When do you feel most productive?
The core of this prompt is “when.” I look at “when” from three perspectives: time, task, and nature.
Time varies by individual. While a morning is good for one person, an afternoon, a night, or a moment after a cup of coffee or tea may be better for another.
Task is even more of a determinant than time. Doing what we love—or simply earning a hand‑to‑mouth living—matters more than the clock.
On the third perspective—nature—some might say doing nothing is the most productive state. Consider Confucianism’s “ruling by non‑action,” or Taoism’s wu‑wei (effortless action).
As for me, my “when” is right after waking from a good night’s sleep, after prayer, or after good exercise.
During my career years, “when” was rarely a choice due to the nature of my profession. So whenever I could afford time for a five‑mile run or thirty minutes at the gym, I took it—so that I could return in full gear and carry on the day. Today, a refreshed sleep and my prayer to God give me the most productive time to operate at full capacity.
With a refreshed body and mind, I begin my weekly tasks: writing gospel messages, teaching young students, visiting patients in hospital, writing blog posts, and engaging in fellowship activities. These are the things I do with great joy, and they are therefore most productive for me.
There are also times when I find myself most productive by doing nothing—simply waiting for God’s time and guidance. I consider this productive because being able to read God’s mind and wait for His signs is, as they say, a stitch in time that saves nine. Waiting may be a challenge to overcome, but after days of practice and countless testimonies, I no longer find waiting for God’s time challenging. God is in command of all.
King David ruled over Israel for forty years (c. 1010–970 B.C.E.) and was a man after God’s own heart. He won every battle against Israel’s enemies. What is the secret of his victories? He sought God’s will and timing for each battle.
So does it matter whether you are productive or not? With whom are you competing for “most productive”? And for what purpose do you want to be most productive? These are the questions I answer before kicking off every week, so I can achieve what I am destined to achieve.
May my poem shed some light on your contemplation. 👇🏻
“To Store and to Rest” ✨
Born into this world, we store—
We pile up riches everywhere,
But kind deeds are a rarer fare.
Resentment and old grudges grow,
From age to age, it’s always so.
…
Store grain against a hungry year,
Keep cotton when the cold is near—
Then clothed and fed, you rest in cheer.
Yet surplus left for moths to bite—
Even the Lord delights to store,
And waits the moment to restore.
…
Young Joseph, captive in Egypt’s land,
Stored up blessings by God’s hand,
To save the sons of Israel
When famine deep and darkness fell.
Young Moses, saved from death’s cold wave,
A stranger’s son for years he gave—
Eighty years in foreign home,
To lead his people out, and roam
From slavery through the sea’s divide.
Though Joseph died and Moses died,
One came, alone, to leave behind
A lasting peace for all mankind.
…
So store your treasures not in dust
Where moth and rot consume the just—
Store, O friend, and store again,
In heaven’s barn beyond all pain.
…….
Mark 8:37‑38 — “Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
✨✨💖 ~
en yan hua fang 