Time Management

(I swear) by TIME , that surely mankind suffers loss, except for those who believe and do good deeds,and they enjoin Truth and they enjoin constancy.

Surah Asr (Time)

TIME is that which passes quickly, does not return and cannot be replaced, it is considered most precious and valuable resource in human possession. Interestingly, time is that resource which can be identified and is equally available to all. Even though all are not born with equal capabilities but they all have 24 hours daily.

Why Time Management is necessary ?

A lack of correct allocation of time leads us to fall short in various areas of our lives – academically, professionally and in our personal relationships. Most importantly however, as the workload piles, the first thing we begin to neglect is the most important relationships we have: with God, the most Glorious, Ahlul-Bayt (as) and specifically for Hazrate Hujjat (atfs).

Effective ways for Time Management

1)      Plan Ahead and Divide our Day

Imam Musa Kazim (a.s) says-

Divide your time into 4 parts :

a)      For Worshipping ALLAH and asking your needs.

b)      For fulfilling your routine commitments and responsibilities

c)       Spending time with honest and trustworthy person, those who take you closer to ALLAH by drawing your attention to your shortcomings in a friendly manner & who are your sincere friends.

d)      Spending TIME in recreation, but within the limits of ISLAM.

Ref: Tohaful Uqool , Page 409

2)      Your time table

Each one of us should maintain a time table / a planner. We need to plan our tasks and allocate a day and time for each of the tasks. Once the day and time is allocated, we just need to refer to the schedule and do those acts. Just like a doctor examines his patience as per appointment, we should also list down our responsibilities and take up each of them. If we prepare a time table for ourself, we will never forget recitation of quran or reading library pages or those small home assignments given to us. The reason we do not do is we never planned it.

1)      Prioritizing

Leave off the lower priority task for higher priority. In Surah Juma,verse 9 ALLAH (swt) says:

“O you who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business, that is best for you but if you knew!”

Hence, we should give priority to visiting a sick relative over a casual meeting with a friend, reading books of tradition gets priority over newspaper, Islamic studies should get priority over watching a cricket match.

2)      Listing down the TIME-WASTERS

It's important to look at and criticize where our time goes every day. Each person has a different level of productivity and efficiency. Make a list of the biggest time wasters for you and think of creative ways to eliminate them. One avenue to consider is technology; although created to make us more efficient, technology has also become a substantial distraction in our lives.

   So TIME MANAGEMENT is not how to manage TIME but it is how to manage ourselves.

May Allah (swt) give us Tawfeeq to manage our time in an efficient manner and utilise our time in the service of His Last Hujjat (a.t.f.s)