We begin by praising Allah Ta'ala, to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth, and Who does not tire, nor is He seized by slumber or sleep; and by sending blessings upon His beloved messenger, his family and companions, and those righteous Followers who succeeded them - may Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala be pleased with them.
Rare is the student that has not had to lose sleep in order to get things done. University, college, high school - you name it - probably everyone has faced a time in their life when deadlines are tight and so meeting them means saying goodbye to extra pilow time. The extreme of this is of course the all-nighter, whereby stressed individual X decides to spend "all night" working away at some given assignment Y.
Some people might tell you that its only those who are unprepared, who procrastinate and delay, that end up in this mess. Undoubtedly, it is perhaps those who have to do it more often, but the point of the matter is that we can plan and manage our time to the best of our ability and still not finish everything because life - happens. As the adage goes, man proposes, God disposes.
As such, I think it's important for everyone to reflect on the nature of these busy periods of our lives. What one may find is interesting is how they represent possibly the highest degree of human discipline. When we're running short on time, we become able to focus all of our energies on whatever task we have at hand and work efficiently to complete it. We'll rid ourselves of unnecessary distractions, prioritize our doings and facilitate our time meaningfully. Why? Because we know that in some hours, we have to hand in an assignment or write a test- opportunities that can only be had once because often, handing it in late or writing a make-up is not an option. Moreover, we know it will pay off once we have done it, and that lost rest will have been worth it.
In fact, life as a whole is much like this, isn't it? We are given some short hours in this world to scurry about and get things done, to develop and grow as human beings and then, we expire.
Imagine, then, a world in which we lived by these same principles all the time. Where sleeping and eating less was a regular habit that we formed so that we could increase productivity. Where our deadlines were not tonight and tomorrow, but those unknown deadlines of old age and death, after which there are no make-ups or late penalties. Imagine what we could accomplish!
I'm not in any way endorsing all-nighters or suggesting that we dramatically change our schedules so that we leave no time to socialize or relax. That's not a healthy, maintainable lifestyle in my humble opinion. What I am saying is that it might be worth our while to take the most productive times of our lives- meaning any kind of productivity - academic, work-related, spiritual or otherwise-and use them as reminders of what we are capable of doing when we remember how close our deadlines really are. Perhaps this way, laziness and procrastination will seem unreasonable all together :D
Wa billahi tawfiq
Rare is the student that has not had to lose sleep in order to get things done. University, college, high school - you name it - probably everyone has faced a time in their life when deadlines are tight and so meeting them means saying goodbye to extra pilow time. The extreme of this is of course the all-nighter, whereby stressed individual X decides to spend "all night" working away at some given assignment Y.
Some people might tell you that its only those who are unprepared, who procrastinate and delay, that end up in this mess. Undoubtedly, it is perhaps those who have to do it more often, but the point of the matter is that we can plan and manage our time to the best of our ability and still not finish everything because life - happens. As the adage goes, man proposes, God disposes.
As such, I think it's important for everyone to reflect on the nature of these busy periods of our lives. What one may find is interesting is how they represent possibly the highest degree of human discipline. When we're running short on time, we become able to focus all of our energies on whatever task we have at hand and work efficiently to complete it. We'll rid ourselves of unnecessary distractions, prioritize our doings and facilitate our time meaningfully. Why? Because we know that in some hours, we have to hand in an assignment or write a test- opportunities that can only be had once because often, handing it in late or writing a make-up is not an option. Moreover, we know it will pay off once we have done it, and that lost rest will have been worth it.
In fact, life as a whole is much like this, isn't it? We are given some short hours in this world to scurry about and get things done, to develop and grow as human beings and then, we expire.
Imagine, then, a world in which we lived by these same principles all the time. Where sleeping and eating less was a regular habit that we formed so that we could increase productivity. Where our deadlines were not tonight and tomorrow, but those unknown deadlines of old age and death, after which there are no make-ups or late penalties. Imagine what we could accomplish!
I'm not in any way endorsing all-nighters or suggesting that we dramatically change our schedules so that we leave no time to socialize or relax. That's not a healthy, maintainable lifestyle in my humble opinion. What I am saying is that it might be worth our while to take the most productive times of our lives- meaning any kind of productivity - academic, work-related, spiritual or otherwise-and use them as reminders of what we are capable of doing when we remember how close our deadlines really are. Perhaps this way, laziness and procrastination will seem unreasonable all together :D
Wa billahi tawfiq
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