“I’ll Do it Later…”

By Syed Maaz

 

Not right now, may be later,” is the common phrase amongst youngsters. In basic terms, procrastination is the deliberate postponement of a task at hand repeatedly, or otherwise, to a later time.

It occurs due to the lack of motivation or desire to perform at the stipulated time. All of us do procrastinate at different levels and it may be that you are doing so right now.

Studies have shown that almost 20% of adults procrastinate chronically, 50% of college students procrastinate in a consistent manner and 85-90% of school students procrastinate. We can deduce from the data that procrastination is a widely prevalent catastrophe of the current times, especially among the youth.

Many may argue that the time taken away from what is to be done is directed towards entertaining themselves. The distinction between entertainment and procrastination is often overlooked.

Entertainment has considerable psychological benefits provided that it is time-bound. Procrastination on the other hand, has no time barrier and it all comes down to the mood of the subject and the external environment under whose influence the person may be operating.

This way, wasting enormous time becomes inevitable and it often leads to an increase in stress and anxiety, as well as the likelihood of making errors when rushing toward completion of a project. In fact, this habit might be the only thing keeping us from conquering our goals.

In order to tackle procrastination, we must first identify the domains wherein we use to do so and then eliminate them.

In the summer of 1830, Victor Hugo was facing an impossible deadline. Twelve months earlier, the French author had promised his publisher a new book. But instead of writing, he spent that year pursuing other projects, entertaining guests, and delaying his work.

Being frustrated, Hugo’s publisher responded by setting a deadline less than six months away. The book had to be finished by February 1831.

Hugo concocted a strange plan to beat his procrastination. He collected all of his clothes and asked an assistant to lock them away in a large chest. He was left with nothing to wear except a large shawl.

Lacking any suitable clothing to go outdoors, he remained in his study and wrote furiously during the fall and winter of 1830. ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ was published two weeks prior to the deadline as given by his publisher.

Regardless to say, in our case, it’s the mobile phone, or specifically, the internet, causing us to procrastinate often. The productivity strategy I have personally started to implement is to switch off the phone as soon as I wake up in the morning and lock it inside the cupboard for a few hours. This has been saving a lot of my time which is now being utilised on tasks which actually matter.

Few tips to stop procrastinating on phone;

–  Turn off notifications on all apps except important ones.

–  Keep the phone out of view whilst doing deep work.

–  Using productivity apps and screen timers to limit screen time.

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In Search of Peace

By Amatul Hakim

 

When Arbaz comes back home from school, he rushes to grab the phone, he finds it to be a comforting tool: something which provides him peace of mind after a long day at school. Although Arbaz is in his early teens, others in the older age group are no better.

We all try to escape from the real world and its trials by jumping into the virtual one. We want to limit our person-to-person interaction to the basic minimum. Yet, we all desire a peaceful work-life, a peaceful family-life, a peaceful environment around, and most importantly, as a Muslim, a peaceful death.

Unfortunately, even we, as believers, think “the peace trail” mentioned above, can be achieved through wealth, high status or prominent designations or secure houses, and therefore, focus on achieving them by making the mour goals in life. If wealth and high positions could achieve tranquility of heart, then all rich men and celebrities would be the happiest people on earth.

More so now than in any other era of history, man has detached himself from reality. With so much of information around us, we are unable to navigate to the truth. We have allowed the manipulators to play with our psyche and they have twisted and turned our minds away from reality.

In pursuit of false pleasures, we want to possess things even if we do not need them. The ease of acquisition in the form of online shopping and its on-going sales, have only increased the greed in us. Neither fulfilling carnal desires nor possession of wealth, nor escaping into the virtual world, can bring a peaceful life. The state of peace in life is a spiritual state: it is a state which is often neglected, and never understood in its real sense.

One of the attributes of Allah ta’ala is Al-Salaam which means ‘Source of Peace,’ literally. Our Prophet (saws) often said this du’aa after prayers:

“O Allah! You are Peace, Peace is from You! Blessed are You! O Owner of Magnificence and Honour!”

Allah (swt) is the one who provides peace and security to His obedient slaves, and protects them from any harm. During the battle of Uhud, the situation was very tense for the Muslims; some hypocrites even believed Muslim army will be destroyed completely. There was danger facing the Sahaba (or the Prophet’s Companions) from every direction.

While this was a typical life-or-death situation where normally people are terrified and blame each other for the problems created, the Sahaba were overtaken by a peaceful slumber, out of inner calmness. It proved to be a sleep which refreshed and strengthened them to face the enemy with greater vigour.

Thus, Allah ta’ala grants peace and tranquility to His obedient slaves even during distress, and takes care of all their affairs. However, for this divine tranquility to descend on us, we have to fulfil the criteria of being among His dutiful slaves –dutiful not just ritually, but in upholding the commands with sincerity.

Although it is impossible to sum-up here, the entire list which an individual needs to follow, in a nutshell, is about knowing our responsibilities and performing them with honesty, respecting and fulfilling the rights of other creations of Allah ta’ala on us, being tolerant towards diverse perspectives even though we may not agree to it, and lastly, resolving conflicts with kind words and a keen sense of justice or fair play.