This post was submitted by Nahyan Chowdhury. His goal is to provide the best training in Time Management and Life Management for Muslims, from an Islamic perspective. Live life with Ihsan, Excellence.
 

It’s said that airplanes are off their course most of the time, yet they start and reach their intended destinations. It’s a matter of knowing where to go and making adjustments on the way.

Ramadan. This is the ‘realest’ you can get. Shaytan is tied up, the avenues to do good is so common, atmosphere of Muslims is o-so-good.

It’s all on YOU…

Instead of waiting until after Ramadan to do some self-analysis, take account now.

Let’s cover 3 areas for now:

1. Ibadah Threshold
2. The Replacement for Time
3. Watching the Energy Dial

Ibadah Threshold

Considering that the shayateen are tied up and we’re left to ourselves, our quality and quantity ibadah (worship of Allah) reflects our Ibadah Threshold.

It’s like the cap on how much good deeds our mind & body can handle and how far our Iman drive us.

It’s the same month of Ramadan for everyone. Yet we see some Muslims who are fully ON and continue improving, while others are making FaceBook updates about how hungry they are (and then discussing it with others who are complaining about hunger!)

The purpose of fasting in Ramadan is taqwa, so let’s check how much we are doing and how much we are improving.

Now, how do we know Ramadan is for taqwa?

It's in the Quran.

So why not use this Ramadan to establish our relationship with the Quran. That is an amazing tool for taqwa-training. Our relationship with the Quran is a great measure for out Ibadah threshold; how long can you read the Quran for in a day, is taraweeh boring or are you fascinated by the verses as you hear them them, contemplation etc.

For whatever of Ramadan you have and our whole lives beyond that, let's constantly return to the Quran to check our iman.

The Replacement for Time

I do this thing called “Time Tracker” once in a while to get an overview of the trends in my daily life and measure productivity.

So I was just noting down few days ago how much time opened up from the not eating and cutting out distractions etc. and what will replace that free time.

Here’s an example:

• Save 1 hr from not eating during the day
• Save 1 hr from cutting distractions
• Add 2 hrs to my day by waking up at Suhoor (Sehri)
• Minus 1 hr for Taraweeh (or as Bengali’s call it “Tarabi Namaj” :P

WoW, there’s an extra 3 hrs!

Here’s the key point of this activity, where is it all going?

Is it here:

• 1 hr for Quran reading
• 20 mins extra adhkar
• 40 mins Iftar (prep included)
• 1 hr of some more good stuff

Or here:

• Sleep after suhoor until regular days wake up time (eliminates the 2 hrs extra)
• Pray 8 out of 20 Taraweeh prayers and chill outside until everybody’s done
• Explore new ways to waste the extra time; extra long iftar, more YouTube, ‘relaxing’

So do it up -- see how much time freed up for you and how it’s being replaced.

Watching the Energy Dial

We know our energy level fluctuates throughout the day, Ramadan and non-Ramadan days.

Watch how those fluctuations happen during Ramadan; when do you feel most energetic as well as when do you feel wiped out.

We can’t get into it too deeply now, but just work according to your energy schedule.

• If you’re too sleepy in the morning and fresh in the afternoon, do the task that needs focus/attention at that time.
• Do the more serious Quran reading when you’re energetic, then maybe relax and do your adhkar when you’re tired & awaiting iftar.

Moving forward

You can’t direct the wind, but you can adjust the sail.

So wherever you are in life/Ramadan now is because of the things you did before you got here (ie. Ramadan).

It’s not necessarily a good thing, it’s not a bad thing...it just is

We’ve still got a good chunk of Ramadan to get through, let’s make the best of it.

Summary

Here are the 3 areas we covered:

1. Ibadah Threshold – a cap to our ability/interest in good deeds
2. The Replacement for Time – investigate the free time and what’s replacing it
3. Watching the Energy Dial – work according to your energy cycle

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Share what you benefited from this; after reading and after testing them out. InshaAllah.

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I’m looking forward to all your successes,

Nahyan