it is either that or good old plain black tea. No sugar, thank you.

Once I have taken my morning cuppah such as it is, you better watch out. I transform magically into a new, improved and the MOST productive version of myself. I run around accomplishing things around the house (Did you think I’d go climb Mount Everest?!), the normal mundane stuff that makes up the life of the homemaker. It is also the best time to be productive at writing as well, but I never get the chance as I’ll be too busy already.

A curious outcome of partaking of tea is that I become too chatty. I don’t know if it falls into the category of ‘productive’! But you’ll find me sharing thoughts, reliving old memories, holding forth on subjects close to my heart, raining fire and brimstone on what passes off for ‘news’… In short, I make the life of the L&M (Lord and Master, mine, not yours) pretty interesting. At least I think so. You’ll have to ask him what he thinks of it all.

In a nutshell, mornings, after a cup of tea, is my most productive time. And if I am by myself, the productivity peaks. What about you?

©️ Shail Mohan 2025