Dr. Hamidi’s Tips on Time Management

Neyamatullah Akbar — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 02:54:23 +0000

One of the lessons of Dr. Habib Hamidi’s “Academic Analysis of Marriage” class,was surprisingly about managing my time. Before attending this class, I had completely underestimated its value; I’m not thinking of marriage, nor am I ready for marriage so I thought this class wasn’t for me. Itwasn’t until I went when I realized how applicable it was

for me as far too often, I waste my time.

Time management is a skill that everyone has trouble working on. In a marriage setting, being organized with one’s time is a vital element. Once a person masters managing their time, they become very efficient, organized, and successful. So, what’s the secret to managing time?

Dr. Habib, began with a simple approach:

1. Observe your day and write down what you have done for every hour for the next 2 weeks or so.

2. Plan your schedule.

Once you have done that, you will notice that there are so many spaces in your daily schedule that are left blank. This is a problem, as Dr. Habib analyzed. When you have nothing to do, or have nothing planned to do, Shaytan comes to you and whispers suggestions of things you should not be doing. I mean, no one plans on doing wrongful actions in their schedule; sometimes, they just seem to happen. To prevent this from happening, go to step 3

3. Fill the blanks of your schedule with something productive, like study-time.

For instance, as students we often neglect our academic occupation and forget to leave any time for studying in our schedules, until of course the last minute. Procrastination will only force us to pull all-nighters and leave us frustrated in the morning. This is why it’s very important to have our schedules planned well beforehand.

4. Be realistic.

Do plan your schedules but at the same time, be realistic. For instance, if you plan your schedule to have study time after ‘Asr prayer when all the brothers and sisters are hanging out, it’ll be difficult to get any efficient studying done.

Time management offers a lot of benefits such as productivity and efficiency. This valuable skill will steer one away from leading an unproductive life and hopefully provide more time to spend with others, like one’s spouse.

The Importance of Time

AT Reader — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:50:47 +0000

I came to recall an important truth that all of us are already aware of, at least subconsciously, but most of us fail to incorporate into our daily life. I was re-reading Surah Al-Asr with careful attention to the translation, which is as follows:

“By time, Indeed, mankind is in loss, Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” (Qur’an, 103:1-3)

Allah (subhan wata’alah ) establishes the default position for all mankind at the very beginning of the ayah (verse): a state of loss. That is followed by the exceptions to the default position, namely those people that have iman (faith), do good deeds, propagate truths and exercise patience. Interestingly, all of these four exceptions allude to actions done consistently. Even iman itself is not a static state, but its level fluctuates in every individual, with the exception of prophets, depending on a person’s actions and worship. As such, we realize a hard fact: everyone is losing with the passage of time by default, with the exception of those that are doing righteous actions. With time, it’s use it or lose it. Contrary to what most of us would like to believe, there is no stationary state. If we are exactly the same person today as we were yesterday, we are actually losers under this definition. Certainly, amongst the major differences in this world and the next is time itself: this life is temporary, and the next life is eternal.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stressed the importance of time in numerous hadiths, of which one is specially relevant. It is inspiring to note that the Prophet himself was a husband, statesman, military leader, adjudicator and a prophet at the same time. It is narrated by Abdullah ibn Masoud, one of the most famous companions, that, “A man shall be asked concerning five things on the day of resurrection: concerning his life, how he spent it; concerning his youth, how he grew old; concerning his wealth, whence he acquired it, and in what way he spent it; and what was it that he did with the knowledge that he had.” As apparent from the hadith, we will all be held accountable for the time that we were given on earth and how we used, especially our youth. Most of us sometimes do not realize that even wasted time, just like wasted money, is a blessing we will be questioned about.

I once heard an interesting story about Harun al-Rashid, the fifth and most famous Abbasid Caliph. He employed a professional jester for his entertainment. After one such performance, in a hysterical state after being overcome with laughter, Harun gave his jester a stick, and asserted that the jester was the most foolish man he had met, and instructed him to pass on the stick to anyone who exceeded him in foolishness. Some time passed, and Harun Rashid was on his death bed. The jester came to visit him, and after being allowed audience, asked Harun Rashid what he had done to prepare himself for the coming life. Harun burst into tears, and replied that he had done very little. At this point the jester gave him back the very same stick, and remarked that Harun was more foolish than him. Whether or not the story is true, we can all take home the point: take advantage of your time before it runs out.

Al-Talib News Magazine » time

Dr. Hamidi’s Tips on Time Management

The Importance of Time