Joseph Oakon
Nov 4 · 2 min read

How My Time, Energy & Productivity Peaked in One Quarter.

Quite honestly, productivity isn’t all about the number of hours you put into an activity as we are often made to believe. Working hard is good, but then, nothing compares to working smart.

Recent lessons from attending to clients in the 3rd quarter (Q3) of 2019 (this has been our busiest quarter in 2019) left me with some business wisdom. These may not sound as exceptionally logical as expected, but they have been very magical for me.

I will share a few as I looked at some high points in my 3rd Quarter Review.

#Q3RBusinessWisdom#1

Wisdom #1: Energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance.

In most part of the last quarter, my team and I worked literally, 7 days a week. We really wanted to ‘rest’, but what was before us needed to be fixed. What I observed during this period changed the way I understood work-

Your energy level has consequences on the time available to you.’

This observation gave me some insights:

  1. I became more aware of my peak times- My Functional Brainstorming Hours- between 2–3 hours(in the morning hours & while in transit I get spurts of creative insights. Lagos is rowdy & chaotic, but then, in this chaos are hidden insights).
  2. 2. My Most ‘Productive Working’ Hours (3–5 hours after morning. That is when I productively execute projects. Maybe the hours could have been more if not for Lagos traffic. But again, what if that is Pareto Rule in operation?- More Returns from Few Hours of Execution).
  3. 3. My Rehabilitation & Rejuvenation Hours (at least 6 hours- starting from 11/12 am) & My Relaxation Hours (2–3 hours of movies, news, gists etc. This, however, changes on Saturdays & Sundays.
  4. I fix meetings, presentations & negotiations for early mornings after my brains have been freshly recalibrated. Fixing meetings after my productive hours has dreadful consequences. Never negotiate when your energy is low- it will affect your outcomes.
  5. 5. I became aware that time is nothing if the body is weak. Weak brains impact the mind. A droopy mind is a weighty burden on the body. Your brains are your Energy Axles- Like the rods or shafts that connect to the drive wheels of your car, your brain transfers power to your body. Just as the axle turns and makes your car. wheels go around, your brains carry your body to heights of productivity.

Summary of My Q3RBusiness:

Oftentimes we think all that matters is time, but then we fail to understand that time is nothing if energy is declining. No matter the time you have, if your energy is on the decline, time then is as good as nothing.

“The ultimate measure of any business success is always not in how much time we spend chasing our business goals, but in how much energy we invest in the time available to us.”

Joseph Oakon

Written by

I tell stories of how I’m flippin ‘unbranded niches’ & making big deals off of them.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade