Why Be Productive? Every morning, as she crack her lids open, Maha sub-consciously begins to jog down her checklist. Morning adhkaar. Check. Make the bed. Check. Left foot enters toilet first. Check. Renew Wudhu intentions. Check. Wake up roomie. Check. Iron white coat, pin name tag, pack bag, eat dates, polish shoes, switch off lights and fan, lock room, catch the last seat in bus. Check!
Since we first moved into hostel a year ago, our lives have been one heck of a cog wheel. But like a clock, Maha knows exactly what she must do the next picosecond. Might I sound horrified, I must say that SubhanAllah I love it. I love how organised her life runs, how every minute is spent wisely, how she is her own manager, above all, how she is “productive”. Oh and also how her mind could quickly revise mental checklist. Let alone revise, mine refused to even store one. I say refused, because Im pretty much getting the hang of it now. Lack of productivity, consequent laziness or abuse of time is lethal to the youth of our Ummah. It is when we fail in our capabilities that the Shaytan takes over, making us believe we are “bored”, and slowly and ultimately leading us to zina of eyes, ears, so onand so forth. Naudhubillah. The Prophet peace be upon him warned us of giving way to good health and free time. He advised us to make the most of youth before old age and life before death. Allah swt hates those who abuse Ad-Dahr (Time). This, in itself manifests a great need to suck honey out of every petal. Obviously there are times when your productivity levels would expectantly crash. Mine do, especially during the holidays. I’d have a lot of voluntary work but.. Um.. Do i look like i care? Exactly my attitude! This is because Ive finally run out of a routine to obey and Im expected to ‘relax’. I simply loathe that because I know, Shaytan loves it. When you are on the run, you are on the run. You stop and Shaytan turns you into a lazy fat hen and even eating seems a task! Let us look at some ways we could achieve the much-needed and constant productivity in our lives:
1. Plan Your Day Before Your Day Starts Even if you are someone who likes to live life spontaneously and on-the-go, STOP and make a routine. It may seem like a task to follow it but spice it up with fun activities too. Follow it with no pause and soon your body and mind will get accustomed to it inshaAllah.
2. Give Time To Allah and Allah Will Give You Time Must-includes in your checklist would be your 5 Salat, time for Quran, Dua’as and Sunan. Inculcate the habit of reviving (and teaching others) a Sunnah every week. Also give time to Allah when you least have it and watch bonus blessings flow in.
3. You Rule Your Time, Not The Other Way Around As much as Maha hates cold-water baths, she braves them. Only because she dislikes waiting for the heater to heat her water. Those 30minutes in-waiting would mean a reduction in the number of hours of her post-bath power nap. No, the electrical heater, a man-made machine cannot tell a man when to do what. Man rules his time. (This may seem like Maha’s torturing herself in an Army School-ish way but either you grasp the reins of your time or it shall leave you strangled). Fit activities into your routine according to YOUR convenience, not your gadget’s.
4. Fight laziness Read adhkaars to fight Shaytaan’s Waswas, overcome laziness, imagine the Angel of Death beside you and force yourself to spring back into action.
5. Good Company Befriend productive people. Not only will they help you make the most of every moment, but theyll also encourage and cheer you up on this path of self-actualisation. If you cant find such a person, then be one yourself.
6. Ideas They are gifts from Allah swt. Write them down and act upon them.
7. Have sincere intentions Keep renewing them and work tirelessly towards building your Jannah. Being productive doesnt mean you tire yourself senselessly. It simply means everyday, you grow and evolve into a better being, you learn something new, you have a vision and you try to achieve it. Then the question arises Why be productive? As Shaik Sajid Umar rightly puts it, “Because the productive are from the most beloved to the All-Mighty.”
