Time Management

29
Jan
2016

3 Productivity Tips you can implement right now

Productivity Tips

Sometimes all you need is one small adjustment to your daily life. Such a change could suddenly free up lots of time you didn’t know you had. These three productivity tips will help you make such immediate changes:

#1 Minimize Social Media Time

Social media can be the biggest time waster for many of us. I’m not telling you get off it. After all, you probably found this blog through social media. Just to cut it down a bit. Instead of being online all day, try switching off during high concentration tasks.

Whats a high concentration task?

Its any task that requires your full attention. Multi-tasking between completing such a task and using social media can double the amount of time it takes to complete it.

For example, if you are reading an article while checking social media, it might take 15 minutes to read the article.

If you close your social media for five minutes, you could complete reading the entire article in five minutes and understand it better.

Try it. Next time you need to concentrate, just switch off from social media for a few minutes. It works like magic.

#2 Cut out the chit chat

Whether it is a co-worker, an old friend, or your spouse calling from home. Learn to minimize conversations without being rude. Simply inform people of how much time you have to spare.

They will understand and keep the conversation within that time limit. If needed, remind them politely that you have work to do. Do this often and people will begin to understand.

By limiting conversations, you will discover hours of extra time during the day to get things done.

#3 Make a To-Do List

To-Do Lists do not require any formal training. Just write out a list of everything you need to do today, and do it all one by one. Its as simple as that.

To-Do Lists are the core of time management. Without one, it is very difficult to keep track of whether you are being productive or just busy doing nothing. Make a To-Do list right now and see for yourself.

You can learn a lot more about Time Management by reading my e-book
Getting The Barakah

Buy Now

Available exclusively through Islamic Self Help

Posted by Ismail Kamdar in Productivity, Time Management
08
Dec
2015

New Podcast Interview – Overcoming Procrastination

Overcoming Procrastination

Interview on overcoming procrastination

This is a link to a Muslim Life Hackers podcast about overcoming procrastination.

I was the guest on this episode, and we discussed many tips on overcoming procrastination, taken from my e-book Getting The Barakah.

“If you are afraid that it is going to take you 5 or 10 years to achieve a goal understand that those years are going to pass anyway and what will you show for it?” – Abu Muawiyah

Questions Asked:

  • Why should our listeners care about time management and in turn being productive?
  • Do you think that because time is not a tangible form of rizq we do not consider it as valuable?
  • So for those of us who have also grown up in the 80s and 90s and have this notion of killing time, overhauling their habbits and starting to think long term sounds very intimidating. Where do we start with that process?
  • How can someone tell if a decision is potentially harmful for them in the future or just an easy short cut? What is the difference?
  • In your book you talk about how not all hours of the day have the same value. How can we use this to our advantage to get more done?
  • The 7 day planner or the To-Do list? Can you explain these two systems and how they suit different lifestyles?
  • What would you say to someone who says they are a procrastinator?
  • Is having managed our time having a full calendar and always being busy? Where does relaxation and fun fit into the equation?

Getting The Barakah – Time Management E-Book

Be sure to check out our Time Management e-book, which contains over 150 pages of tips and techniques, and is available for purchase for only $8.99. That’s 150 pages of Time Management Training for under $10!

Time Management Training

Time Management E-Book

Posted by Ismail Kamdar in Books, Productivity, Time Management
10
Nov
2015
What is a S.M.A.R.T. goal?

What is a S.M.A.R.T. goal?

S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting

Most Self-Help books offer the S.M.A.R.T. Goal setting formula, because it is simple and effective. It covers the five main criterion to consider when setting a goal. The acronym S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.

Let’s take a look at each of these criterion in details:

Specific – This means that your goal shouldn’t be something vague. You should know exactly what you want to work towards. “I want to be an author” is a vague goal, but “I want to write a book about self-confidence from an Islamic perspective” is a very specific goal. The second is much easier to work towards, the key here is to be as detailed as possible.

Measurable – This means that your goal should be something you can keep track off to measure how close you are to completing your goal. Goals are generally long term projects and without any form of measurement, it is difficult to know whether you are closer to accomplishing it or not.

An example of a measurable goal is setting a goal to write 100 pages a month by writing three and half pages a day. This way you know daily whether you are making progress towards that goal or not.

Attainable – This means your goal should be something you can work towards and attain. If your goal is to build a multi-million dollar Islamic Centre and you don’t have the resources to do so, then this is not an attainable goal and should either be left for later in life or tweaked to become more attainable.

Realistic – This means your goal must be something you have the ability to do and something you are willing to do. If you hate writing, then making it a goal to write a 500 page book is not realistic, even though it is attainable. Being realistic means knowing what you are good at, what you are willing to sacrifice for, and making your goals in line with that.

Timely – Finally, a goal must have a time limit. As long as you leave something without any time limit, you will not feel the urgency to work on it. Saying that “Someday I want to write a 300 page book” is not going to help you write it. Setting a goal to write the book within three months by writing four pages a day is a timely goal, and creates the sense of urgency needed to get things done.

These five qualities help us make our goals achievable by creating the kind of description, pattern and system necessary to make sure we get it done. When setting your goals, weigh each goal in light of all five criterion to fine-tune it until you have a concrete plan to work with.

The benefits of setting goals in this manner are many. By setting specific goals, you know exactly what you want to accomplish without any ambiguity. By setting measurable goals, you are able to keep track of your progress and how close you are to attaining your goal.

By setting attainable goals, you are focusing on is possible right now and working on those goals first. By setting realistic goals, you are focusing on your strengths and gifts, leading to an increased chance of meeting that goal. Finally, by setting a deadline or time limit, you are forcing yourself to make time for that goal and complete it within the given amount of time.

So this is what a S.M.A.R.T. goal is. Go ahead and try redefining your current goals using these criterion, and let me know if it made a difference.

OFFER: FREE TIME MANAGEMENT TEMPLATES! 



Posted by Ismail Kamdar in Goal Setting, Time Management
17
Oct
2015
Time Management For Busy Moms – Part 4

Time Management For Busy Moms – Part 4

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

Time Management for Busy Moms Part 4 – Guest Post by Sr. Bela Khan

Lack of time is a disempowering belief

What’s one common thing between the most successful person on earth and the most unsuccessful one? 24 hours. Its not about having the time, its making the time.

I don’t have time has become a common statement these days. You will hear every Tom, Dick and Harry fretting over lack of time. If u keep on repeating this to yourself, it will become an integral part of the belief system and beliefs usually materialize. The inarguable truth is that 24 hours a day is just perfect as they are given to us by Allah, not too much not too little. If you focus too much on lack of time, you will experience lack of time because you tend to have more of what you focus on.

So, focus on the time that you “have” when your baby is sleeping and you have solid one hour to study or write an article or teach – rather than focusing  on those 16 hours when your kids are awake and around. Intentionally focusing on the time you have at your disposal and showing gratitude to Allah for that is one of the best tips to get more barakah in time. Focus on lack and you will have more of it. Focus on abundance and you’ll have more of it.

It’s not important that how much time your children spare for you, what’s important is what you do with that time. ACTION is one thing that separates winners from losers. Each one of us knows time management tips, isn’t it? Each one of us can come up with an amazing write up on time management, isn’t it?

But remember, those who pick up one tip and apply in their lives, those who take one unusual action every day, will be far better than those who actually do nothing but read the articles. You can make changes. It’s not the lack of information keeping us away from making changes or achieving success, its lack of implementation. We know what we want, we know how get it, but we lack execution. Productivity blows down to taking action. You have to have the clarity to accomplish, u have to believe it that you have resource to be successful. Belief is a very powerful tool.

We can’t afford to procrastinate

Those who have nothing else to do might procrastinate but busy moms have no room for procrastination. Whatever little time they get for themselves is a blessing in disguise; therefore procrastination is not a choice.

If you do procrastinate, then following quick tips might help a great deal.

1 – Ask yourself, what’s holding me back? I want to write a book, start my business or anything else, but then I don’t. Why? Is it the fear of failure? In this case you need to address the fear, not procrastination.

2-Busy mom need immense amount of discipline. And it sounds hard and boring. But trust me, when you set your goals based on your passion and purpose it will not feel like a lot of work, it will feel great. Passion pulls you, you don’t have to push it. You wouldn’t want to procrastinate when you LOVE what you do.

  • Live everyday with that awareness that life is short. You have to do it now or you might not do it ever.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said

Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your richness, before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life, before your death.”

Prophetic ways to bring barakah in time

Before I wind up, I would like you to have a quick look at some of the prophetic ways you can practice to bring barakah in life.

  • Trying to start every official task by connecting yourself to Allah and making a small dua after making your to-do list every day.
  • Saying bismillah
  • Eat together (imagine how time consuming can serving everyone individually be)
  • Recitation of Quran (read Quran everyday to find out what’s the message of Allah you can pick out for yourself everyday)
  • Following sunnah to the best of your ability

 

A Quick evaluation at night time

For most of us, daily review is more of a guilt-trip. For me, it’s not. I am well aware of the fact that being a mother, a coach, a teacher and (cook, cleaner, laundry guy) etc. it is nearly impossible for me to accomplish everything perfectly every day. Night rituals are as important for me as the morning ones.

I try ending my day with making my duas, following as much Sunnah as I can, writing my gratitude journal and reading/listening to one motivational thing before I sleep. And trust me, the night time for me is not the ideal condition where I sit down and recite Surah Mulk with perfect concentration.

Sometimes, I am reciting the Surah while lulling my daughter to sleep other times I am making the duas while making the bed.  As for the review, for me the daily review is showing gratitude to Allah for all that accomplished and strengthen my resolve to accomplish what I could not.

What last thing you put in your mind in the night, your subconscious will dwell on it throughout the night and that will determine your day tomorrow. Relax and feed positive stuff in your mind to make yourself more productive.

A practice when things go your way, gratitude.

When you are utilizing your time most effectively, you are soaring and overcoming all the fears, you will see results in your life. The more gratitude you show to Allah for those results, the better result you will get in future and He will immerse more barakah in your time.

A practice when things don’t go your way, self compassion.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we fail. Be it a time management guru, a spiritual healer, a multi-millionaire CEO, no one is immune from failure. As busy mothers, we must learn to embrace the failure and have some compassion for ourselves.

Sometimes you have the best intention to implement whatever you know of, you wake up at 4 am, pray, do all adhkaar and are ready to start the day with some ME time and your child wakes up. What do you do then?

Sometimes you are considered to be an expert on time management. People look up to you with respect that you are perfectly managing all your responsibility but then you fall ill and fail to implement what you teach to others. What do you do then?

Sometimes you might have to give up on your passion to focus more on the tarbiyah of your children. You still have all those awesome ideas to change the lives of the people but you can’t put those ideas into action? What do you do then?

Most of the time management experts pretend as if life is perfect for them and they don’t waste a second of their lives. This makes us feel guiltier of what we are doing with our lives. Truth is, we all fail.  Time management experts also fail. What do we do then? Relax. You are not expected to win all the time. You might have started the day with those three items on the paper and at the end of the day you just couldn’t do any of those tasks. What do you do then? Nothing. Crumple the paper and throw it away.

The next day is a new day, a new beginning, a new chance.  Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we fail. What do we do then? Relax. Embrace the failure and continue the struggle. As long as you are living, Allah is giving you another chance. Tomorrow is a new beginning, a new dawn. Don’t quit. Most of the people quit because quitting is easier. Remember, you plan and Allah plans, and Allah is the best planner.

Bela Khan is a certified life coach and speaker. She is also the author of her book “Know Thy Values, Know Thyself.” Her forthcoming books are “How riches come to you” and, “9-Success secrets that Non-Muslims know and you must know too”. You can find more of her work at belakhan.com

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

Buy Now!

Posted by Ismail Kamdar in Time Management
16
Oct
2015

Time Management For Busy Moms – Part 3

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

Time Management for busy moms Part 3 – Guest Post by Sr. Bela Khan

Don’t reveal it unless it’s done.

I don’t have any tangible argument to support this, but this is always so true for me. If I am doing a project and I reveal it to others, I feel that barakah goes away from that but if I am doing something and it’s just between me and Allah, there is so much barakah in it and I tend to get it done faster than if I had revealed it to the public. So I recommend, if you are on a project, don’t reveal it unless you get it done.

De-clutter and letting go

An overly decorated house is a sign of wasted life. All the delicate crystal pieces that we beautify our houses with, take so much time and energy to clean and dust. All the stuff in your wardrobe that you hope to wear one day when you lose weight, all the crockery that is lying untouched in your kitchen cabinet, all the books that you wish to read one day, all the toys that your children don’t play with anymore, all these things combined are actually suck positive energy out of your life. Human beings have a hard time letting go. If you want to free up more time for things that you’re really passionate about, focus on the tarbiyah of your kids and perfectly managing the house, then I strongly suggest that you go through a clearing process. Give yourself a couple days and de-clutter. Research says, if you haven’t used it for a year, chances are that you won’t use it for the rest of your life. Once you let go of what you don’t need, you’ll have two-fold advantage,

  • You’ll win the reward of sadaqah
  • You’ll feel relaxed and lightened.

I’d rather say that words fail me to explain the feeling it gives. It’s just a state of inner peace which you can experience once you let it go. The time saved in managing those clutter can now be used in doing something productive. Remember, cluttering is the antonym of productivity.

Learn to say NO

Chasing your dream with kids and other responsibility take time, effort and energy. If you don’t have enough time and energy to focus on the goals that matter the most to you, you probably have weak boundaries. Do you have a hard time saying no? Do you feel like your time is being wasted or that you’re being taken advantage of? Saying “no” sounds selfish or narcissistic to most people. Remember, people won’t respect you unless you respect yourself. Now imagine, you are a homeschooling mom, you sit down to do daily lessons with your kids and your neighbor comes to have coffee with you. What do you do then? Set boundaries.

Ask her politely if she can wait for 20 minutes so that you can finish the task with your kids first. That’s what your boundary is. It will make people realize what’s more important for you. If that really matters to your neighbor, she will wait for you.

Once in a while might not harm as much but if people know that you are available for them 24/7 chances are that they will take unnecessary advantage of your weak boundaries. The consequences of not setting a boundary when you should be are frequently much greater than you realize. Whenever you say yes to something, you are inadvertently saying no to many other things.

For example, the lady who requested you coffee comes and requests the same again, and you say yes out of habit or a sense of obligation. Then she sits and chats for two hours. So this takes our two hours off your day. These two hours could have been used teaching your kids, writing your book, spending healthy time with your spouse or getting your message out. By saying yes to your neighbor, you were automatically saying no to all of these things.

When your kids are awake, your time is their time

When we talk about setting priorities, remember our kids are our priority. If you have wasted the hours when they were asleep or out in the school, then you have wasted your personal hours. When they are up and around, your prime responsibility is to focus on your kids and their needs. I am appalled at the senses of those who help busy mom schedule their routine by encouraging them to freeze their food and stuff their kids with frozen food and the preach “prioritizing”. Do the health and well being of your child not your number 1 priority? Setting priority will help you to decide if it’s a good idea to give frozen food to your children and work on your personal tasks or give fresh food to them and to never compromise on their health and well being.

Busy and passionate moms are juggling so many balls in the air. Kids, chores, relationships, sometimes finances, physical health etc. Sometimes we think if we keep all the balls in the air, we will be successful. Truth is that when all the balls are in the air and you just touch each of them and not give them the time and attention they deserve, you are not making the best move. It actually comes down to what you need to do at a given time. All the successful people you admire in life also have 100 things to juggle but they know what they need to do at a given time.

The real success comes from

  • Knowing what’s the right thing to do
  • Doing that right thing

So for example, you have one hour before your children come home from school or your little one wakes up; and you have a pile of dishes to do, vacuuming the floor, laundry and all these chores but you also have to prepare one chapter for your exams. What do you choose to do in that one hour? If you waste that one hour whatsapping, and then complaining that all the time goes wasted after kids then who is to blame?

Setting priorities is important because you won’t achieve anything if u don’t know what u want. In order to be successfully managing all the roles you play in your life, u should know what u want to BE, what you want to DO, and what u want to HAVE – knowing this will help u prioritize. If u don’t know what you want, it’s guaranteed u will never have it.

Let’s learn to prioritize no matter how strong is the urge to whats app or hop on Facebook. Time is something really precious. Let’s not squander it.

Bela Khan is a certified life coach and speaker. She is also the author of her book “Know Thy Values, Know Thyself.” Her forthcoming books are “How riches come to you” and, “9-Success secrets that Non-Muslims know and you must know too”. You can find more of her work at belakhan.com

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

Buy Now!

Posted by Ismail Kamdar in Time Management