To each their own. Personally, my cycles are very slow (a year or more), and every single hypomanic or manic episode has left me plunging into a desperately deep suicidal depression that seems to last twice as long (my charts don't show this; it's a perceptual thing, I think).

I can't get anything done. My hope is that one day I can be rid of those highs, no matter how productive they may feel, so that I can avoid the lows. I don't mind the hard work if I can stay in the middle.

I think the productivity thing is an illusion. To me, the real difference is:

Mania = Going to get yourself killed.
Depression = Going to kill yourself.

Somewhere in between the two there has to be space to live.

And harking back to the original question, there was a similar thread I almost commented on about job interviews bringing it on. That's happened to me. A really short-lived hypomania that lasts as long as necessary to get through the situation. It also has happened when I've had to go on stage to play a solo, or speak in public.

I feel sure some of my employers have wondered how they ended up with me. I'm naturally reserved and introverted, but it's amazing how easily I can click with someone at an interview, and how much outgoing fun I can be. It must really throw them off when I turn up for that first monday morning...