WFNYS 03/23/12: Takes on Time Management

Hajj Amin's presentation:

If you have a goal in mind, then you need to manage your time to reach that goal.

We try to study, but our phones and laptops distract us.

When it comes to time management, Allah (SWT) has made a schedule for us, revolving around Salaat. We should schedule our day around our Salaat, not schedule our Salaat around our day. If you put Salaat priority in your life then the quality in everything else in your life will increase. If you put the world aside and focus on the hereafter then most anxiety will be gone and you will be at rest even if you are poor and facing difficulty. If your goal is Allah (SWT) then everything else will fall into place.

If we look at Salaat time then we see that it is synced up with the order and nature. Many of our problems arise because we are out of sync with out creator and our true goal.

There are three types of worshippers, all of which are good but the "lover" is best:

Coward: Worships Allah for the fear of the Hellfire. Businessman: Worships Allah for paradise. Lover: Worships Allah for the love of his creator. We should invest in the hereafter which is an infinite percentage interest on our actions of good. Any time we let go of a good action, we are losing out. And many of us lode the good actions, but ALSO do the bad action. We should strive to stay away from the bad action.

If you do anything not for the sake of Allah, you are losing out. We are losing out lives’ time really fast; we need to take advantage of every moment in our life. Let’s manage our time to satisfy our end goal: the hereafter.

Br. Mehdi's Presentation: An Aim to Achieve: a take on time management

1. General Studying Guidelines
   1. Avoiding the danger of pseudo-studying
      1. Pseudo-studying is studying in a bad environment (with music or people talking) or at a bad time (the day before the exam)
         1. Adrenaline increases in these situations and you can’t focus as much so your studying is not efficient
   2. Change your location of studying each day
   3. Stick to autopilot schedule
   4. Sit behind a desk and avoid distractions (close internet)
   5. Study in 50 minute highly focused sessions with 10 minute breaks for bathroom/minor tasks/walk but NO internet!
2. More General Stuff
   1. Never skip a lecture/lab even if the professor is really bad
   2. Choose classes wisely
      1. Good teacher but also a bit easy
   3. Dress nicely to class
   4. Sit towards the front of class
   5. Use a planner
      1. Use to-do list if you don’t always have your planner with you
3. Golden Rule for student success
   1. Start things earlier than you need to and set your own deadlines for assignments before they’re due
      1. You can split up your assignments and make smaller deadlines for each part as well
4. Weekly Autopilot Schedule
   1. 8 hours of sleep each night and no napping
   2. Add 4 daily breaks
      1. Of about 30 minutes to an hour each
      2. Set a time at night after which you relax
5. Talent and Passion are Overrated
   1. Just Do It – Nike