Productive Muslim - Part 2 : The Definition and Triangle of Productivity

اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَا تُهُ

Sorry for the late coming of the second part. Been have some setbacks recently.

Okay, as promised, in this part, I'll explain the DEFINITION of Productivity and the TRIANGLE of Productivity.

Definition of Productivity

There are various definitions of productivity, but I'll take he one that Brother Faris shared. He gave the above "Productivity Equation". Productivity equals to Focus times Energy times Time. Everyone can guess that probably. The better definition is that productivity is about making the SMART choices in our life, using our given energy, focus and time to maximize our own potential, towards maximizing our reward to the Akhirah. As Muslims, the last part was necessary. But, if as just human, only the first part is already considered productive.

As an example. There is one gamer. He is focused on playing Dota 2 or Skyrim or anything else. He can play it all day long; he has the energy and time, that he can achieve like 20-30 levels. As human being, or as a gamer, we would say that he is productive, for the game. But, as a Muslim, is he productive enough? Did all this can maximize his reward in Akhirah? It's up to you to answer that.

Now, back to the definition. There is stated that it's about making smart choices. Try making a choice that is beneficial to you. Make a decision that grant you benefits rather than bad effects on you. For example, make a choice on doing exercises rather than just lazying around. Not only exercising would fill your time, but also can keep you healthy.

For your information, productivity is not an EVENT, but rather a process. You won't wake up in the morning and suddenly felt productive. NO. It's a process. A Learning Process (a bit promo...ahakss). We have to take steps to be productive. And also, being productive is not about being busy, it's about being organize. It's a fun lifestyle.

Triangle of Productivity

To be productive, this triangle would be essential. Using the triangle would be easy, just have to;

"Put on a sincere intention, work hard (continuously) towards your goal, and don't worry about the outcome, as Allah would determines the results."

Putting on a sincere intention would be easy. Everyone would already know how to do it. It's also the same as taking action (work hard). As for the results, don't worry so much over it. Just leave it to Allah. This is what we call Tawakal. We just need to do our part, which is try our best, and Allah will do the rest. However, the problem comes when we need to be discipline (continuously work hard). I admit, I also have this problem. But, being discipline is very crucial. Without discipline, we would only work hard when we feel like it, and won't be very productive. It is said that; we would always be discipline the moment we least want to.

There are several ways to build up our discipline. Firstly, we have to give up our silly excuses. To do this, we have to find out what are the excuses that we give that prevents us from being productive. For example, we wish to finish our work everyday. But, we kept on procrastinating on it by giving excuses such as, 'we can do it tomorrow', or 'I'll do it tonight'. To give up these excuses, we need to have the excuse buster. Every time your mind come up with these excuses, try to counter it. For example, when you said that 'we can do it tomorrow', try to counter it by saying that 'tomorrow might have other plans' or any other excuse buster (don't have to follow others). Use one that is suitable for you, as long as it would make you do your work.

Secondly, we need to have these ingredients to develop discipline. The first one is have a higher purpose/reward. Set a high purpose for everything we do. Example when we study. Our purpose might only be like to get As in exams. These purpose is sometimes not very effective that we would stop to study. Try setting a higher purpose such as to be a doctor, an engineer or even to get a place to study overseas. These higher purposes would drive us to become more discipline. The second ingredient to develop discipline is to practice, practice, practice. The same as being productive, being discipline won't come easily. It requires a log of practice. It takes time. Don't give up on becoming discipline. The last ingredient is to have self accountability. Be responsible of yourself. This part is highly dependent on yourself. Make sure that you would do your part so that you can become much more disciplined.

That's all for Part 2. Briefly, this part covers about the definition of productivity and the triangle of productivity. Hope it would bring benefits to us all.
If there is any lacking or mistakes, do tell me.
InsyaAllah, on the next part, I'll start with the Framework of Productivity. Till next time.

Part 1.