Not felt, thank God soon we will soon welcome the month of Ramadan. The moon is full of blessings, full of forgiveness, full of merits, and full of joy! The joy this year ( inshaAllah ) can be reunited with the blessings of the month of Ramadan.
However, of course there are many challenges for us Muslims in observing the month of Ramadan. At first glance, the month of Ramadan may be just an ordinary fasting month which we ritually do every year. However, if we think a little longer, the rewards that are given in this month of Ramadan cannot be wasted, you know. This month, which only exists once a year, has many virtues. Starting from the month when the Al-Quran came down, to multiplying the rewards of good deeds, even tens of times.
Imagine, if this is our last Ramadan, and we are wasting it? Of course, we will definitely be the most regretful people who have ever lived on earth.
This is what then underlies many questions that come to me and ask a simple thing:
“Assalamualaikum Sis Arry, how do we prepare for Ramadan so that I can live Ramadan more productively?” Because, I myself felt my Ramadan was messed up in the past and I am afraid this year my Ramadan is also messed up. In fact, I have written a lot of targets that I have to fulfill during the month of Ramadan yesterday, but many have not been achieved 🙁 “
Although actually, to be honest, I am not satisfied with the achievements of my Ramadan yesterday, let me share with all my friends what I know about the results of my Ramadan evaluation yesterday. Then draw the lessons and improvements I need to make for this year’s Ramadan. The following are tips to make your Ramadan even more productive this year.
Also Read: 7 Big Challenges in the Month of Ramadan
Tip # 1: Identify the Main Causes of Our Ramadan ‘Mess’
Honestly, in the last year I have tried to make my Ramdhan even better than before by writing amazing goals that encourage me to fulfill them. Evidently? Much has not been achieved. Starting from the target of reading the Koran and understanding its meaning, memorizing the Quran, to the target of tarawih prayer?
Was that also what you experienced during Ramadan last year? It’s the same with me, hehehe… ^ – ^ * why are you even proud of T_T?
Well, that can’t happen again and this Ramadan should be better than before. How to? First, let’s try to find out the reason why our Ramadan is falling apart. After I searched, it turned out that there were 3 main things that made my Ramdhan target messy, namely:
- Very Dense and Multiple Joint Ifthar Schedule
You know, that in the month of Ramadan as more and more connections you have, the more invitations to attend the iftar ( iftar ) together. Last year, my ifthar invitations were numerous. Starting from friends from elementary, junior high, high school, college, not to mention the organization, community, extended family, my team at CerdasMulia, and many more ifthar invitations coming. This year alone, Ramadan has not started, so many have invited for ifthar together. If it doesn’t come, it’s not good. If we come, we will most likely pass the tarawih prayer and even our schedule for reading the Quran will disappear.
- The amount of thought distraction
After I evaluated my Ramadan last year, it turned out that I had a lot of interference both online and offline. For example, I intend after tarawih prayer to read the Koran. Uh, suddenly there seems to be an issue or interesting news coming from friends on Facebook. I then looked around, read – read what was there, without realizing that my time was eroded 1 hour already on social media which was not really important. Oh dear .. Even though if you use it to read the Koran, how much can you get?
Distraction doesn’t just come online , but also offline. For example, the last 10 nights there are many more Ramadan – lots of rewards, but we’ve been thinking about the names going home and Eid. During Eid, what do you want to wear, what to cook, and even more ifthar !
- The body is ‘shocked’ and not yet adapted
Last Ramadan, I also felt a little ‘weaker’ than before because I had not yet prepared and ‘warmed up’ to welcome Ramadan. The sleep pattern that was not normally set for sahur is now set for sahur. Ordinary days that eat a lot of food, now in the month of Ramadan suddenly it becomes a little bit which results in us becoming weak and easily sleepy. Hours of sleep are messy, stamina becomes weaker.
When I evaluated these 3 things, I believed that my fasting was not optimal. You can also add in the comments box, what is the reason why people don’t reach their targets during Ramadan? Or maybe your own Ramadan evaluation? Can you please … ^ – ^
If we already know what causes Ramadan to be ‘messy’, then we will then strategize so that Ramadan will be better.
Tip # 2: Develop a Ramadan Strategy Based on the Results of the Evaluation
Okay, now is the time for us to formulate a strategy on how to make our Ramadan more productive and achieve our targets in the month of Ramadan. Based on the results of the previous evaluation, here is what I will do:
- Arranging Priority Scale in Coming to Ifthar
For this one, I really have to determine that the essence of Ramadan is to get closer to Allah and His Messenger, instead of being a kind of social ritual where we can actually have dinner together with the people we love at any time other than Ramadan. So, what I will do is prioritize my coming to the iftar together.
How do I know if that is the priority place I go to? I will come based on closeness and personal role. Based on closeness, the point is whether in the past year or so have they been someone with whom we have an intense relationship? One that I must come usually when it comes to iftharwith coworkers. Meanwhile, based on personal roles, it can be seen from how important / influential we are in the forum. If, for example, our position as children, organization leaders, or VIP speakers / invited guests, then we should come. However, if our personal role is not too prominent, whether we are present or not in the event is the same, it is better to decide to pray tarawih and focus on the main practice.
- Write Clearly and Carry OutOur Ramadan Goals
Regarding the problem of mind distraction, there is one tip that is generally given by many people: write down your Ramadan goals. Unfortunately, even though we have written down our Ramadan targets, it turns out that we are still unable to complete our Ramadan properly and allow ourselves to be disturbed or distracted by other things.
So, what’s wrong? Now, there is a teacher who leaked to me tips so that we are not easily distracted and complete the goals we have more. how do?
- Find Partners to Support Goals : In the past, my Ramadan goals only I know myself. It turns out, to make it easier for us to carry out our goals , we need someone to monitor and remind us. I plan to make my wife a partner sparring partner towards our respective goals . How about you?
- Set realistic targets: I once felt very confident that all the goals I wrote down during Ramadan would be achieved, but it turned out that I was wrong after seeing that the goals I wrote were unrealistic and too high. After all, don’t we always have to be optimistic? It is true. We can be optimistic, but of course consider other aspects, such as: our personal capacity, busy work, business, organization, friendship with parents, and related aspects. I always remember that worship is not only in mosques or prayers, but when we work and excel at work, lead the organization well, friendship, that is also a form of worship and of course the rewards are also great.
- Warm up to adjust to Ramadan
For this one, I myself missed but it doesn’t hurt if I share with you because my teacher just told me this morning * sad *. During Ramadan, note that the actual physical cycle and our food intake are different. So there are at least 2 things that need to be adjusted so that our worship or Ramadan becomes more optimal, namely:
- Restexercise: Get used to sleeping after evening or no later than 22.00 at night so you can wake up early (03.30 or 04.00). For mothers or young wives like my wife, they have to practice getting up half an hour earlier in preparation for the meal.
- Eat: Try to get used to the sunnah or David’s fast in the 2 weeks before Ramadan starts. This is to get used to us to remain productive at work even though we are fasting. Usually mentally we will feel ‘weaker’ when fasting and make us excuse to work more lazily than usual.
Tip # 3: Use Tools That Are Suitable and Suitable for Us
Some people prefer to use tools to make their life more productive during Ramadan, myself included. Currently there are so many spread on the internet about various kinds of templates to fill in as our daily and monthly to-do lists so that they are clearer and can be implemented more easily. In fact, with today’s technological developments you can write it both in the application digitally and manually. Choose the one that suits your characteristics.
- Writing Target Manual
Honestly though I am a gadget freak, but still I prefer to write manually about my Ramadan strategies and plans. I advise you to download forms that you can use to make your Ramadan even more exciting from productivemuslim.com. The following are some of the appearances,
