Time Management (2)

1-Importance of Having a Daily Routine and Arranging Certain Tasks at Specific Times Everyday:

God (Allah in Arabic) says in Quran: "Verily in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alteration of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding. Those who remember Allah (God) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): 'Our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose, glory to You! Give us salvation from torment of fire." Quran: chapter 3, verses 190,191

Allah also says: "And We have made your sleep as a thing for rest. And We have made the night as a covering (through its darkness), And We have made the day for livelihood." Quran: chapter 78, verses 9-11.

Allah has created for us the day and the night. He made them repeat after each other. Allah has a wisdom behind this. We are encouraged to think deeply about this wisdom as was pointed in the first group of verses mentioned above. One wisdom that Allah clarifies for us in the second group of verses is to arrange our tasks in day and night. Allah made the night for rest and the day to work in. If this is the case with the overall day and night, then we can follow the same pattern in the hours of the day and the hours of the night. We can divide the hours of the day on tasks that are commonly repeated everyday. For example: We can work every day from 9:00AM to 5:00PM. We can eat everyday at specific times, e.g. before we leave to work and after we come from work. There are many other examples but the main point from these examples is to show that we are recommended to have a daily routine in our lives to make the best use of our time.

Allah arranged for us our prayers (Salah) at specific times during the day. This is repeated every day. Allah says in Quran: "Verily, As-Salah (the prayer) is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours." Quran: Chapter 4, verse 103. The five prayers are obligatory on each muslim to perform every day at fixed times. This is to teach us to have a daily routine and arrange our other tasks daily around the prayer times.

In conclusion, the universe around us, our body needs and our worship acts as muslims teach us to have a daily routine to be more productive.

Time Management (1)

Time is the most precious resource that a human being has. It is much more valuable than money. Money can come and can go. When Time goes, it can not come back.

In Islamic teachings, time takes even more importance. Its importance comes from the saying of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): "No servant will leave his place on the day of resurrection till he is asked about his lifespan how did he use it, his knowledge what did he do with it, his wealth where did he get it from and how did he spend it, and his body how did he use it" (Authentic Hadeeth from At-Termethi) So one of the four top things that any human being will be asked about is his lifespan or in other words his time, how did he use it? Did he benefit from it or did he waste it? Did he arrange the priorities correctly or did he use most of his time in less important things? Did he balance his time between his various duties or did he put bigger chunks of time for his self pleasure? All these questions among others are currently discussed in a branch of knowledge known as "Time Management".

This article is the first article in a series of articles that will be published on this blog about "Time Management". The articles will discuss time management from the islamic point of view and from the point of view of researchers who studied it. The recommendations for effective time usage will be explored and compared to reflections on the creation. I argue that we can learn many of the time management concepts from the creation around us.