“Whenever I have a project that I need to have done, I give it to someone who is very busy already. I know this person has unique system of getting things accomplished. “   Hasan Al-Banna

One thing about the mind, once is gets used to offering up excuses it becomes difficult to stop. When you get into this pattern it’s like a ship that becomes difficult to turn around once it has set sail on a particular course.  I know people that offer up excuses, even before they listen completely to a proposal. These are the people that you will see trying to wiggle their way out of every Dawah project, team assignment at work or university, or work around the house. You see; once the mind gets addicted to making excuses it becomes harder to break the habit.  At the back of our mind we fear that something may be too hard for us to accomplish or maybe it will require too much time. In reality we are capable of accomplishing much more than we think. People who are addicted to offering excuses are in reality saying to themselves; “I am not mentally capable of accomplishing this, I love staying in my comfort zone so therefore I will shirk as much responsibility as I can. I will not take the lead on anything I am offered. ” The issue of excuse making can be resolved with a shift in attitude. At all times we must have an “ I CAN DO” attitude and trust that Allah will align everything in our favor.  At work today, I was just given a new opportunity. The opportunity would give me more responsibility and more exposure to showcase my talents. I did not receive any more compensation in pay. However there is bonus potential at the end of the year. I could have easily stayed in my comfort zone and shirked any additional responsibility. What the Vice President told me was that she really likes my attitude. According to her, I really have a “take charge, can do” mindset. Masha Allah I agree with her. This attitude has allowed me to accomplish much in a short period of time. This attitude helps me to get much more work done and in a faster time period.  Try carrying your “can do” attitude with you everywhere. Pounce on top of those projects with “attitude” and don’t even think about trying to make excuses.  When you get into the habit of taking on more projects with the right attitude, you are able to program your mind to knock out excuses when they start to rear their ugly heads.  Think about this; when you say the word I CAN, there is different energy or feeling that you feel in your body than when you say I CANT. The word CAN’T actually produces negative emotions and can actually depress your immune system. I remember reading that The Messenger of Allah (SAW) never said NO, in other words he always said YES. If you need to decline a project or doing someone a favor, you need to reword it. Here is an example; “ I cant do it at this time because of such and such, however if you give me a day or so to follow up with you I might have a resolution.” The resolution may be pointing that person in the direction of someone who may be able to help or giving the individual the resources they need to get what they want insha Allah.

Benefits of the “can do” attitude….

• Less stress when undertaking projects
• Get projects from zero to done in less time
• Accolades and compliments from family, friends, and co-workers
• Increased self-confidence
• More Assertiveness
• More enjoyment while doing tasks
• Sense of accomplishment

O you who believe, reverence Allah and let everyone look to what he has sent forth for tomorrow. Again, reverence Allah and verily Allah is aware of all that you do.

Nowadays when I read this verse I think about the Hawthorne Effect. The Muslims over at Productivemuslim.com wrote an excellent piece on this subject. The Hawthorne effect is a form of reactivity whereby subjects improve or modify an aspect of their behavior being experimentally measured simply in response to the fact that they are being studied, not in response to any particular experimental manipulation. The term gets its name from a factory called the Hawthorne Works, where a series of experiments on factory workers were carried out between 1924 and 1932. There were several different types of studies done on these workers. In one of the studies, experimenters chose two women as test subjects and asked them to choose four other workers to join the test group. Together the women worked in a separate room over the course of five years (1927-1932) assembling telephone relays. What they found in the study was that ultimately the subjects became more productive because they knew they were being watched. If one observes the workplace today, employees are more productive when the boss is watching.

What if we imagined ourselves seeing Allah in all of our actions? What if Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was sitting right beside us? What if he rode in the car with us to work, ate at the dinner table with us at home or went to class with us at the university? If this was the reality we would all be extremely productive people. The Quran states; “Again, reverence Allah and verily Allah is aware of all that you do.”  Allah is the All-Seeing and the All-Knowing. Let us stop making a million exuses for not being productive. There are so many stories about extrememly productive people, both Muslim and Non-muslim that we could draw inspiration from. I maintain that unproductive people do not live life with clarity and purpose. There are some people that deserve a pass (such as people with medical conditions that inhibit productivity). But for the most part lazy and idle people have no clarity or purpose. They do not have a since of urgency about their life.

Our Prophet (SAW) spent 8 months in the cave of Hira trying to discover his purpose and gain clarity. Many people today will not even spend one hour in khalwa! Living life without clarity and purpose is like getting in a car and driving with no destination. If someone got in their car and just started driving for hours on end, we would call this person crazy right? Then dear Muslims, why do we journey through life with no destinations/goals?

I admire super productive people, especially Muslims. I know you have seen Muslims who have went to the top of their careers AND to the top of their deen. These are the best Muslims. Those who are extremely successful in deen and dunya. I know Shaykhs who are also CEOs. I know sisters who are college professors and can still hold it down on the home front. May Allah make us like or better than these people. May he protect our deen and our affairs in this life.

This is a great exercise to do right now. Write down five goals you want to accomplish by the end of the year. Take out a piece of paper and write these goals down now. Write them in pen or pencil. Do not use a computer of any kind. By physically writing these goals, they are being implanted in your subconscious mind. A great deal of literature on success often highlights the role of the subconscious mind. Your five goals should look something like this:

1. Learn seven new surahs from the Quran
2. Loose 15 lbs
3. Spend quality time with family
4. Be on time to work daily
5. Save $2,500.00 in my emergency fund

After you have written these, then write them again. This time write them as if you have already accomplished them. For example,

1. I have learned seven new surahs from the Quran.
2. I have lost 15lbs
3. I have spent quality time with my family this past year
4. I was on time to work on a daily basis
5. I have saved $2,500 in my emergency fund

When you write you goals in the present tense, you are projecting yourself forward and looking back. One of the many qualities of highly successful people is (basirah) vision. Vision is when you can look into the future and see yourself as you want to be. Then work backwards from that point. Again the power of the subconscious is important here. Spend time everyday working on these goals. Ask yourself; “Now that I have set these goals and envisioned myself as having already accomplished them, how did I accomplish them?” What steps did I take EVERYDAY that led to my success in these areas?

Now lets apply the Pareto Principle here. The Pareto Principle simply means that 20% of your activity determines 80% of your success. That first 20% is the most important and gives you momentum and leaves you with a great sense of accomplishment. So now write you goals again in pen on paper!

1. Learn seven new surahs from the Quran
2. Loose 15 lbs
3. Spend quality time with family
4. Be on time to work daily
5. Save $2,500.00 in my emergency fund

When you look at these five goals, 20% of 5 are approx ONE goal. So what one goal amongst these five will give you the greatest sense of accomplishment when completed? What ONE goal here will give you momentum for the next year insha Allah? It is very important that you CIRCLE the goal here that YOU feel is important. Not the goal that you think is someone else would want from you. Lets say you decide to circle number five. You circle number five because you have been gripped with debt and desperately need an emergency fund. With Allah’s help, you envision that at the end of the year, when you have saved $2,500 in your emergency fund that you will feel great and have some cushion in your finances insha Allah. You must continue to focus on the other goals too! However, number 5 becomes the most urgent goal for the year. Perhaps next year goal number one will be the most urgent.

To each is a goal to which he turns; then strive together (as in a race) Towards all that is good. Wheresoever you are, Allah will bring you together. For Allah has power over all things. H.Q. 2:148.

Setting goals is important as they give direction, meaning, and purpose to life. Most people do not set goals. Therefore most people are mediocre in the six major areas of life. One should set simple goals in all the six major areas. On the other extreme are people who over obsess about their goals. For example; they set several goals for their financial and work life, but neglect the social and spiritual life. These individuals often experience burnout and unhappiness.

Furthermore one should not set too many goals. How many of us set numerous goals year after year but end up not succeeding at most if not all? They then fall into a state of depression over being a failure. Furthermore when one sets too many goals, this adds tremendous pressure and stress and leads to goal fatigue quickly. Do not be overly ambitious in the goal-setting department. Keep it SIMPLE. Many goal-setters are on what I call the goal setting treadmill. This is the personality that always set goals, have elaborate charts, spreadsheets, notes etc. They then have these broken down into daily small/smart goals, then hourly goals etc. I recommend setting no more than two goals for the six major areas of life. Once these are accomplished then move on to more. The six major areas are;

1. Physical
2. Intellectual
3. Spiritual
4. Social
5. Emotional
6. Financial

Setting goals in each of these areas should ensure that you lead a balanced life. How many times have you seen businessmen and professionals work on their jobs or businesses seven days a week. What about their family/social life? What about their health or physical life? Of the people that set goals, most only set financial goals. It has been ingrained in us since grade school to grow up, finish school, go to college to get a good job so we can live a luxurious life. But what school didn’t teach us is that most who take this perspective have marital problems, health issues with no social life.

One could even set too many goals in the Spiritual department as evidence from this hadith, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: “ Have I not been informed that you offer prayer all the night and fast the whole day? I said,”yes.” He (SAW) said, “ Do not do so; offer prayer at night and also sleep; fast for a few days and give up fasting for a few days because your body has a right on you, and your eye has a right on you, and your guest has a right on you, and your wife has a right on you…” Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.155 narrated by Abdullah bin Amr (RA)

In other words, our life must be balanced. We cannot pursue one goal so excessively and to the detriment of other areas of our life. These other areas have rights!

“That  no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. That man have nothing except what he strives for. That (the fruit) of his striving will soon come to sight. Then will he be rewarded with a reward complete.” (Quran 53:38-41)

When I came to realize how important time  is, I began to be ruthless about my time. I do not tolerate time wasting and time wasters at home, work, the masjid or university. Productivity is the goal of my day. I have seen and read biographies of successful people, Muslims and non Muslims. The most common quality is their ability to manage time. To find ways to increase our productivity we should look at what we are doing with our time right now. What did you do today? Where did your time go? To find out exactly where it went I suggest logging your time for a normal day. Grab a pen and a notepad. Now, tomorrow or any day that fits your schedule write down every activity you do from the moment you wake up in the morning until you go to bed at night. Write it all down. Also make sure that you measure the time of each activity. Take note of how much time you spend talking to someone, surfing facebook, reading blogs etc. Also take note of how much time you spend studying Islam, getting tasks completed at work, or with your family. The results of keeping a time log can be both a little surprising and a little disturbing. I, for instance felt that I spent more time than I should have checking emails, surfing the web for research than I should have. And that I used more time than imagined having a casual conversation at work or ramping up for studying.

Keeping a log if only for one day can help you identify time-thieves. It can also help you become better at realistically estimating how much time an activity will actually take. Of course, you can also expand and track a whole week to get more information and a better overview of your life.

Here is a 2005 article on how Americans waste their time at work. According to this survey by America Online and Salary.com, the average office-worker admits wasting or spacing out for 2.09 hours every 8-hour day. And that doesn’t include the lunch break. The biggest time-waster is, not surprisingly, surfing the internet. It accounts for 44.7% of the wasted time. However, the 10 000 employees interviewed probably didn’t log their time and therefore gave a rough and most likely overly optimistic estimations.

Many people are going nowhere fast in life and they want company. They say; “come with me and let’s waste our lives together.” In the next post Insha Allah I will write about the Pareto Principle (80-20 rule) and productivity.