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For Muslims around the world, Ramadhan is a month to look forward to. It’s a time when we strive to accomplish a lot of things. We will not only just be fasting - we will be reading more and staying awake for more hours, all while having less energy to cope with work, school and ibadah!
During this crucial time, we all need the best pre-Ramadhan productivity habits to keep both our bodies and minds on track for the blessed month.
Here are 5 habits that will help you get #GERamadhanReady, InsyaAllah.
1. Track your day
Keeping track of your day will allow you to prioritise what needs to be done, ensuring your productivity during the hours in which we’re fasting.
One tip: in the evening before you shut down your laptop (and your mind from work), organise a to-do list of important things you have to complete the next day.
Plan your daily prayers around your schedule, which should always include breaks. This will make your tasks seem more manageable and will make you feel grounded.
Being able to tick off your list is sometimes the motivation that you need to stay on track and inspired to increase your productivity.
To help you do that, we’ve put together a free planner that you can download from our Ramadhan Resources page!
2. Turn off your Social Media notifications
Yes, as hard as it may be, at times we all need to disconnect from the online world. After a day in front of a screen (for most of us), all we need to refocus ourselves is to disconnect.
Push notifications have been said to be one of the biggest distractions when it comes to productivity and focus.
A ‘flow’ is a huge part of productivity - a state with minimal distractions and deep focus, a “state of deep immersion in a single task where the rest of the world seems to just slip away.”
When we are in our ‘flow’, we are definitely more productive. And sometimes to get into our flow, we need to eliminate the distractions - online and offline.
3. Create dedicated spaces for work and worship
Creating the boundaries between work, play and worship is important. As much as possible, try to create dedicated spaces.
For instance, try to allocate a separate part of your room or personal space to sleep, work and worship respectively. Plan your space in a way that allows you to be focused on a specific task when you are in a particular space. Try to ensure that work does not flow into your sleeping space nor does sleep flow into your space for worship.
Let’s take this time before Ramadhan to create these spaces for ourselves and make the most of them. You could invest in a nice prayer mat, place your phone away from your bed at night, and maybe take time to organise your workspace in a way that works best for you.
4. Find an Accountability Partner to help you
Other than the start of the year, Ramadhan is another time where many of us set goals for ourselves and have new milestones that we want to achieve. It might either be in terms of our faith and worship, or also in disciplining ourselves.
One tip to ensure that you are meeting your goals would be to have an accountability partner or group. This could either be a relative or close friend, or someone who knows what your goals are and will help you keep on track.
Both you and your partner could set regular times to check in with each other on your progress pre-Ramadhan, so that you are both in the best place to continue that consistency into Ramadhan!
5. Speak to yourself kindly
With so many goals and aims, we need to remember that there will be moments of procrastination, inconsistency and times where we feel down.
Remember that we will never be able to be perfectly consistent, however these inconsistencies do not mean that we have fallen backwards on our own goals. These small setbacks do not dictate who we are, nor what we are capable of.
When those moments hit, take some time to reassess, refocus and get back on track.
Remind yourself that you are not being unproductive or bad at building habits.
You are growing every day and the journey is full of ups and downs. Speak to yourself kindly - your internal dialogue impacts your unconscious mind, and negativity can lead to a harder time to refocus.
BONUS:
Here are three ways to help you transform your internal dialogue:
Pause and reflect on what you’re actually saying to yourself and make a note of it
If the self-talk is negative, challenge it, make 70 excuses for yourself and give yourself the benefit of doubt
Reset and restart with some positive thoughts about what you’re capable of