Make hay while the sun shines

15 Ways to Take Advantage of Favorable Conditions

The sun is shining, how will you use it?

Progress doesn’t always come from pushing harder. Often, it comes from noticing when conditions are already working in your favor and choosing to act while they last. The phrase “make hay while the sun shines” isn’t a call to hustle, it’s a reminder to pay attention.

Favorable conditions tend to show up in four forms: Energy, when effort feels lighter; Time, that unicorn when there’s unexpected space; Emotional Climate, when trust and openness are high; and External Alignment, when people, permissions, and momentum line up. This post explores fifteen practical ways to take advantage of those moments, at work, at home, and at play, before the weather inevitably changes.

When Your Energy is High

1. Tackle the cognitively heavy thing first High energy is rare currency. Spend it on something that will matter in the long term.

2. Start something you’ve been avoiding Avoidance shrinks when energy rises, high energy = perfect moment to open the door rather than delay.

3. Create, don’t consume High energy amplifies originality. Pick writing, designing, imagining, planning, not scrolling or binge watching.

4. Set up Future You Prepare the next step while you have the juice, draft the email, outline the deck, stage the materials.

When You Have Time

5. Do the thing with the longest half-life Use spaciousness for skills, relationships, and systems, things that compound. Not just the urgent

6. Clear one friction point aka the minor irritation you step over every day. Maybe it's an un tidy drawer, one simplification. Clearing a single friction point creates leverage.

7. Reflect deliberately Spaciousness is a doorway for insight. Journal, walk, or voice-note the truth that only shows up when you’re unhurried.

8. Prototype something playful Time gives permission. Make, try, test, build. Small experiments reveal direction.

When the Emotional Climate is Good

9. Have the delicate conversation Good vibes lower defensiveness. Use softness for truth.

10. Offer appreciation freely and specifically Warm climates make gratitude sticky. It lands deeper and costs almost nothing.

11. Reconnect When hearts are open, repair micro-ruptures, check in with someone you’ve drifted from, or deepen the “we.”

15: When External Alignment Appears

12. Say yes to the opportunity that fits your arc When conditions, timing, and intuition line up make. the. move.

13. Ask for what you need Favorable alignment is often temporary. Make the request you’ve been postponing, need resources? support? introductions? pick one and ask!

14. Accelerate something already in motion Momentum loves tailwinds. Push the project one notable step ahead.

15. Make a strategic commitment Alignment is a signpost. Choose the thing your future self will be grateful you locked in.