Organizing your time
Volume 1
Issue 14
In the Name Of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful Recap of the last issue:
Plan to achieve goals internal and external.
Organizing your time I meet many people who complain about not being able to accomplish goals or finish tasks. However, after further conversation I realize that they have major issues with time management. Many social, educational, and financial issues in our communities have roots in improperly managing our time. So let us begin to purposely organize our daily routines. My priorities for the day: five daily prayers, transport children to and from school, work with clients, work in the garden, personal prayer time, sleep, eat breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner, study time with children, and social media. I start with the obligatory prayers.
Task
sleep
Fajr
Thuhr
Asr
Maghrib
Iesha
Time
11pm – 5:30am
5:30
2pm
5:30
8:30
10pm
Next I insert meals and school transportation. Task
sleep
Fajr
Morning prep and breakfast
School drop off
Thuhr
School pick-up
Asr
Dinner
Maghrib
Iesha
Time
11pm – 5:30am
5:30
6 – 7:30am
7:30 – 8am
2pm
2:30 – 3pm
5:30
7pm
8:30
10pm
Next add work schedule, garden, and study time with the children. The chart is too long now so I split it in two: morning and afternoon. Task
sleep
Fajr
Morning prep and breakfast (wife)
School drop off (wife)
work
Lunch
Time
11pm – 5:30am
5:30
6 – 7:30am
7:30 – 8am
6:30 – 1pm
1pm
Morning schedule
Task
Personal prayer time
Thuhr
School pick-up (wife)
Work
Asr
Study with kids
Dinner
Work in the garden
Social media
Maghrib
Iesha
Time
1:30 – 2pm
2pm
2:30 – 3pm
2:30 – 5pm
5:30
6– 7pm
7pm
7:30
8pm
8:30
10pm
Organizing your time Of course everyone will not have the same schedule as I, but the point is to make a daily schedule. My schedule fluctuates from day to day but overall it is similar to this schedule. My goal is to create a network of Independent villages. In order to achieve this goal I must work towards it. IF I am serious then I must learn to schedule my time wisely and work efficiently. With that said, now let’s reexamine my daily schedule and assume I have that schedule for five days, Monday through Friday. There is a whole hour of time unaccounted for: 9 – 10pm. This time can be used for networking, relaxing or learning a skill. In the book The 4-hour Work Week, it is mentioned that any new skill can be learned within 20 hours. At first, it seems that most of my day is accounted for, until I make a schedule and then examine each hour of the day. I can take it further and examine each task of the day. There are tasks that take up a 30-minute slot but don’t actually take 30 minutes to perform. So there is still room for more time management however, too much will leave me with a schedule that is inflexible. Furthermore, this schedule is for Monday through Friday only. There is still the weekend to consider. The real question is, “Are we structuring our time, or are we allowing jobs, schools, and entertainment to structure our time?”
Beware of social media. It has its benefits but it can also be misleading. In order for posts to be beneficial they must eventually lead to tangible deeds, goods, and services.
Next issue: Enter the Matrix of Problem Solving
Freedom Gardens 40 week countdown: 36 weeks left Objective #1: Learn to grow and care for 10 types of fruit vegetables in your area. At least one must be a perennial. Objective #2: Establish a network of people in your area who are also working towards freedom. You are only limited by your own ambition.
Next issue: Enter the Matrix of Problem Solving