Time managment?

[lostlilly07]

Live as if you are going to Die tomorrow because one day you are going DIE TOMORROW.

 

[samiha]

:salam2:

I'm re-posting my own post from a year back... but I really needed to read it to, so I hope it helps in any small way:

:salam2:

Is it ironic or just plain sad that I'm currently procrastinating while writing this?

What I've found in general to beat procrastination is often just determination and willpower. Because of course the thing with it is, like any other habit once you fall into it, you take it as a comfort zone and don't really work at getting yourself out of it. It's easy to say, "Oh I'm a procrastinator... I wish I wasn't" but not at easy backing up those last words with actions.

The problem becomes that you become satisfied with your lot in life, take a look at the people who always finish early and think they were born that way. Heredity is amazing isn't it? Some of us just got the short end of the stick when it came to being on time. Of course not! The first step I've found for getting yourself out of procrastination is not acknowledging the problem, but resolving to do something about it.

And often to back up this resolve, you have to have clear cut goals and ideas of what you want to achieve. One time book I read recommended starting off by creating a list of all your priorities by the end of this year (or in this case maybe the next). You might be surprised to find out how unfocused we are about the things we want to do or achieve. Then take each goal and prioritize from the most important to the least, and then for the most important tasks - list what you have to do to get there.

When you have your goals in writing, it becomes much more concrete and allows you to go back to it and revise about "Why I'm doing this?" Because most of us procrastinate not on things we like - but the things we dislike or dont have much interest in.

Also then create a list for your day, and what you want to achieve and stick to it. Ukhti you said planners don't work, I have that same problem too. Because I love just writing down what I should do, and then never looking at it again until the deadline is past. Instead of planning the "should do's" maybe it would be better and more prudent to keep a list of "will do now" in a place where you can see it and are accessible to it.

Some tips I've found to stick to the tasks:

1. Take the hardest thing first. The earlier you do what you don't like, you'll feel relieved for the rest of the day knowing it's done and over with. This quote made me laugh at first, but then I realized it was quite true:

“Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” -Mark Twain

2. Appreciate and remember past achievements. Our bodies have a hardwire for appreciating achievement, when we do well, are successful or have accomplished something particularly difficult we get an endorphin rush in our system, a bubbly little natural opiate that makes you feel good about yourself. Remember and recall those times, and even imagine that feeling you'll get at the completion of your task - before you begin it!

3. Give yourself time to enjoy completion of the task. Be it through a break, a personal award. Something which drives you on. Long term goals might give motivation to start, but desiring these small rewards motivates a person to completion of the act.

4. Don't give yourself the chance to be distracted! It's been said that people who succeed in making the most of their time, take one thing at a time. There was a period when I came thinking, "Well I can finish this and this together at the same time, two birds one stone voila!" Well it doesnt quite work that way, brain studies have shown that at most the brain can successfully multi-task between two things, after that each action we add to it actually makes us less and less productive. So, having TTI open, MSN/YM, the report you have to write etc - altogether, isn't going to get the work done! (Note to self here!)

5. Remove clutter from your area. The more things you have around your area, the harder it will be to focus. Keep only the basic needs for that particular work and remove all other obstacles. If however you know you'll get up for a snack etc, keep those handy as well so that on the way to getting that snack the fifty million other things out there don't distract you.

6. Give yourself uninterrupted time. Research has shown that 1 hour of pure uninterrupted time may equal or be greater to the work done in 3 hours of other time. So grant yourself chunks of time where you commit yourself to what you are doing, without outside interruption.

7. Positive self talk. As weird as this might seem, yes it does help. Talk to yourself and encourage yourself. Like Aapa quite rightly said, fear does a lot of people in. Tell yourself out loud that you can do this, or in retrospect even try convincing yourself that you like what you are doing - and try to believe it! Say for instance you don't like math tell yourself you like it, instead of always being on the negative. Repeat it and try to enforce it in your mind, in psychology the first rule of the mind is stated as, "What you believe becomes reality." And when you say things out, your subconscious part of your brain picks it up and in essence, said enough times you can brainwash yourself!

I also refer this to waking up at night for Qiyaam ul-Layl, or even staying awake after Fajr… personally I’m still working on it, I don’t want to give an impression otherwise, however what I’ve changed now is to stop saying, “I’m not a morning person” … as long as you say that and believe it – you never will become a morning person! You have to give leave to yourself to believe otherwise of yourself.

And 'sides, tell yourself, "I'm a Muslim, of course I can do it !" It's not arrogance, but confidence. Our predecessors set a shining example, following in their footsteps we should have the confidence in our Imaan and abilities and strive our utmost in our actions.

8. Group similar tasks together. If you have certain chores or menial and similar tasks, do them at the same time. The laws of efficiency states that the more you do of a certain thing at a time, the quicker you get at it: as in the amount of time you take doing it the first time, will be drastically cut down by the end. If however you keep going back to it, you basically have to start from the ground up again.

9. Don’t look at past failures. The past is the past. Too many of us wallow in it and that becomes a crutch to our future. “Oh I’ve never managed to in the past, why should now be any different?” Just because something has been one way, it doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. Allaah gave us this moment, right now to be able to change.

10. Tell yourself to “Do it now.” Not in 5 minutes, not right after you finish chatting with so and so, but right at this instant. This bit doesn’t feel nice, and its where all the above points come together. When you have a mode of work, this will make it easier, coupled with the determination to change. But of course we still like loopholes. I don’t take myself out of this subhanAllaah, it’s almost laughable sometimes how accomplished I feel at creating a well written out list… and then somehow envision in my mind that by doing so my work will get done. Well, but the end of the day the outcome is obvious and telling.

11. Recover quickly. Yeah, you’re going to ultimately mess up something on your list, something will come up, something will go wrong – this is the Dunya, what do you expect? But what’s important from this is saving recovery time.

If you’ve ever played in a sport, you’ll recognize the value a few seconds might have. In life too, if you get waylaid by something, try to recover in the shortest amount of time possible. Recall your goals and what you started out to do, if people come in the way and you know you have to finish a task, tell them so (and thereby remind yourself) that you need to get back to work. When you give value to your time, other people will as well.

I’m not saying be rude, but if you have certain priorities don’t just push them back giving yourself the ‘people’ excuse. This actually reminds me of a story of Shaykh al-Albani rahimahullaah, maybe I’ll find it and post it properly next time inshaAllaah.

12. Stick with it till the end. Isn’t there a certain glory in putting yourself out in every effort and accomplishing what you set out to do? Well, unfortunately those bubbly endorphins that bring the greatest euphoria only come when you actually complete the task. So, if you keep going through the day, reach your goals, you get one hit after another, making you more happy and self-satisfied, knowing you knew you could do it, and yeah – you did it. It’s different when you know you just did it because it was due tomorrow and you had no other choice.

12. Ask, “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?” I put this last on my list, because it’s a question every Muslim must ask in their lives. It’s very very important for us to not be negligent with our time; I struggle myself, so this first to myself before anyone else. And I too have the same feelings, that my most valuable thing would be to learn Islaam, or something related to its sciences, over writing a paper on science in the Romantic Era … Assuredly this is true, but in our lives we’ll come across many things we’ll need or be required to do, and we have to give ourselves the resolve to follow through on them.

Most of these were from a book I read recently. The author wasn’t a Muslim, but many of the principles while I was reading it struck me – since in essence Islaam calls for the same thing. These were the ones that influence me the most, and what I still work on doing. I’m having this problem at the moment that more points keep popping up in my mind as I write this, but if I make this any longer I don’t even know if it’ll fit!

In any case these are my 25 cents, but of course with it all do remember to make Du’a and keep trying. If you don’t make it once, as the saying goes, “Try and try again!”

I’m still working with this too, so alhamdulillaah this is a very good thread and others’ views on what they do helps too. JazaakumAllaahu khayran

May Allaah aid us all in the use of our time and put benefit therein! Ameen

Source: Procrastination??


Also, check out the Pomodoro Technique, it's quite interesting and helps many: Try the Pomodoro Technique!!

 

[Seeking Allah's Mercy]

“You should not neglect your time
[From seekersguidance.org/blog/2009/12/islamic-time-management-imam-ghazali-on-careful-use-of-time/]

x

Asalamo Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh,

Jazaakum Allaahu Khayraa, I'm finding all this stuff useful and helpful Alhumdulillah. I hope I can make the best out of my days.

 

[Seeking Allah's Mercy]

sister,create a record of your daily activities like have an organiser.
Therein write down your long term goals and short term goals.Like an year then a month then a week then a day.Prioritise them.
Create something like a chart for daily activities.Divide timings with respect to the day,in terms of how you will spend it,define different tasks you will perform at various time during the day,then at the end of the day check if you have done those activities or not and give yourselves points according to your performance.This will work as a feedback inshaAllah.Then again on the next day ,review your goals in the morning inshaAllah and stick to the plan it will work inshaAllah.An auxillary advice ,fix the starting hours of morning for Qur'an recitation inshaAllah and your day will be fruitful inshaAllah(it works).Similarly proceed in this very manner throughout the weeks,months and year.

An interesting fact,I pondered upon, that some people who sleep 12 hours a day,spend half of their lives sleeping!May Allah help you in this.Ameen.
wasalam

BaraakAllaah feek! I'm an expert in making timetable but not in following them. I mean I "was" an expert because I stopped making timetables quite sometime ago when as I lil kid I had trouble sticking to it. Perhaps I'll give it another try someday.

First time I learned about how much time we waste sleeping was, while I was reading yvonne Ridley's book. She said she try to avoid sleep as much as possible as it's a waste of her very precious time. I was amazed, how do people do that? I could hardly keep my eyes open today. After four hours of sleep I was doing last hour study before my paper in the morning and My Allaah! it was so hard. I then ate some food, drank water and splashed some on my face,all that helped just this wee bit.

I'm not doing my work as fast as I want to but I must admit you people have helped. May Allaah aid you and ease you path to Jannah.

 

[Seeking Allah's Mercy]

:salam2:

I'm re-posting my own post from a year back... but I really needed to read it to, so I hope it helps in any small way:

Source: Procrastination??

Also, check out the Pomodoro Technique, it's quite interesting and helps many: Try the Pomodoro Technique!!

Asalamo Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh,

Beautiful artical that I haven't read as yet. BaraakAllaah feek.

I'll check that link to that pomodoro technique Inshaa'Allaah. Atm I'm trying to keep my pace. One step at a time.

Pray for me ukht.

:salam2:

My advise would be the Hadeeth of RasululAllah, that he advised to Fatima (ra) and Ali bin abi Talib (ra) to say SubhanaAllah 33, Alhamdullilah 33 times, and Allahuakbar 34 times. Everynight before you sleep.

InshaAllah, your day will go smooth and more blessed.

Sobhan'Allaah I've quite forgotten about this. May Allaah bless you sister. Jazaakillah Khair for the reminder.

 

[lovefordeen]

Live as if you are going to Die tomorrow because one day you are going DIE TOMORROW.

assalaam alaikum

masha'Allah ...

 

[finding light]

Salaam Sister...
I have a job that requires I be at work 12 hours a day. I have never felt more productive than I do now.
Wake up early (5.30 or 6), bath and be ready for the day. Work for an hour at a time with 10-15 minute breaks in between. After Zuhr have a nap - nothing wrong with it. 20-45 mins. Get up get back to work. stop at 6. Sleep at 9.30 or 10.
Trust me there are enough hours to do everything you need to do and have time to do it at an even pace Just from my experience.... hope you will succeed.

 

[Seeking Allah's Mercy]

Wasalamo 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh,

:salam2:

Oh my, Zoology. Species names are very annoying indeed. I am very bad at memory related activities. I guess you have to keep reading it. But, one thing you can do to remember these thing is to create your own Mnemonic to remember these things. There are thousands of medical Mnemonics on the internet. It really aids memory and also it is fun to read. Because, you can remember a funny word but not stupid latin stuff. That is human tendency.

For example:

"Dublin Sisters Ceramic Red Colored Jewelry Apparently Illegal":

Each bold first two letters stand for compenents of bowel: Duodenum, Sigmoid, Cecum, Rectum, Colon, Jejunum, Appendix, Ileum.

Some mnemonics in zoology- http://www.wattpad.com/920117-biology-mnemonics

And also when you make Mnemonics, you are less prone to fall asleep because now you are thinking while making mnemonics. And one does not fall asleep while having fun.

It is good that you are striving to shift to your parents place to help them. Good for your deen too I would say.

May Allah help you succeed and give you the best of both worlds. Ameen.

JazaakAllaah khayraa akh, that's real good. I don't see why I stopped using those. I managed to get a good percentage of periodic table into my head. Ratafication(Learning by heart) is one thing I'm real poor at but this is a cool way of learning. With Allaah's help and His will I'll manage.

I realised what true blessing they are only when I moved away. I've had a nice relation with them, and helping around wasn't an issue. But now I fully appreciate what they've done for me. I feel bad at not serving them as I should have, when I could. To top it up I read your thread about parents and that is when I knew I have done nothing. Nothing that can be called Bir Al Walidain. Like Sheikh Mukhtar said, we should not even lwait for them to ask us what they require of us. And I've been doing just the opposite. I hardly did anything of my own will. I seriously pray I'm given another chance, so that it doesn't become a wish unfulfilled.

 

[Seeking Allah's Mercy]

Salaam Sister...
I have a job that requires I be at work 12 hours a day. I have never felt more productive than I do now.
Wake up early (5.30 or 6), bath and be ready for the day. Work for an hour at a time with 10-15 minute breaks in between. After Zuhr have a nap - nothing wrong with it. 20-45 mins. Get up get back to work. stop at 6. Sleep at 9.30 or 10.
Trust me there are enough hours to do everything you need to do and have time to do it at an even pace Just from my experience.... hope you will succeed.

Wasalamo 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh,

You just made me my time table. BaraakAllaah feek sister.

I'm having trouble dividing my day to study for my test, my paper the next day along with going for my paper. It's maddening sometimes.

 

[esperanza]

SALAM

dear sister..

sister aapa only meant to make a comparison
i know how it is to live and breather study and how hard it is,,,and never enough time and immense pressure

but lbelieve me and your sister aapa there is nothgin so difficult as running a home raising a family and going to work,, and once you have children your time is never your own,,

yes its ahrd manging time sister but you can do it as you have youself to please oyou can organixe your time you just have to be disciplined inshallah

 

[Tabassum07]

:salam2:

Sister Seeking, I realize a different problem here as well. You really *really* need to stop stressing over this. Okay? Relax. Only with a relaxed mind can you relax your time and manage it properly.

I think before we can give you any effective advice, we need to know what your current timetable is like and what areas you're having trouble with. Hang in there, okay?

 

[Seeking Allah's Mercy]

:salam2:

Sister Seeking, I realize a different problem here as well. You really *really* need to stop stressing over this. Okay? Relax. Only with a relaxed mind can you relax your time and manage it properly.

I think before we can give you any effective advice, we need to know what your current timetable is like and what areas you're having trouble with. Hang in there, okay?

Wasalamo 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh,

You are right ukht, but I can't help it. I had a horrible time last night. I was trying my best to focus on my lessons. I don't know why I started feeling really sad and depressed. I couldn't focus, than I started missing my parents, it felt strange but I even managed to miss my brothers. I sat there fighting my thoughts for a couple of hours, than I gave in and had a good cry lol. That made me feel a bit better, but I was so exhausted. I hope my exam wasn't too bad today=(

I don't know what turned it all "on", but my mum called my aunt the other day and she told her my sister was getting fed up with doing all the work alone. I felt so bad after that. At dinner I was reminded of how my mom or my sister will have to wash my dishes now. I don't know I started feeling so depressed after this I couldn't concerntrate, that just added to me having bitter thoughts*sigh*. I know I sound like a kid.

 

[Seeking Allah's Mercy]

All that rant aside, I was wondering what should I do in the following situation:

I have my last paper tommorrow till my test. I've managed to read three books and underlined the important stuff for memorization, Now I got to read three more and than memorize the whole thing. I could one week before the test and I have a chemistry paper tommorrow. What should I do. Memorize that which is underlined first, or read the next three books?

Jazaakum Allaahu khayraa.

 

[Tabassum07]

All that rant aside, I was wondering what should I do in the following situation:

I have my last paper tommorrow till my test. I've managed to read three books and underlined the important stuff for memorization, Now I got to read three more and than memorize the whole thing. I could one week before the test and I have a chemistry paper tommorrow. What should I do. Memorize that which is underlined first, or read the next three books?

Jazaakum Allaahu khayraa.

:salam2: sis,

Well, ukhti, something's better than nothing - I think you should break your big tasks into little ones for easier time management and then focus on one little thing at a time. So why not memorize one book, then the next and so on. Just a suggestion, but why don't you underline the important stuff you need to memorize during lessons or when you don't have exams going on?

If you spend time looking up stuff that's important first, you might spend too much time on that, and then not be left with enough time to memorize. Here's a technique I used to use always during school days. Set deadlines for yourself. Like, you're sitting studying at 6 pm, and you tell yourself you have to , no matter what, finish at least a chapter by 8pm. And then you pace yourself and try to finish it by then. Really, this helps a lot. We work better under pressure and when we have a deadline. Try it out, okay?

 

[Seeking Allah's Mercy]

:salam2: sis,

Well, ukhti, something's better than nothing - I think you should break your big tasks into little ones for easier time management and then focus on one little thing at a time. So why not memorize one book, then the next and so on. Just a suggestion, but why don't you underline the important stuff you need to memorize during lessons or when you don't have exams going on?

If you spend time looking up stuff that's important first, you might spend too much time on that, and then not be left with enough time to memorize. Here's a technique I used to use always during school days. Set deadlines for yourself. Like, you're sitting studying at 6 pm, and you tell yourself you have to , no matter what, finish at least a chapter by 8pm. And then you pace yourself and try to finish it by then. Really, this helps a lot. We work better under pressure and when we have a deadline. Try it out, okay?

Wa 'Alaykum Asalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh,

It's a two year old course that I'm revising for some test, I made notes back then but I don't have them anymore, so I read to revise, underline and memorize (it's an MCQs based test).

Yeah you are right, guess I'll try to cover those three first. I know that deadline thing helps. I only can't do if I'm mentally stressed-which I am a lot these days.

Jazaakillahu Khayraa ukht for helping me out.

Keep in your prayers okay, your Imaan is fresh these days;-] Your duas are strong and sincere, include me in them please.

 

[Tomtom]

Well if you are revising for exams then you shouldn't be loggin in to tti.

 

[kayleigh]

The thing about time management is that I think we all know what we should be doing and how we should be doing it, but we just don't do it.

For example - I know I should study for my exam, and spend an hour doing homework for another class, and then do laundry, wash the dishes, etc. And I don't, because I get distracted by something or would rather do something fun. It's actually REALLY easy to break down your tasks and assign them a reasonable amount of time. But then we get lazy or distracted and don't do them. The internet is seriously the worst thing for time management. I went without internet for about two months when I moved into my new apartment and I got SO MUCH done haha.

It just takes discipline.

 

[strive-may-i]

Promodoro Technique (contd)

:salam2:
.............
Also, check out the Pomodoro Technique, it's quite interesting and helps many: Try the Pomodoro Technique!!

:salam2:
Yes, Good one. Promodoro is helpful when you have a well set SMART [Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant/Realistic and Timely ] Goal to fulfill an intention.

From Wiki: Promodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s.[1] The technique uses a timer to break down periods of work into 25-minute intervals called 'Pomodoros' (from the Italian word for 'tomatoes') separated by breaks. Closely related to concepts such as timeboxing and iterative and incremental development used in software design, the method has been adopted in pair programming contexts.[2] The method is based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility.[3][4]
There are five basic steps to implementing the technique:
1. decide on the task to be done
2. set the pomodoro (timer) to 25 minutes
3. work on the task until the timer rings; record with an x
4. take a short break (5 minutes)
5. every four "pomodoros" take a longer break (15–20 minutes)

References
----------
[1]^ a b c d e Cirillo, Francesco. The Pomodoro Technique. ISBN 1445219948. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
[2]^ Olsen, Patricia R. (September 2009)The New York Times- "For Writing Software, a Buddy System"
[3]^ Shellenbarger, Sue (2009-11-18). "''Shellenbarger, Sue'' (November 2009) The Wall Street Journal - "Testing Time Management Strategies"". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
[4]^ "''Tambini, Arielle; Ketz, Nicholas; Davachi, Lila'' "Enhanced Brain Correlations during Rest Are Related to Memory for Recent Experiences" Neuron (January 2010)". Cell.com. Retrieved 2010-10-27.

(Promodoro Technique V 1.3 PDF: I was told its not accessible. Attaching copy I have).

 

[strive-may-i]

Assalaamu Alaikum warahmathullaahi wabarakaatuh,

Its the age of Apps. Here is a desktop tool, that assists in Promodoro Technique. .

From:
http://www.tomighty.org/ - Desktop timer for Promodoro technique. Its more free than free speech. Use it well
distributed under the Apache License 2.0.

( Give credits to Sister Samiha too, for bringing this up first here. )