“Time management” is the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between specific activities. Good time management enables you to work smarter – not harder – so that you get more done in less time.
Here are ten tips to effectively manage your time and improve your organizational skills in order to increase productivity.
The more of these tools you learn to use, the more that you will get done each day.
1- Set clear vision/goals
Setting yourself a clear goal and vision becomes a powerful tool for success. Being able to imagine yourself achieving and enjoying success is a matter of choice. Give it a try.
2- Learn to say “No”
It’s not something easy, however learning to say “no” can become your best kept secret for managing your time. With so many things pulling you in different directions, it’s time to take control and choose how you use your limited available time.
3- Task by task
The old thought that multi-tasking will help you get more done in less time just doesn’t work. To be most efficient with your time, you need to approach your day with a task-by-task methodology.
4- Minimize social media time
Do yourself a favor and limit your social media activities. You’ll gain back time you never knew you had.
5- Set your priorities
You might not get everything done, even with a to-do list. However, you can complete the most important things by prioritizing each task. Keep in mind that important and urgent are not necessarily the same things.
6- Schedule your time
Allocate blocks of time into your calendar for you to focus and get some really valuable work achieved. Don’t let others cram your day with their requirements. Schedule time for yourself and make productive hours in your day.
7-Waiting time is not always wasted time
If you find yourself waiting in a queue or commuting daily to and from work, consider using those moments to make notes, refresh your mind and capture some creative ideas. Arming yourself with paper and a pen or a smartphone will ensure you never miss a beat.
8-Being healthy matters
If your energy is suffering, you’ll never be able to work as productively as possible and your management of time will be impacted. Research shows that one of the keys to high performance is taking regular breaks, particularly lunch, and ensure you step away from the computer to re-charge.
9-Set yourself clear expectations
Sometimes we set the bar too high and find that the expectations we have on ourselves are unrealistic. When you are given a project or task to complete, make sure you understand it in full, take the time to make your plan and never forget to be realistic.
10-Don’t be afraid to delegate
Delegating is not a term to shy away from. If someone else can achieve something faster and more efficiently and they are able to take it on, delegate. The existence of virtual assistants is living proof that outsourcing tasks to others allows you to channel your skills and time towards activities of greater value.
Many working professionals spend the majority of their time at work, thinking about or worrying about work-related problems. This is just making people more and more stressed.
A way to overcome this problem and reduce people’s stress is to provide a healthy, barakah-full work environment, boosting morale, mental and psychological health. Here are 10 tips to empower and support your colleagues at work, creating synergy and empowering yourself.
1 – Be Sincere
The starting point of any action is to check your heart and intentions. Ask yourself, ‘What’s my intention? What reward do I hope for from Allah?’
“The reward of deeds depends upon the intention and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.” -Prophet Muhammed (Sahih al Bukhari)
Make your acts of help and cooperation sincerely for the sake of Allah. Consider every minute you spend helping others, every word, effort and piece of information you share as charity you’re giving for His sake.
2 – Help Them Privately
Since you’re helping people for the sake of Allah, there is no need to show off or let everyone know that you’re helping so and so. Your reward is not with people, and not even with your manager. Your reward is with Allah, and He is not unaware of what you do.
Reach out privately to your colleagues when offering support and guidance.
3 – Recognize Their Efforts Publicly
Observe and recognize their earnest efforts publicly whenever there is an opportunity. You can say in a meeting, gathering or an email for example, “I notice that ‘X’ has been doing an excellent job with ‘Y’ and this is really great for the company/our customers.”
Let them feel noticed and recognized for their efforts. Employees are not machines that can be charged by electricity, they are humans who can only be charged by positive human connection of courtesy and recognition.
4 – Give Them Your Best Without Fearing Loss
Give your best knowledge, best tips, and best advice and do not fear any loss.
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger [saw] as saying that Allah, the Most Blessed and High, said: “O son of Adam, spend. I will spend on you. The right hand of Allah is full and overflowing and nothing would diminish it by overspending day and night.” (Sahih Muslim)
Do not think that when you give away a tip or one of your secrets to success that you will lose. Your own health, mind, intelligence, talent and provision all come from Allah, and Allah’s wealth is vast and there is nothing that can decrease it.
5 – Be Mercifully Truthful
Don’t use hypocrisy or deception. When your colleague is struggling or having a problem with the boss for example, supporting them does not mean “trash-talking” that manager behind his/her back or mocking them together to relieve stress. Rather, be mercifully truthful with your colleague without hypocrisy or deception.
Give them a balanced perspective and help them see matters as they really are. You can say, for example, “That email was a bit harsh, but it’s very important that you pay attention to doing xyz because if we don’t do that, it affects our company’s performance. How can I help you address this point? Is there anything I can do to support?”
6 – Never Disregard Their feelings
Some ‘small’ office talk is not really small. Words you mindlessly say to your colleagues in their face/via email can hurt their feelings and affect their performance for days. Picking on someone even jokingly, undermining them, devaluing or making them feel intimidated is considered verbal abuse and bullying. Studies show that this behavior results in people’s poor mental health, sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, and psychological distress.
Be careful and mindful with every word you say to your colleagues and never disregard their feelings.
7 – Give Colleagues Their Due Value
You may have a colleague/subordinate who is older than you. People change their careers and may find themselves working with groups who are much younger than they are but have more experience in the field they just started learning about. Even if you know better or you are higher in rank than a more senior team member, this person is still entitled to receive your humility and respect.
Anas bin Malik [ranhu] narrated that “An older man came to talk to the Prophet, and the people were hesitant to make room for him. The Prophet said: He is not one of us who does not have mercy on our young and does not respect our elders.” (Jami` at-Tirmidhi)
8 – Don’t Make Anyone Feel Left Out
If your manager is reprimanding your colleague for a mistake or shortcoming, don’t abandon them thinking internally: “Thank God it’s not me. Phew. Let me not mingle with the ‘black-listed’ people now” Rather, go and help them. Ask them if there is something you can do to assist them with their tasks or alleviate their distress.
9 – Appreciate Colleagues Regularly
Up to 79% of people quit their jobs due to “lack of appreciation.” People need to hear and feel that they are appreciated at work where they spend the majority of their time.
Tell your colleagues that you appreciate them frequently. And instead of the empty, hasty or cold, “Thank you. Appreciate ‘it’’ Define the ‘it’ and make it more real and truthful.”
10 – Make Dua for Them Daily
Many Muslim working professionals report that their long hours at work make them feel spiritually deprived or that they need to wait until they finish work to start their worship. But actually work can deepen your worship if you make it a reason to make dua more. The Prophet [saw] said, “Verily supplication is worship.” [Related by the four Imams]
So make dua for your colleagues whom you know need help in their lives; those who need help getting married, or need help with their parents, their children or their health…etc.
But what if my colleagues didn’t reciprocate my positive treatment?
Even if your colleagues didn’t reciprocate the positive treatment, remember the Prophet [saw] said: “The Compassionate One has mercy on those who are merciful. If you show mercy to those who are on the earth, He Who is in heaven will show mercy to you.” (Sunan Abi Dawud)
You’ll be shown mercy by Him, not them. Putting forth this effort makes you the subject of Divine Mercy. And remember Allah’s Names include The First and the Last. We start with Allah and we end with Him.
“Surely to Allah all matters will return ˹for judgment.” (Ash-Shura 42: 53)
“Those that remember Me in their heart, I remember them in My heart; and those that remember Me in a gathering (i.e. that make mention of Me), I remember them (i.e. make mention of them) in a gathering better than theirs.”
~ Al Hadith 72:17
In today’s world, it’s easy to get swept up in the routine of a busy schedule. Getting the kids off to school, coping with the traffic and waiting in endless lines. Sometimes, it’s even difficult to find the time to eat let alone spare a thought for Allah. But there are ways to find and make the time.
There is a word that is attributed to the remembrance of Allah and that is Dhikr, Zikhr or Thikr; depending on what part of the world you are from there are a variation of spellings but they all mean the same thing.
It’s a word that when translated into English essentially means the remembrance of Allah, either silently in the heart, or in the heart and by words.
Many of us do remember Allah especially in times of despair to ask for help or in good times to be thankful, but what about all of the other times? What about the in between times when we are on the go?
Fortunately, you don’t have to perform wudu (ritual ablution) to perform Dhikr, you just have to have some time. So, when you are waiting in traffic, standing in a queue, parked outside the school waiting for your child or even gardening, you can simply say the following short phrases.
Say
Subhaan Allah, I glorify Allah’s absolute perfection
Alhamdulillah, All praise be to Allah
Allahu Akbar, Allah is the Greatest
Say these three 33 times for each preferably counting on the fingers of the right hand. Then to make the 99 (33×3) to 100 say:
“Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahu’l-mulk wa lahu’l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadeer which translates in English to – “There is no god except Allaah Alone, with no partner, His is the power and His is the praise, and He is Able to do all things.”
There is a Hadith that says that for those who do this:
“… his sins will be forgiven even if they are like the foam of the sea.”
~ Muslim, 939
Positively
Positive remembrance of Allah brings about a sense of being thankful and appreciative of all He has done for us. By being aware of the glory of Allah in everything it can even prevent negativity or even depression.
It helps to find the good in the bad, the positive in the negative, and the opportunities in the problems. Even more than that, it will purify your heart just by simply remembering Allah so He remembers you in this life and the next.
Do
Do take the opportunity to lift your spiritual status and increase your Iman by the remembrance of Allah. Do increase your chances of entering Paradise (Jannah) through Dhikr. Do say, La ilaha illa Allah (all praise is due to Allah) as many times as you want as the rewards are great.
Be
Be mindful of Allah no matter where you are except for the toilet or bathroom. You can engage in Dhikr either in silence or through the spoken word. Be in the presence of angels who come when one engages in Dhikr only to carry the good news up high.
Together
Together, there are times when you can take advantage of making dhikr as a group. Take the opportunity to encourage your children to engage in dhikr. Just include them, teach them and share dhikr together.
Driving – recite short Surah’s of the Qu’ran
Kids – encourage them to participate
Household chores – use the time while cooking, sweeping, ironing
Family outings – contemplating nature and the power of Allah (swt)
Men – washing the car, mowing the lawn
Traveling – by car, plane, boat, even walking
Listen – to recordings of dhikr on a CD, mobile device
So, find the time in your busy schedule and spare some thought to the remembrance of Allah. Bear in mind the best time is given as being between al-Fajr and sunrise, between al-Asr and the sunset, after prayers and before you go to bed. And, if your memory needs a jog there are even apps for your phone that you can download for free to remind you to remember Him.
“Those men and women who engage much in Allah’s praise for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a Great Reward”
~ Qur’an 33:35
