My Ideal Working Day

One of the most common stressors is starting a new job, but lucky for me I adapt well to changes. I was stressed – no denying it – but I also work best under pressure, so alhamdulillah I think I delivered (and keep delivering) my tasks as per expectations from the superiors. I love the opportunity to learn new things and at the same time shaping an effective and efficient team (I’m sure they hate me by now) – I basically love my job.

For me, having a job that we truly love is also a form of rizq from Allah SWT. It gives you a sense of purpose and ownership in life. It gives you a reason to wake up in the morning. You continually have goals and always trying to over-deliver, not only for the organization for also for your own self-satisfaction. Can you imagine the satisfaction it gives knowing that you truly deserve the paychecks, and from that paychecks you are providing halal rizq to your kids and parents? I find my motivation in that.

But the only thing I need to work on is having a balanced life. I know, I know, when I’m too focus at work, I tend to neglect one very important thing – self-love. I focus too much on works and on others, but I forgot to love myself first. It is true that you can only love a person as much as you love yourself.

So knowing me, I work well with a strict daily schedule (nerd, I know). I need to have strict daily timetable, strict meal plan, strict everything to make it works, and only then I know I can achieve a balanced lifestyle, insyaAllah.

Ideally, my working day should look like this:

4:00 AM : Wake up, prayer, read Quran

4:30 AM : Exercise for 30 minutes

5:00 AM : Subuh prayer, shower, morning skincare routine

5:30 AM : Read for 30 minutes

6:00 AM : Journal my thought/ plan for the day

6:15 AM : Makeup, wake my daughter up for school

7:00 AM : Breakfast

8:00 AM : Send my daughter to school, go to work

12.00 PM : Pick up my daughter from school, have lunch with her

1.30 PM : Zuhur prayer

2.00 PM : Back to work

4.00 PM :  Asar prayer, continue work

5.30 PM : Gym

7:00 PM : Back from gym, Maghrib prayer, shower

7:30 PM : Dinner

8:00 PM : Isya’ prayer, put my daughter to bed

9:00 PM : Work from home, Quran journal, learn Arabic, write blog

10:00 PM : Night time skincare routine, sleep

I know, it’s only 6 hours of sleep, but 6-hour works for me because believe me, I’ve slept lesser in the past. 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep is a luxury for me. And I’m lucky too I don’t have to deal with much cooking during weekdays because I have my aunty to help me with that (but I compensate with cooking during the weekends, okay? #fyimakcikbawang) And I have Dyson, so yeah you can imagine how clean my house is at all time #itslikehavingamaid #lieitellmyselfeachday

It’s just how I envision my day to be. Being a working parent is not easy. Being a working mom is even harder. So of course I will allow a lil bit of indulgence and rewards here and there 😉

Tell me how you make your working day exciting.

x

 

 

 

 

Ramadan Game Plan

I meant to post this before Ramadan, but I got caught up with so many other things – my sister’s visit to Bintulu (so much fun!), annual assessment, work, dental appointments (finally removed both of my lower jaw wisdom teeth and got my braces installed – that’s a story for another day) – I know, these are just excuses. Today I decided to make it a priority to get this posted.

I had this realization that throughout my life, I’ve wasted my previous Ramadan – I did not really, truly internalize the meaning of fasting in Ramadan, the meaning of dedicating ourselves to Allah SWT during this month. I understand that there are people who only pray in Ramadan – honestly that was me too years back when I was lost and I only prayed in Ramadan, and I started to abandon or neglect my solah in other months. I didn’t care to reap the benefit of Ramadan. My ibadah depended on my mood – if I feel like it, I’ll go for terawih. If I feel like it, I’ll do my tahajjud. If I feel like it – I’ll read the Quran. It worsen during the last 10 nights of Ramadan when I busied myself with Eid preparation rather than focusing to meet Lailatul Qadr. There was no real connection between me and Allah SWT.

I decided this Ramadan will be a stepping point for me to turn over a new leaf, to improve myself, to reap its benefits insyaAllah. Who knows, this might be my last Ramadan.

This year I want to plan my Ramadan properly. No time of the year is more precious, more awe-inspiring than Ramadan. My goal is to establish good habits and routines so to sustain it even beyond Ramadan, insyaAllah. These are very basic habits, but very difficult to implement.

Among the habits are :

1) sleep early and wake up early. I think I have trouble sleeping – I keep waking up at night – I sleep at 11 but I’ll be awake at 1 and I’ll stay awake until 4 or 5. And I’ll be very sleepy by the time I go to work. I need to tune my sleep cycle again and train myself to sleep better. What better time in a year than Ramadan to sleep early and wake up early in order not to miss my sahoor.

2) less time on social media / games. Okay, this is pretty tricky as I like love to scroll through Instagram / Facebook timelines and I’m an avid candy crusher. But I know I’ll get more things done if I put my phone aside and focus on my daily to-do-list.

3) wear best clothes when at home especially during solah. I have to admit, I used to wear ripped, faded kaftan or shirts at home, and even when performing prayers. This holy month, I make it a point to shower and brush my teeth, put perfumes, wear my best clothes and best telekung, every time before every prayer. I’m ‘meeting’ my Creator, the Lord of the Universe. I want to make it a priority to dress nicely and be presentable before Him. As shared by Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan in one of his talks – when you go out, you dress up because you know people will be looking out you. Therefore, when you dress up before prayer, you will be conscious about the fact that Allah SWT is looking at you, and you will have more focus in your solah, subhanallah.

There you go, my 3 simple and easy habits that I wish to sustain, insyaAllah.

So, I came out with my reminder list for Ramadan that complemented my goal. It’s basically my Ramadan to-do-list of ibadah I want to perform on daily basis. I make myself busy with the tasks so that I have less time on social media / games / any other distraction.

I also mapped my daily routine into a timeline so that I know when to slot in the ibadah. I don’t follow this to a T, I will make adjustment here and there depending on the progress of the day. But I’ll make sure my daily plan revolves around prayer time.

We have 3 weeks left and let’s make dua’a that we reap the most during this Ramadan, insyaAllah. I’m so happy to share my method / tips, please share yours!

X