First ever blog post in Ramadan!! Ramadan Kareem Everyone 🌙

Well when it comes to ramadan, a lot changes, especially our sleeping schedules. When we are fasting we might find that attending classes, finishing assignments and taking exams some of the most annoying and time consuming tasks. But what we don’t see is the amount of patience that we practice which allows us to push through it all. Ramadan is also about spiritual growth, finding clarity and overall healing, so it would not be ideal to spend all of the time studying worrying about university.

When I knew that we had to attend classes during ramadan last year, this was my initial reaction.

I was devastated because I thought it would be so demanding and above all exhausting.

In the last semester that I took during ramadan, I was dedicated to make it my most productive so I tried every other approach to maximize my productivity no matter what. So, I am going to share the things/changes that I have done.

Here are all the things that I did:

1. Attend all my lectures (with certain exceptions): I would TRY to attend every lecture as much as possible in order to lessen the workload. **There is a line under try, meaning that if you can do it then do it but if you feel that attending is only going to exhaust you to the point that you wouldn't be able to comprehend the material then don’t attend (just make sure that you have spare absences for it).** Personally, I feel that attending the class takes a huge load of my back and allows me to commit to the lecture even when I think I wouldn’t. Another reason is that I despise rewatching or relistening to lectures.

2. Not exhausting myself when fasting: when I had lectures in the morning or afternoon I would only attend them and only that. No extra work and no reviewing. I would focus my energy in attending the lecture and try my best to get every bit of important information so I wouldn’t need to rewatch or relisten to anything. It also depends on the course type, if the lecture is for one of the STEM courses (biology, chemistry, math or physics) then attending the lecture is challenging enough but if it is a general course or an elective then I might work after the lectures for a while.

It depends on your ability to focus, so set your own pace and try not to over do it!

3. Finish my work after Taraweeh or right after Fajir: I found that after praying I would be in a better mood to tackle new topics and study for exams. My mind would be relaxed and refreshed to start working. Personally I found that when I work an hour after Fajir (or from Fajir until sunrise) it is equivalent to three hours in the day or any other time. This taught me that the amount of hours studied DOES NOT equal to the quality of studying.

4. Establish a sleep schedule that works for me: I know that It might be a bit challenging but find what works for you.

• When I had early lectures, I would sleep at 10pm and wake up before Fajir eat my suhoor and drink coffee which keeps me awake until 12-1 pm then I would take a little nap and finish my work at night.
• When I didn’t have early lectures I would sleep a bit later at 1 am, I’d also wake up before Fajir to eat suhoor but I wouldn’t drink coffee. I’d stay awake to study and review until sunrise then I would sleep until the time of my lecture. If I had time, I would take a nap.

So different days meant different sleep patterns and that worked for me because I had good sleep no matter the lecture time or the workload. I was also able to do other things during my day like help out in making food and read Qura'an.

These are the 4 main changes that have truly benefited me during that semester and I highly recommend trying them. Once I established this system it increased my productivity while also preventing me from exhaustion and burn out.

I'd like to note that everyone experiences Ramadan differently and that everyone has different commitments but these are the things that had a positive impact on me and I hope they do the same to you!

Lastly, let this be a reminder to you that university during Ramadan is more than just studying. It is about strengthening your spiritual needs through prayer, dhikr, reading Qura'an and good deeds. So, don't let the burdens of studying stop you but use it as a motivator to do better and try harder.

Here are some Dua'as that I say before, during and after studying or working:

I want to keep this blog short and simple! What changes have you done during Ramadan? Share that with me in the comments!

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