The Blessing of Time #06 – Tracking Your Time

One of the greatest things you can do to manage your time and to really value your time is to use a countdown timer. I mentioned this before from the spiritual perspective. But I want you to think about two different types of countdown timers. There's the countdown timer for your life, which you cannot see. And it's the taking hours and minutes and seconds in which you're running out of time in this world. And that's the type that requires daily reflection. How much time did I spend today on something beneficial that I waste any time today? What do I need to do tomorrow? Well turn low enough so fundamentally avoid Allah subhanaw taala instructs us Let every soul reflect on what you

have prepared, why you have sent ahead for your afterlife for tomorrow. Allah subhanaw taala out of His mercy uses the word void tomorrow, why it's to bring the reality of your afterlife as close as tomorrow because if you pass away today, may Allah Subhana Allah grant us long, healthy, righteous lives. When you pass away your clamor, your afterlife begins, right because you can no longer do any acts of worship in this world.

So your countdown timer should be a daily form of reflection, you have all the acts of worship that you know of that you can attach to more and more reflection. Even when you're driving, sitting, standing, walking, wherever you're to take a moment to just reflect how much time do I have left? Am I using my time wisely is this really the habit that I want? Is this really the thing that I want to be doing? Because if you live upon something as a habit, it's likely it's possible that you might die upon it as well. Whereas if you change that bad habit today, because you don't want to die upon it tomorrow, we ask Allah subhanaw taala to grant us all a righteous productive ending in this world

alone me. So the first COUNT ON TIMER is the general count diet count down of your life to reflect on how much time has passed. The second is the practical one. This you can use every single day. And this is one of my favorite techniques. And one of my favorite methodologies that helps people to really value the time that they have to use a countdown timer with most of the activities are some of the activities that you engage in, depending on what you have to do every day, for example, on your phone or on a device. On your laptop and other things. You can set a timer for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes, and focus on one task with no distractions. While that clock is counting down.

Don't do anything else while your timer is running out, don't do anything else don't become distracted. The useful thing with you with a countdown timer is the number one it keeps you focused, it keeps you on task. And number two, when the timer runs out, you know where the last 30 minutes went. So you can write down for yourself the last 30 minutes for example, I was studying or I was working on an essay, I was reviewing code and you know where it went. The problem is if you become distracted, you start off with 30 minutes, 15 minutes into it, you open a new tab and now you're watching cat videos. Now you're doing something completely different, what happens, you become

distracted or you're playing a game or you talk to somebody else or some interruption takes place. And then the timer runs out. And as it rings, you're like oh wait, I was supposed to be doing something else. 15 minutes ran out and I was wasting my time on something else. So at least when it runs out, it'll bring you back inshallah Tada to the task at hand. And most importantly, and for me, this is very beneficial is realizing every 30 minutes passes by very quickly, it runs out and you're like, Okay, there's a 30 minutes, I'm not getting back, start over another 30 minutes, another 45 minutes. Some people when they work on difficult tasks, will use a countdown timer, take a five

minute break and then come back to their task. Other people take an hour, but it depends on the individual how much momentum you have, and what it is that you need to accomplish. One advice that one of my teachers gave me years ago, aside from using a countdown timer was to do a chart basically for one week where you are holding yourself accountable your time. So basically time tracking for one week. And by time tracking, I mean tracking all of your time. So from morning to night, knowing for one week how your time was spent. For example, if you work for eight hours, productively and you actually work for eight hours a day, you'll write down from 8am to maybe 4pm or 5pm. You were

working, for example. But if you have a different type of schedule, and you have a little more flexibility, and you'll have other things that you do write down where your time is being spent. And I'll add actually one thing to this, even if you are working 40 hours a week, if you're generally working the type of job where it's not constant work, it's actually beneficial to write down what you are doing as a Muslim and as a productive employee. Why? Because you're at least holding your time accountable for the things that you're being paid for. And you're inshallah Tada not stealing anything from the company by wasting that time or doing something you're not supposed to be doing

especially as a Muslim. We have ethics we have values that we care about when it comes to our time. So even then tracking your time within work is also useful. Outside of work. You're a parent you're raising a child, a few children, masha Allah, may Allah bless them, or you're studying you're a student, or you're working on something or your volunteer, you're reading your writing, whatever you're doing, and

Every 30 minutes or every hour, write down what you were doing during that time. For one week, try this, at the end of the week, take a moment an hour or two, to review what happened in the last seven days. So you're looking at, you know, every hour, where did it go 8am to 9am. away, I wasted excessive amount of time transitioning from the thing I was doing to the thing I was supposed to be doing. I took so much time with that interruption, or I got distracted by this call, or I got distracted on that website. hold yourself accountable. Every few weeks, do a time chart for the entire week and you will reset yourself inshallah Tada, I know, this sounds like a lot of work. But

if it's the most precious thing that you have, it's worth the time it's worth the effort, you become a little more organized, you find a sense of urgency, and inshallah Tada, you waste less time. Now, here's another point that comes up, you have the countdown timer, and you have the time tracking for one week at a time. What happens if you feel like you're just lazy, like you're discouraged, like, you don't feel like doing anything, you don't even feel like tracking your time anymore. You start spending more time sleeping, you start spending time, basically on entertainment or leisure. And you don't want to continue with what you're doing. Let's say you're seeking knowledge, let's say you

were learning, let's say you it's your education we're talking about here, and you just felt like you know what, I'm bored. I don't feel like doing this. Education does not have to be entertaining. Learning does not have to be entertaining, it could be and for some people it is and especially for children. But as you grow older, we have to recognize that there is a beauty in embracing boredom, there is a beauty in embracing things that seem dry, because you're going to get further when you start to study the things that other people will tire outs from other people are exhausted from other people want to sit down and just find an entertaining lecture all jokes, all laughter and you

have a lot less depth in terms of the material. You're focused, you're dedicated. When you find your body slowly losing its energy, although you're slept well and you ate well and you're ready to go and you're supposed to be focused, what you can do renew your intention, ask Allah for medical ask Allah for energy as philosopher pinata to help you overcome that moment in which you felt bored and recognize that as bored as you are, there is a value to the thing that you are pursuing. tie that into once again, your ultimate destination to the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa taala. And in addition to this, it's very important for us to make sure that the things that we are pursuing, were

pursuing while we are changing at times our environment. So for example, one of the things that helps a lot of people these days is to do their work when standing up, you find yourself less tired, less exhausted, standing up while you are working. You know, sometimes people use those work desks that elevate and other times you can be walking and pacing as you're reading a book reviewing what you're supposed to be reviewing, because sitting down for too long can also exhaust you. It sounds very simple, but it makes a significant difference. For some people working while chewing gum makes a difference for other people making sure that the temperature is not too warm so that they're not

cozy and tired also helps. So make sure that your environment is conducive to the act that you're trying to pursue. And may Allah subhanaw taala put medica in it and accept from you Aloma me