7 Ways To Stay Sane And Spiritual While Working In Ramadan

How does one remain sane and focused
when all around life continues while
fasting? Here are 7 ways to manage your
sanity while working in Ramadan as
suggested by Productive Muslim
Planning your meals is primary
The first thing to do is to think about
what you are going to eat at suhoor and
iftar. What you eat has a very powerful
impact on your energy levels and whilst
we need the right proportion of carbs,
protein, fruits and vegetables, we do
need to make sure that we do not
overload on carbs.
When you eat too many carbs and your
body has to work harder to process it,
you will feel lethargic and tired. Chances
are, this is a big reason why you feel
lethargic at work.
And when you feel sluggish at work, you
are less productive and less able to do a
good job. At the end of the day even
though you are fasting you still need to
make sure that you put in the right
amount of effort in order for you to earn
your wage.
If you are going to work and believe that
you can just go in and do the hours and
not be as productive then it’s a major
mistake. The requirement for ihsan
(excellence) at work does not change just
because Ramadan has come in. If
anything, has it not increased along with
its reward?
Plan your annual leave in advance
Unless you are reading this in the last 10
days of Ramadan, do your best to book
these days off as annual leave. That way
you can focus entirely on Ramadan
rather than having to balance the
struggle between work and fasting. Come
the end of the month, you will be left
feeling a lot better about what you were
able to achieve, rather than feeling that
it has just slipped by.
However, if you are a school or
university student with no proper
holidays, then plan your last ten days in
advance on making the best of non-
school/class hours. Make a schedule of
how you want to spend each hour of the
day from traveling back from school in
the vehicle till iftar and taraweeh to the
end of the day.
Maximize your time with the Qu’ran
I remember focusing on reading the
Qur’an outside Ramadan once. I would
read on the journey to work, in spare
moments here and there and amazingly I
was reading an average of three chapters
a day without much difficulty. What I
discovered was: when you set an
intention and then act on it, it’s amazing
what you can achieve.
Make your lunch breaks productive!
Be deliberate about what you are going
to do in your lunch break, but make sure
you take it. You have a number of
options: you can go out for a walk and
get some fresh air, spend extra time on
your prayer, read or memorize Qur’an,
meditate or take a nap.
These are just some ideas and surely
there are many others. Pick one and do it
for a week (or even 10 days at a time)
and then change so that you don’t get
bored. Often what happens is we set our
minds on doing something, we don’t
change it and then get bored. Have a
lunch break buddy wherein you can
share verses that you came across, or
recite to each other perhaps.
Face workplace challenges patiently
List down what are the probable
challenges you might face while working
and plan ways to combat them
efficiently. Here are some possible tips
and tricks of getting through the
challenges productively:
Frustrating traffic:
Play Qur’an along your journey or if you
have a CD of your favorite mentor
speaking then play that. Focus on
listening to it attentively, and you won’t
feel the traffic or the heat! Also, what
better time than this to do dhikr. Allah
subḥānahu wa ta’āla (glorified and
exalted be He) says,
“Unquestionably, by the remembrance of
Allah hearts are assured.” [Qur’an:
Chapter 13, Verse 28]
Bullies at work:
There are many things that give us the
opportunity to learn and reflect at work.
I find that working lunches are fine
because you just know that you are
unable to eat – focus on the reward that
you are receiving and that should keep
you going.
Remember that fasting is an act of
worship that is between you and Allah,
only He knows if you are really fasting.
You will encounter the odd person that
says ‘go on, have something, noone will
know if you eat and drink something.’
Have a little patience in responding, it’s
an opportunity for you to do dawah.
If individuals are particularly
challenging approach your manager or
HR to ask for guidance on what to do.
Most employers tend to be aware of their
responsibilities to employees during
Ramadan.
Too much work that effects the time for
prayer or reading Qur’an:
Take a five-ten minute break to relax
and read the Qur’an. Not only does it
help you insert Ibadah into your busy
schedule, it actually serves as a
productive way of working by getting
you freshened up for the next task. As
for prayer, make it a habit to make your
work revolve around prayer.
Prioritize it by going for prayer no
matter what work you’re doing or are in
the middle of. It also adds a lot of
barakah (blessings) to your time and
work!
Remind yourself of the reward of having
patience, Ramadan being the perfect
time to learn to practice it.
The ultimate secret: Plan what you will do
when you get home from work
It doesn’t matter if you want to have a
nap or if you want to just veg out for a
little while and unwind, the key is to be
deliberate. When you know what you are
doing, it becomes a lot easier for you to
maximise your time even if you are just
relaxing or sleeping. Now if you get
home from work and have kids and
other responsibilities waiting for you,
then my recommendation is to have a
nap on the journey home from work
(unless you are driving of course!).
If you have a lot to do when you get
home then I am going to suggest that
because in the summer time Fajr is so
early, you can spend a short time
afterwards doing dhikr or reading
Qur’an and then try to go to sleep again
and wake up as late as you can to get
ready and go to work. Plan to sleep
immediately after taraweeh so as to
wake up fresh and early for suhoor and
tahajjud (night prayer). There is a lot of
barakah in these early hours and so use
them to finish your homeworks etc.
This is where planning is fundamental.
You cannot do everything, its all about
balance and during Ramadan the key is
to burn the candle at one end only so
that you can maximise your ibadah and
yet not wear yourself out.
The most important way to maintain
your sanity is to focus on it. You know
you are going to get ratty, you know you
are going to find it a little challenging ,so
focus on being calm and present during
each and every fast and renew the
intention each day