Working effectively during Ramadan

IN the month of Ramadan, one of the things that Muslims are advised to do is to ensure that our productivity is not affected. Logically speaking, when the body lacks food and fluids, it should also be lacking in energy. With that, effectiveness would also drop. However, this shouldn’t be the case. There are people who fast and yet become more productive and effective than in other months.

How can this happen? How do these people defy logic? What can we learn from them? Let’s explore some of the techniques people use to increase their effectiveness.

THOUGHTS, EMOTIONS, ACTIONS

It all begins with the right thoughts. Fasting is in the mind, not the body. The first rule of fasting is to set the intention to fast in one’s mind. It’s like sending an important signal to the brain to prepare the body for the drastic change tomorrow. That presumably starts a chain of reactions, whereby the whole body cooperates and gets ready to work more efficiently with less food.

Such is the power of our mind. Napoleon Hill once said: “What our mind can conceive and believe, we can achieve.” This is true not only for fasting but also in almost all other aspects of life. People have achieved the impossible simply by starting with the thought that they can do it. They have run the toughest marathons, conquered the highest mountains and braved the stormiest seas by setting their minds to achieve the impossible.

DIET, PHYSICAL, MENTAL

After we set our mind to it, how can we maximise our energy given our limited food intake? A friend shared a very good advice. The key to maximising energy is to balance these three important elements: 80 per cent diet, 20 per cent physical exercise and 100 per cent determination.

That’s the reason why taking the predawn meal (sahur) is another important element of fasting. It should be taken as late as possible, just before the dawn prayer time creeps in. If done right, that meal can serve as a heavy breakfast whose effect should last all day.

SMART TIME MANAGEMENT

Once we can manage our thoughts and body, we should focus on managing our time better as well. This is another important step towards working productively and effectively, not just during the fasting month but also at other times. It’s about priority and discipline.

We can start by prioritising our tasks. You can label your priority as “ABC”. Category A would be for difficult and unpleasant tasks, B for routine work, while C can be for the fun stuff. A smart person will tackle items in the A category first. The difficult and unpleasant tasks must be done as early as possible while our energy and motivation levels are high. Then, we can cruise towards completing the routine work in the B category.

The best part is that we can use the fun stuff in C category to reward ourselves. Yes, finally you can surf the Internet for the latest news, catch up with social media or even do some online shopping for the upcoming Hari Raya. But please leave these to the end after all the As and Bs are done.

As you can see, by balancing our mental and physical strength, we can achieve a lot more than we initially thought. Coupled with strong motivation and discipline, we can work more productively and effectively even during this fasting month.