Plan your day!
It is always the choice of a smart person to try being productive with stable and easy life, rather than trying to be productive but with the outcome of stress and unhappiness.
So here’s a simple tip to make your life easier. Try to spend just a few minutes (better in the morning before you start working on anything) to plan what you want to do, or think about the tasks that you can complete on one particular day. Make sure the tasks you listed are realistic and reasonable: don’t overdo yourself.
It is better if you classify the tasks according to their priorities, like putting them into subheadings of "primary", "secondary" or "additional". The primary tasks are the most important tasks and you must all you can to complete them. The secondary tasks are as the primary ones, but doing them would give you great benefits. Additional tasks are those that are meant to be done in the future, so they are not that urgent to be completed but still if you do them now, you are going to save a lot of time later on.
Whatever it takes, do your best to accomplish the primary tasks, assume them as a personal responsibility, then only you’ll be considered as ‘passed’ (as if like passing an exam) for that day. The secondary and additional tasks are voluntary, if you feel like doing it, then do it.
You can also write down how much time you need to complete each task and check your schedule on that day for compatibility. For example, if there are too many lectures, appointments or any other events, you may want to reduce the number or amount of tasks you plan to do. The main point here is to OPTIMIZE your life between how much time you have and the amount of work you can do within that timeframe. Plan properly and make sure it suits your own capabilities and limitations.
List all of these tasks on a piece of paper and put the paper at a place where you can easily notice it, like pinning it to a soft board, paste it on your table etc. Try to do this everyday and insya Allah you are going to be a very productive and efficient person (in terms of completing tasks).
Now, you have a mission to complete on that day. Every time you completed a task, tick down and say alhamdulillah. Try to follow the plan with patience and discipline until the "mission is accomplished".
InsyaAllah with this way, no matter how busy that day is going to be, you are likely to be less stressful. Infact you might even feel calm and relaxed, because you realize thta there is a high potential for you you can achieve something significant on that day, as long as you follow the plan you’ve made. Insya Allah.
If something unintended or unexpected occurs and it distrupts your plan, do not feel bad or sad, because things like that are not due to your fault, so just move on and continue to follow the rest of the plan as much as you can.
Once you have completed all the tasks, don’t forget to reward yourself by seeking some entertainment -make sure it is halal- like playing sports, chess, going out for window shopping or any other as such. Choosing to spend the rest of the day with ibadah or any other amal saalih is a better choice, but if you don’t feel like doing it, it is okay to just relax and do other things.
Even the Prophet corrected the intention of some sahabah who wanted to perform ibadah all night long without sleeping. Our bodies and our families have their rights too. Try to have a balanced life.
That’s all, have a good day!
Wallahu a’lam.
