Managing Your Time Through Salah

“It’s 11:00 PM already?! I woke up at 6:00 AM, and have been running all over the place since! Where did the day go?”

Does this sound familiar to you? Do you rush through the day, and fall to sleep exhausted, only to wake up the next morning just to do it all over again?

And how often have you prayed your Salah on time?

When we have a lot of things to do, a lot of responsibilities to take care of, we sometimes delay our Salah. We seem to think that stopping our task to pray will cause us to be even further behind on our work.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. The reality is that when we pause our mundane, daily tasks to connect with our Creator, we’re fulfilling the most important obligation of all. To top it off, we are doing ourselves a favor, too. How? Read on to find out…

When we pause our day-to-day tasks, we give ourselves not only a “brain break”, but a “body break”, as well. Both are necessary for productivity (not to mention our overall well-being). When we have a quiet conversation with our Lord in Salah, we come back rejuvenated and ready. We remember to keep things in perspective: what is important, and what’s not.

This is all well and good, but how do I actually manage to pray on time? I’m so bad about that!

We’re glad you asked. Here are a few pointers which should, Insha-Allah, help in your efforts to pray on time, and get your work done.

Have the Right Mindset:

Sometimes the only thing holding you back is not having the right mindset. Learn to prioritize Allah (SWT) above all. Remember that, no matter what, Allah (SWT) should be of the utmost importance in your life. Everything else should follow after.

Build Your Schedule Around Salah:

When you’re planning for the day, make sure Salah gets an important, immovable place in your schedule. Tell yourself that Salah time is non-negotiable. To help you stay on schedule, give yourself a little cushion time with your other tasks.

Implement Your Schedule:

You’ve built your schedule, now how do you implement it? One great way to do this is to make an external sound or trigger be the cut-off point for you to get up and prepare for Salah (for example, as soon as the Adhan reminder goes off on your phone).

You should also identify and remove the hurdles you foresee: If you miss Fajr because you’re too sleepy, try turning in earlier than usual. If you skip Dhuhr at work because it’s too much of a hassle to make wudu at work, make wudu before you leave home, and simply do Mash (wipe over) your socks to refresh your wudu, if the need arises. If it helps to keep a prayer rug in your office/workplace/school, keep it with you!

Maintain the Schedule:

Once you start implementing your schedule, it’s equally important to stick to it! Find motivators to keep you going! Surround yourself with people who never neglect their Salah, befriend them, and strengthen your relationship with Allah through such connections.

You may also give yourself an external reward when you follow through a certain number of days. Of course, you should never pray for the sake of the reward, but occasionally treating yourself (a bowl of ice cream, tickets to a sporting event, a spa day) helps, too!

Never forget that once you start on the Right Path, Shaitan will do his best to divert you. So, always ask Allah SWT to keep you on the path:

رَبَّنَا لا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ

“Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us. Grant us Your mercy: You are the Ever Giving.”

Start Today!

Don’t delay. Don’t think you will start tomorrow, or next week, because who knows how long you have on this earth. Make the intention, and implement it NOW!

There is a post that has recently been making the rounds on the internet, in which someone asked a man how he managed to pray all 5 prayers. His reply?

“I became certain that no one could stand meeting me 5 times a day, no matter what state I was in – happy, sad, lonely, angry – except the Most Loving and Most Merciful, Allah (SWT).”

Remember this, and never neglect your Salah, because Allah is eagerly awaiting for your meeting with Him.