The Importance of Time Management

I still remember when I was eight years old and my mother said that I should write down my wonderful moments, as I would not remember each detail when I was older. To me, that sounded absurd: the memory was so fresh! Why and how could it ever fade?

And here I am now several years later, wondering what that particular memory was, and where the time went. How many years passed by, with my constant worry about my education, my career and where I‘d end up in life. The thought of paying attention to how to become a better Muslim, how to better myself to please my Creator slipped through the folds of my everlasting thoughts of wanting to do well in this world. Where were the thoughts of the Hereafter?

Time is an amazing factor in life. Time; a moment that you may have loved, a moment that you may regret losing, and a future that is inevitable. Yet, every one of us has to go through our own journey.

As I sit here, I wonder what I did in the past fifteen minutes. Just think - fifteen minutes;one quarter of an hour; 900 seconds.  A lot of time, isn’t it? But, what did I do with it? Did I think about being thankful? Did I ever bother asking for forgiveness from my Creator who has blessed me with so much?

As mentioned in Surah Al-Asr:

وَالْعَصْرِ-1

إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ-2

إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ -3

“By the 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.”
[Al-Qur'an-Surah Al-Asr (The Declining Day) 103: 1-3]

Time: a treasure chest of seconds, minutes and hours… if only we knew how to use it and what to do with it. Often, we find ourselves with plenty of time, and wondering what can be done. Have we ever realized that it is a blessing from Allah (سبحانه و تعالى)? We as humans are at a loss if we don’t use our time wisely.

Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) has blessed us with 24 hours every day. Yes, if we sleep for an average of 8, we have 16 hours left. We should think about the entire day: where does it all go? Many of us are mothers, sisters, workers, and we have jobs, but have we ever really taken out and put aside time for Allah (سبحانه و تعالى)? How many of us take out time to pray the moment we hear the call of prayer? Instead, we pray at the last minute, like chickens asthey peck at their food, rushing into sujood, so we can get back to our worldly matters as quickly as possible. Little do we know that the time in this world is so short, and that theHereafter is more important to work on.

As an individual, I am not perfect. I know I have spent days just wondering what to do with my time, drinking tea, and enjoying not having to study. But yet, I wonder. 

Time is such a blessing. It should really be utilized – each and every moment to do what can serve as a means of bettering our Akhira:

I plan to … Insha’Allah do the following to make better use of my time:

• To overcome my worldly desires and get on that prayer mat and really pray to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى)… and on occasions where I cannot pray, then to do lots of dhikr - as that is one thing that will keep me remembering Allah (سبحانه و تعالى).
• To sleep early at night, so I can wake up early for Fajr; maybe even try to praytahajjud (night prayer), and be closer to my Lord.
• To remember to read the Qur’an and to understand it…
• To make sure I make time for prayer, as my day progresses. To make sure I incorporate my schedule around prayer, and not try to fit prayer into my schedule as a last minute item on the agenda.

I am not perfect, but from past experience, I know how much barakah (blessing) my day has when I wake up at dawn to pray Fajr, and use that time wisely: studying my Qur’an, and then studying what I have to do for the rest of the day. That itself will make us realize how wonderful it is to use our time wisely.

وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ فِي نَفْسِكَ تَضَرُّعاً وَخِيفَةً وَدُونَ الْجَهْرِ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالآصَالِ وَلاَ تَكُن مِّنَ الْغَافِلِينَ- 7:205

“And remember your Lord within yourself in humility and in fear without being apparent in speech - in the mornings and the evenings. And do not be among the heedless.”
[Al-Qur'an - Surah Al-A'raaf (The Heights) - 7:205]