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[Ta Ha 20:2~4]

مَآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لِتَشْقَىٰٓ

We have not sent down to you the Qur'an that you be distressed

إِلَّا تَذْكِرَةً لِّمَن يَخْشَىٰ

But only as a reminder for those who fear [ Allah ]

تَنزِيلًا مِّمَّنْ خَلَقَ ٱلْأَرْضَ وَٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ ٱلْعُلَى

﴿وتحسبهم أيقاظا وهم رقود﴾

And you would have thought they were awake, though they were asleep.

Outside of the apparent meaning, which is regarding the Seven Sleepers, it makes me reflect on the nature of people and their hearts.

The disease of hypocrisy.

Not everyone is as they seem, and a heart that seems full of life and vibrancy might actually be in a deep sleep, or dead altogether.

And all we only ever see is what other people want us to see, unless God wishes to expose them.

here are tips I discovered very recently:

something is better than nothing. 5 minutes of work are better than zero. Just because you missed something on your schedule doesn’t mean you can’t still work on it, even for 5 minutes. Grow and build on this.

second drafts / reviews can be done after.

Don’t think you are going to do your very best work on the first try. Take the weight of perfectionism off your shoulders.

don’t think about doing it. just do it as fast as you can.

build on your productivity, not your failures.

If you come from a past of procrastinating and now feel motivated to change and discipline yourself, do NOT try to do everything at once.

if you have a set of different goals to accomplish, begin with the most important one. Wait until the rotine of working for that one settles in (you feel productive and comfortable-ish), and then begin with the next. Repeat.

this way you’ll be building your way up and not juggling everything at the same time, hoping everything works out.

be patient with yourself, you’ll get there!

set smaller deadlines for your goals

have monthly and weekly-ish deadlines

e.g. if you are doing a project, due 22nd Feb, set personal deadlines, like have Introduction written by 2nd Feb, have Methods written by 10th Feb, have project complete by 18th Feb.

take them as seriously as you possibly can, don’t miss out on yourself.

write realistic daily tasks and don’t stop until you finish them. after them you can do whatever you want

on writing realistic daily tasks, the secret is knowing you can only do so much in one day, but trusting you can accomplish everything in the course of any period of time (a week, or 2 weeks or a month, etc.) because you will combine the work from all these different days.

it’s very tempting to write down all the tasks you need to accomplish in one day to just get over with it, but the real deal is you won’t accomplish half of them. You’ll feel very unproductive then, wich leads to demotivation.

spread daily tasks in the time necessary.

have a consistent sleep schedule.

if your mind isn’t ready everything will fall apart.

have one rest day per week where you plan nothing, do whatever you want except studying. this can be harder than you expect!

“Do not allow the negative thoughts you have about yourself, nor the multiple sins you have committed prevent you from invoking your Lord. For verily, He [Allāh] responded to the invocation of Iblees [Satan] when he said:

‘O’ my Lord! Give me then respite till the Day they (the dead) will be resurrected.’”

"Woe to you, he who is apt to sleeping excessively will see only dreams! When will the time come when you finally open the eyes of strong will and endeavor? How much longer will you waste your life in dreams? Do you not long to breathe the late night breeze [which is the best time to invoke and pray]? Do you not feel the coolness of Fajr? Do you not mark the light reflecting off your grey hair? Are you not hurt by time reproaching you [for wasting your life in vain]?"

‪Abul-Ahwas said :‬

‪❝‘Abdullah said,‬

‪"No one is born learned. Knowledge comes only by way of studies.“ ❞‬

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‪[Az-Zuhd of Imam Ahmad, p. 134]‬

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—————

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Abū Khaithama narrated to us, saying :

❝Wakī’ reported to us from Sufyān from Abū Zia’raa from Abū Al-Aḥwāṣ on the authority of ‘Abdullāh [Ibn Mas'ūd] رضي الله عنه that he said,

“Indeed, no one is born a scholar. But rather, knowledge is only (attained) by studying.” ❞

‪⠀‬

﴿وتحسبهم أيقاظا وهم رقود﴾

And you would have thought they were awake, though they were asleep.

Outside of the apparent meaning, which is regarding the Seven Sleepers, it makes me reflect on the nature of people and their hearts.

The disease of hypocrisy.

Not everyone is as they seem, and a heart that seems full of life and vibrancy might actually be in a deep sleep, or dead altogether.

And all we only ever see is what other people want us to see, unless God wishes to expose them.

Progress = Progress⁠

⁠

— Drink COLD water.

— Drink Green tea.

— Drink Coffee.

— Do a High-Intensity workout.

— Lift heavy things.

— Stand up more.