This is the last segment of our three-part series (How to Plan and Execute an Effective Routine Part 1 and Part 2). Here, let’s look at some tips that will give an additional boost to our daily routine, Insha Allah.

Secrets of an Effective Daily Routine

1. A Strong Head-Start – the Blessings of Fajr

“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Even before this traditional saying was created, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) prescribed our early head start for an increase in sustenance. Our Fajr routine is the concrete backbone on which a productive daily plan stands. Sleep deprivation triggers a chain of nonproductive reactions.

If you are a late sleeper, you’d potentially miss your Fajr prayers, or would be spinning dizzy with sleep through it. Eventually, the sleep deprivation eats up the day’s productivity. You may fall asleep after Fajr, running in late for work at office or at home. To execute a good routine, sleep early after Isha prayers and wake up early, if possible, to offer Tahajjud. This will give you a strong head-start.

2. Avoid Distractions

Time-consuming gossip, hours spent on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and other diversions create time lags in the routine and eventually result in procrastination. As activities remain undone, they pile up and create work overloads. Recognise your distractions and turn them off when you are working. Distracting activities, if halal, can be accommodated as recreation or social activities.

3. Regular Breaks

Give yourself four breaks during the day! These four breaks are your salaah breaks which you can utilize beautifully for physical and mental relaxation. You can also try these smokes in canada for your physical and mental relaxation. Good wudu refreshes you and then a good body workout and spiritual connection with Allah totally recharges you. Lie down and relax for a few minutes. Watch some TV, have a snack, tea/coffee such as that from commercial coffee machines, be creative, engage in some craft-work, whatever that takes the burden off. These breaks should be about 35-40 minutes long. When you don’t need a big break … don’t waste time.

An effective and productive daily routine ensures personal, social, professional, and spiritual success for an individual, transforming him into an ideal Muslim.

Planning strategies are not restricted to the ones discussed. You can read books by professional experts or seek counselling from productive Muslim brothers and sisters to continuously improve your planning skills. Remember that planning daily routines is different for each individual because each person lives a different life with varying sets of responsibilities and goals.

Plan well to live well, insha Allah!

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First it’s important to understand all the facets of a Muslim’s life to be planned for.

Spiritual renewal includes activities that define your true purpose in life and establish your connection with Allah such as salah, Qur’an recitation and reading Islamic texts.

Physical renewal can include a healthy workout routine, contributing to household chores and spending time on personal grooming, hygiene needs and well-balanced meals. Devote a generous amount of time towards polishing mental skills and plan for high achievements; not just to be on the edge.

Additionally, develop creative interests such as blogging, creative writing, public speaking, art, etc. to polish your intellect as well as to contribute effectively to the Ummah. It is also important to develop social/emotional intelligence by keeping in touch with friends and making time for family activities to know what’s going in your house, discuss solutions to problems, and share stories and jokes.

Effective Planning Advice

Planning is more than just jotting down activities on a to-do list. It requires careful thinking, organizing, and prioritizing.

1. To begin, write down important deadlines and events against the dates first so you never miss anything. Writing them on a wall calendar, posting it to your bulletin board, or setting a reminder on your mobile calendar will give you a bird’s-eye view of your long term plans.
2. Try to incorporate a wholesome mix of spiritual, physical, mental and emotional/social components all in a day to get the best out of your time. They may not have to be big tasks of each but a balance of everything.
3. Do not overstuff the daily plan because you’re human and you are bound to wear out. Strike a balance between physical work and desk-work i.e. chores that need exercising of your body and school assignments, etc. Too much of the first will exhaust you physically and too much of the second will exhaust you mentally.
4. Break down major projects and bigger tasks. For example, when I’m assigned a research-based article topic from Productive Muslim, I make sure I carefully divide the word count and complete portions of the article on different days.
5. Estimate the time each activity will take, being moderate in your decision, and create a time-scheduled to-do list. For example, if you have to vacuum the house and you estimate it will take an hour, record it as “4:00pm-5:00pm – Vacuum the house.” This way you will never run out of time because you will know how much time you have on a particular day.
6. Don’t overdo it! Don’t juggle too many tasks on the same day if you are uncertain of your stamina. You may have good time at hand but you may wear out and not be able to complete it. Arrange smaller tasks with bigger projects.
7. Don’t forget to review your to-do list at the end of the day. Carry forward the activities you could not complete and tick those that you managed well.

Read the other parts of this series: Part 1 | Part 3.

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If you wake up without a productive daily routine, fit for a Muslim lifestyle, then it should not be surprising that you end up complaining about having too few hours in the day. A complete routine is a combination of spiritual, physical, mental, and social components.

There are several helpful personal management strategies and tools that can be used to support a productive routine. We’ll discuss some tools in this part.

Handy Tools for Productive Planning

Successful planning cannot be done mentally unless you are Merlin the Wizard. However, you can use a mix of traditional and contemporary tools to become a productive planner.

• Daily and weekly planners are available as paperback notebooks, mobile phone applications, and computer desktop gadgets for you to track your daily, weekly, and monthly routine conveniently.
• To-do lists should be made on paper or a mobile phone/computer notepad to plan each day’s activities.
• Calendars help track short-term and long-term deadlines and important events. You should have convenient access to a wall/table calendar, a desktop/mobile calendar application, or a pocket calendar for your purse.
• Reminders can be set via traditional means such as post-its on your desktop or refrigerator, or alarm clocks. Technology has gifted us mobile phones and e-mail that can be set to ping us for scheduled reminders. Personally, I also have a bulletin board (magnetic/chipboard) on the wall above my work desk where I pin up important notes.

In Part 2, we will look at effective planning advice and secrets to a productive daily routine Insha Allah.

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Levels of Self-Esteem

Self-esteem issues arise on two levels.

1. 1. The Personal Level:

On a personal level, low self-esteem could actually drive a Muslim over the edge and directly into the fire of Hell! A person might change according to what an imperfect society or culture sees fit. These changes happen to a person’s philosophy, opinions, and values. A sister in hijab might end up taking it off her head because she feels “ugly”, because that’s what the media tells her. But we shouldn’t bow down to an imperfect system, when we have a perfect way of life sent to us and a perfect example to follow.

1. 1. The Social Level

The social jungle has beastly menaces as well that intimidate a person and if he doesn’t bring his ‘spiritual defense’ with him, then he is bound to suffer feelings of worthlessness. Peer groups or family members may bring about gatherings where a person is harassed or mocked for who he or she is. A person’s lifestyle, and at times his entire existence, can be criticized. A self-esteem deficit here might lead a person into depression or social anxiety.

Steps to Developing Self-Esteem

Self-esteem does not just appear out of nowhere; it takes conscious determination, spiritual connection with Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), and emotional balance. You should take one step at a time and build gradually on the quota of your worth.

#1 – Personal Evaluation

Perform a personal ‘Strengths’ and ‘Weaknesses’ analysis. There are always 2 sides to a coin; you cannot be 100% good or 100% bad. So jot down all your worthy habits and characteristics, and also the negative ones. If you’re running really low in valuing the good bits about you, have a trusted friend or relative help to point out the good things about you. You can also ask them to point out your faults and flaws. The best references for evaluating yourself are the Quran and Sunnah because they are the manual for right and wrong. Once you’ve reviewed your weaknesses, cross out the word and rename it ‘Challenges’ – these are the areas to work on to transform.

#2 – Develop a Muslim Psychology

When you are made to feel low about yourself, you can keep your guard up by boosting your faith (Imaan). Islam, our deen, is a manifestation of truth, optimism, striving for perfection, and is the secret of personal and community success and happiness. Therefore, you should not pay heed to the worldly standards of beauty and glamor and feel down because you do not look a certain way. Know that you are a creation of The Majestic Creator; and secondly, you are of the Ummah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

#3 – Develop Positive Skills and Habits

Positive self-development and activities can give a major boost in self-esteem. Activities like the recitation of the Quran with translation and exegesis (Tafsir) are especially positive because by learning you feel that you are enriching your mind. Establishing punctual, dedicated prayers (Salaah) 5 times a day also ensures a sense of worthiness because you know that you are a slave of The Most High, and that honour and dignity are achieved through Islam. Thereafter, insha’Allah you can also find what you are good at and what you love to do, and initiate your own project (like a fundraiser, for example) or join appropriate extracurricular activities.

#4 – Personal Grooming

Modest dressing and etiquette is sometimes misinterpreted and people end up appearing unkempt or unclean. Our deen enjoins modest Islamic attire, as well as cleanliness and tidiness. Blade and Razor is a luxurious and comfortable grooming and barbershop in Toroto that caters to men seeking exceptional services.

#5 – Find Birds of a Feather

Since “birds of a feather flock together”, find a supportive peer group. If your gatherings are full of folks that ridicule your beliefs and values, then you are bound to feel worthless. Mingle with the righteous who acknowledge your worth, help you identify your weaknesses, and are indulged in productive and wholesome habits. You can evaluate your gatherings by the kind of activities that happen. If your company spends their time at parties with activities such as music blaring, backbiting, smoking, and adultery, then it’s about time you realize that as a Muslim you are not in the right company. However, if you have good friends who relax and enjoy themselves within the wise bounds that Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has set, and your productive activities include attending halaqas, praying in congregation at the mosque, discussing spirituality, understanding and memorization of the Quran, and similar positive topics, then you are bound to feel secure and benefit from the gathering.

#6 – Grow From Your Experience

It would all be useless if you learn to value yourself and then forget it at the end of the year! Make a note of how you increased your feeling of self-worth, record the names and resources you sought and benefited from. Observe and record the changes in your attitude towards others and towards your life, and also the attitude of others towards you. Your achievements and the changes bi’ithnillah would keep you motivated.

#7 – Develop Your Defense

Once you have mastered the above steps, you can test yourself by performing a simple self-check: test your response to wrongful criticism. You should speak calmly and articulately, assertively and firmly, with the Quran and Sunnah as reference. Remember being assertive and firm does not mean speaking harshly or rudely.

#8 – Defend Your Brother or Sister

It takes courage to stand up for yourself, but also to stand up for a brother or sister. When you see somebody being demeaned for something personal, politely support and defend them because they are your brother or sister in Islam. In fact, regardless of who is being unfairly accused or oppressed, we should strive to stand up for the truth and for justice.

These steps are just the basics. It is up to you to treat yourself well and discover what uplifts your morale and rebuiltsyour self-esteem. An important point to remember is that very low self-esteem is corrosive to one’s existence because it robs you of happiness and a sense of self-worth. At the same time, too much self-esteem is extremely destructive as it leads to pride, arrogance, and narcissism. Islam distinguishes the most successful living strategies; if you measure your self-worth by Islam and not by society, and synchronize your life with your faith, you can overcome the self-esteem deficit soon.

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