One of the things that so many of us struggle with is creating time for ourselves and making more time for our spiritual Islamic growth. Have you ever felt like life is just flying by and you just can’t make time for everything, because it seems to be the norm.

So, I spent a lot of time wondering how to make more time for yourself and Islam, while fulfilling all of the responsibilities that you have.  Time management is probably the first thing that everyone thinks about in order to gain more time. However, if you want to create more time for yourself, you will need more than time management and the solution is more life management. That sounds large and complicated, but it’s actually fairly simple. The primary goal is to become intentional about everything that you do. Decide what you want out of your life first, carve out the time you need for it and include both personal and professional goals and desires. Most importantly live Islam as a way of life and not a religion.

That sounds a little controversial, but it’s not because Islam is a complete way of life. And in this article, I will share with you 9 ways that you can live according to Islam and create an amazing life with more time for yourself and the things that you care about insha’Allah.

1. Become intentional about your time

Whenever we talk about time, we always come back to the Quranic verse from Surah Al Asar where Allah says:

“By time, indeed, mankind is in the state of loss, except those who believe and do good deeds (actions).”

It’s important that you decide on how you’ll spend your time before that time comes. To become intentional about your time it means decide what you want, and what’s important to you and how much time you can give it. The more time you give the important things in life, the less time you have for the less important things.

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Important doesn’t always mean things related to work, or responsibilities. Important means things that will help you and benefit you in your life today, as well as in the hereafter. That includes individual, family, social, societal wants and needs. Play is a big part of that, otherwise, life becomes very serious and you begin to want to avoid those things that make your life so serious or boring. Enjoyment is halal.

2. Carve Out Time for Yourself

You need to decide what you want, but that begins with what you desire for yourself. What do you desire the most out of your life? Have you given it much thought? Or have you only thought about one area of your life, i.e. Financial or social. It’s important that you think about what you want in all areas of life one year from now, the 5 years and then in 20 years from now.

When you asked people what they want in their lives, too many people have generic answers, a house, a family, a good job. However, that’s too general and it won’t get you everything that you need in life.

It’s important to be very specific about what you want and really put thought into what will make you happy in your life. What other people want will not necessarily make you happy, so you need to decide what is important to you and how that will make you feel if you have that in your life. Don’t fall into the trap of wanting what everyone else wants.

Once you know what’s really important to you, you need to decide how much time you’re going to have to give it every day, week or month until you are able to achieve that and bring that into your life.

Watch the following video explainer for a quick overview of this subject, insha’Allah you’ll find benefit.

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3. Accept Islam Wholeheartedly

Yes, we are Muslims and we believe, but we don’t always act that way. Islam is not a religion, like the religions of the world. Islam is a way of life that permeates every area of life. Allah says:

“Indeed we have revealed the Book to you (oh Muhammad) in truth, So worship Him sincerely for him is the Deen (way of life).”

Surah Az-Zumar, 2

If you want to make time for Islam, then the easiest way to do this is to begin your journey every day by making Islam a part of your normal life. Don’t try and fit Islam into your life. Instead, embrace it and make it your life.

You might say it’s easier said than done, but the truth is that if we live daily with intention, anything can become an easy part of your life. You don’t have to spend hours and hours daily to make Islam a part of your life. Waking up and thanking Allah is Islam, praying your 5 daily prayers and really connecting with Allah is Islam. When you feel down, and you turn to Allah and asked for help and comforting, that’s Islam.

Most importantly, acting upon the commands of Allah and submitting yourself willingly and not begrudgingly, that’s Islam. It takes practice no doubt, and the more you do it, the more you tell yourself that this is the life that you want, then the more you will accept it willingly and wholeheartedly.

4. Learn to Prioritise

You can’t do everything well. If you’re like me and you want to achieve lots of great things in your life, then you probably have a list of things that you want out of life.

A hard lesson I’ve learned in my life is that you cannot do everything, and do it really well. You have to prioritise those things that are the most important to you. That will help you the most towards your end goal. If you prioritise the most important things, then the less important things have to be put back on the shelf. Once you know that you’ve got the most important things done, then if you have time, you can get round to those things.

If you spend your time spreading yourself thin over 10 different things, the likelihood is that you will achieve less in those 10 things. Whereas, if you spend the same time on only your 3 most important and most desired goals, you’re likely to achieve great things and much better results insha’Allah.

5. Plan Ahead for the Year

Now that sounds like it’s a lot of work, but it’s not really in the grand scheme of things. If you spend just one or two days deciding on what you want and then planning out how much time you’re going to have to give each one of these things over the year, you’ll have a very clear picture of what is possible.

When you begin to plan out for the whole year using a calendar, the calendar will show you how you can get more things done. You’ll see the gaps in your calendar and you’ll also see where you’re wasting too much time.

Every time I plan using a calendar I find that all the imbalances become very clear when I look at the calendar. When you have an overview of your whole plan, you can see very clearly what needs to change in order to make the best of your year and get the outcomes you want. Planning ahead will also help you to take action without having to think all the time about what you need to do next.

6. Live for Today and Tomorrow

You have to do things today that will benefit you for tomorrow as well. You’ve heard the old saying ‘kill 3 birds with one stone’. That is probably a piece of advice I would give you because it will help you to make your life very efficient. If you do one thing that serves 3 different goals, then you’ve just bought yourself some more time.

For example, you want to have more energy, so that you can 1) create things in your life, 2) be fully present when you’re there with your family and 3) have enough time to make the kind of financial living that you want. So you go to the gym or do a 20 minute workout at home every morning as soon as you wake up. It could just be press ups, pull ups, running on the spot or skipping. Doing that for 20 minutes every morning will give you the energy boost that you need to do the work for all 3 of those goals. Whereas if you don’t do that, you might not have enough energy that you need to do all 3 and you end up doing only one or 2. So when you plan, do those things that will help you today and help you tomorrow.

More importantly, make sure the actions that you take today are connected via your intentions to pleasing Allah, because if you do something today to please Allah, then tomorrow on the day of judgement, when you really need those deeds, they will be there for you, to help you enter into paradise.

All you have to do is connect your daily actions by making intentions to please Allah. In other words, do the things that you do, to make Allah happy and then on the day of judgement Allah will make you happy.

7. Recite Quran Every Day

This is probably the most important point in this article, simply because it is the energy and the fuel, the guidance and light that you need for life, every day, week, month and year. Allah has revealed this book, the Quran to give you the guidance, spiritual nourishment and practical help that you need throughout your entire life. So, give it at least 15 minutes a day of reading with contemplation. It’s in your own interest.

8. Have a Spiritual Growth Plan

You can have a life plan and then fail miserably because you get to the end of your life and you don’t have enough good deeds to take you into paradise. Having a spiritual growth plan means having things on your to-do list every day that connect you to Allah.

Your to-dos could be small or big, but they connect you to Allah and help you to grow as a person throughout your life, so that when you get to the final moment of your life you are the in the best spiritual health that you’ve ever been in your whole life.

You don’t want to get to that last moment, spiritually lacking, the smallest and the weakest you have ever been, simply because you were too busy with everything else. To be the strongest and the most powerful spiritually, you have to spend your days in worship. But the best thing about worship in Islam is that it is anything that pleases Allah.

The easiest thing about worship in Islam is that it is as small as remembering Allah. Literally, a passing thought can be an act of worship because Allah says:

“It is not, except in the remembrance of Allah that the heart will find peace.”

Surah Ra’d,28

9. What Gives You Daily Energy

The last tip and a bonus tip that I leave you on is to decide on what gives you your daily energy. What gives you the most power and energy in your life every day? Once you know the answer to that, which will require some thought, then begin by doing that thing first or do it more. The more you do it, the more energy you can have in life to create the amazing life that you want. Insha’Allah you can have the most amazing life both in the Dunya and the Akhira.

Final Thoughts

Probably one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned over the many years that I’ve tried to optimise my time and create the best time management system, is that we all have 24-hour is in our day, and there’s no possible way to get more than that.

So understanding made me realise that all of those amazing people that we often look up to because of how much they’ve achieved, they did it all in a regular 24-hour day. The same 24 hours that you have. This means that you can do it.

But where does the Barakah (blessings) in your time come from? It comes from living in a state of connection with your purpose. Barakah comes from being in the remembrance of Allah and being intentional about your life.

If we go right back to the first point, look at what we said about being intentional. The first intention that we need to set is the intention of pleasing Allah. That will automatically connect you in your thought process and your intentions to Allah. Once you’ve done that, then taking action and actually working towards those things daily, weekly and monthly will bring it into fruition in your life. That is the source of Barakah.

For example, I’m someone that wants to do great things in my life and serve my purpose and enter paradise insha’Allah. So, I’ve made intentions that I will remember Allah as much as I can in the things I do day-to-day, and at the same time, I’m going live according to a plan that I set out for myself.

By doing this you can create the kind of life that you want and one that will bring you the happiness that you seek insha’Allah.