How to get more done each day

[strivingobserver98]

(A prophetic productivity tip)‏

Do you ever get frustrated that there aren't enough hours in the day to get done what you need to get done?

Where does the time go?

We all have a 24 hour day. How do some people get so much done than others?

I'm going to share one time mastery tip from the sunnah that I've personally gotten a lot of benefit from, alhamdulillah.

The prophet sallaAllahu’alaihi wa sallam made a du’a that said, “Oh Allah, bless my ummah in the morning.”

So here’s a time mastery technique: Start your day very early.

Meaning that at 6am or 7am, when other people are sleeping you’re already at the office doing your work. You’ve already started your day.

That’s basically just staying up after Fajr.

If you do that, then by noon time, you’ve already done a full day’s worth of work. At that point, you can just go home and go to sleep. Or you can have fun for the rest of the day. Or you can continue working. You can do whatever you want, really.

But, if you decide to sleep in, and come to work late, you’ll find that the day just passes by so quickly.

Because the barakah is in the morning.

The key here is, if you want to start mastering your time, start waking up in the morning and seek the answer to that du’a from the Prophet salla Allahu’alayhi wa sallam.

- Muhammad Alshareef

[Lady A]

So true! I wish I was more productive during the peaceful hours after Fajr!
May Allah shower His blessings upon this ummah and allow us to be successful in our goals, Ameen.

[strivingobserver98]

A few days ago, I gave you one key tip to increase your productivity during the day.

It was about waking up in the morning and starting your day early to seek the barakah of the early hours, based on the hadith.

But what if you find it hard to wake up early?

The answer comes from another tip based on the sunnah:

It is makruh (disliked) to stay awake after Isha.

Now of course, there may be times when you’re spending time with your spouse or doing something beneficial, no problem.

But in general, your focus should be to go to sleep as quickly as you can after Isha.

Especially if you start your day early to take that barakah from the morning, by Isha time, you will feel that fulfilling exhaustion. You will feel so good.

You sleep after Isha and you wake up at Fajr the next day.

And your body starts getting into a rhythm like that.

So two tips together: start work after Fajr and sleep after Isha.

Pretty simple, but pretty amazing when you implement it.

- Muhammad Alshareef

[Lady A]

Thanks for the share!

Currently, I'm trying to put this practice into effect. I haven't been successful so far. I think what I should do is stay up after Fajr and not nap during the day (so might need a little coffee to help along my day) and then work out intensely after Maghrib in hopes for exhaustion and have a good night sleep. What do you all think?

Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.

When you create an account, you can participate in the discussions and share your thoughts. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and make new friends.
Sign Up

[strivingobserver98]

Wanted to share this little cartoon :). #GetUpEarlyForFajr

[BeTheChange]

Great cartoon illustration and it's very true.

It's a no-brainer wake up early and you'll get more done and especially when our Prophet SAW has specifically made a dua to bless the ummah in the morning.

Great motivation to do so.

[strivingobserver98]

If you’re young, in good health, have a comfortable amount of money in the bank, and have some free time – you’re life is the motherload of productivity potential.

Prophet Muhammad (saw) said,

“Take benefit of five before five:
Your youth before your old age,
your health before your sickness,
your wealth before your poverty,
your free time before you are preoccupied,
and your life before your death.”

We all know this hadith and nod our heads solemnly when we hear it at Friday khutbahs.

But then we go home and spend hours sprawled in front of our screens, finally crawl into bed at 3am, and snooze the fajr alarm five times before getting up. Oh, is that the sun?

Guess you missed fajr. Again.
How many times have you resolved that tomorrow is going to be different?

And woke up the next day to the sun on your face. Again.

Time is the one thing on earth that all humans are equal in. From Presidents of countries, to paupers in the street, to you … we all share the same 24 hours.

Yet some have mastered it, and some use it as a wonderful one-size-fits-all excuse. "I don't have enough Time!"

- Muhammad Alshareef

[BeTheChange]

As the cliche goes "Tomorrow never comes!"

[Ahmed2014]

When I was in college we had a course I can't recall the exact name but it was 'professional development' or something like that. The class encompassed everything from resume writing to time management, etc...

One of the complaints we ALL had was 'we have no time' (especially for homework), so the exercise our professor made us do made us reevaluate that statement. Of course time is precious BUT what did we do with our time?

Even now I get people telling me they have 'no time to workout', the most classic excuse even though it only takes an hour of your day at most on average.

He made us write down literally for the whole week monday to sunday from waking up to sleeping, what we did, ate, etc...

Once we got it all down on paper we clearly found out most people spent majority of their hours upon hours playing games, online, youtube, social media, etc... so in essence EVERYONE has time. The same can be said about people who work. When they come home they spend so much time in front of TV and whatever, even forums people spend hours on forums.

[strivingobserver98]

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was tasked with the huge responsibility of conveying the guidance of Allah (swt) – a process that spanned 23 years.

And yet...he (saw) still made time to be caring and generous with his wives; he still made time to play with children and take care of orphans; he still made time to worship Allah (swt) with great dedication. Needless to say, you won’t find another person as productive as him (peace be upon him).

In our journey of attempting to make a living and follow our dreams, we sometimes sideline other important people and things in our lives. We might work long hours and get home late from the office, barely interacting our kids for a few moments before bedtime. We might neglect our health because we’re too “busy” to care about how we eat and how we exercise. And we might neglect our worship in favour of worldly gains.

In a hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him), he says, “Your body has a right over you, your eyes have a right over you and your wife has a right over you.”

If you’re continuously neglecting your family, your health, your studies or your worship in favour of something else, then you haven’t achieved the balance that’s necessary for a meaningful, productive life.

- Muhammad Alshareef