While you're studying, don't let a day pass without praying 2 rakat salat ul hajat, asking Allah swt to accept you for the service of deen. 

- Abdul Rehman Ibn Yousuf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ImAHIQ916E

The Difference

You want to know the difference between the master and the the beginner?

The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.

Water

Water thirsts for the person,
who thirsts for it.

Things to Invest time in

source: http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-highest-leverage-activities-that-are-best-for-ensuring-that-you-have-a-good-life/answer/Visakan-Veerasamy

TL;DR:
1: Reading
2: Exercise
3: Investing in Relationships
4: Sleep
5: Mindfulness/Conversation

Time Management

source: Quote of Marius Ursache's answer to What are the best day-to-day time-saving hacks? on Quora

I've been testing and adjusting various productivity techniques for the past five years, read lots of books (most of them repeating) and here's some of my findings:

It's not about time. It's about energy.

We try to squeeze as many hours in one work day, to be "productive", but in the end everything depends less on time, and more on your focus, motivation and overall well-being (all of them linked directly with energy levels).

I've recently talked about my productivity techniques obsessions in an internal presentation at Grapefruit, and the resulting presentation is on Slideshare:
Productivity porn

Some of the key findings:

1. Decide what's important because in 5 years, 80% of what you do today will not turn into anything. It's just busywork, no useful outcome.
2. Sleep, food and exercise can help you triple your outcome, because they increase focus, motivation and energy levels.
3. The 2-minute rule: if you can do something (like replying to an email, or a house chore) in 2 minutes, do it now. Planning it for later, remembering it, doing it in the future will take 5 minutes or more.
4. The 5-minute rule: the biggest cure against procrastination is to set your goal not to finish a scary big hairy task, but to just work 5 minutes on it. You'll find out that most times it continues well beyond the 5 minutes, as you enter a flow state.
5. Seinfeld's productivity chain: if you want to be good at something, do it every day. Including on Christmas, Easter and Judgement Day. No exceptions.
6. Tiny habits (Tiny Habits w/ Dr. BJ Fogg), highly linked with the 5-minute rule, helps you create good habits quickly. It works, I tested it.
7. Your memory sucks. Get everything out of your head, even if you're a genius. Write it down in a notebook, put it in your todo-list app, on your phone, talk to Siri, I don't care.
8. As few tools as possible. I've tested most of the todo managers and finally stayed with Cultured Code's Things app and Google Calendar (iCal is ok, but Google Calendar integrates well with Gmail, my default client). It doesn't matter what you use (pen & paper are fine) if you understand the next rule.
9. Routine beats tools. You need discipline, and this means for me two things: I plan my day first thing in the morning, and I write a short daily log every day. This helps me stay sane, prioritize well, scrap useless tasks, and do what matters. This saves me hours.
10. Pomodoros. That's timeboxing—for 30 minutes do only the task at hand. Nothing else: no phones, email, talking to people, Facebook, running out of the building in case of fire. Nothing else.
11. Always wear your headphones. You don't have to listen to music, but it will discourage people to approach you.
12. Email scheduling and inbox zero. Don't read your email first thing in the day, don't read it in the evening (it ruined many evenings for me), and try to do it only 3 times a day: at 11am, 2pm and 5pm. And your email inbox is not a todo list. Clear it: every message should be an actionable task (link it from the todo app), a reference document (send to Evernote or archive), or should be deleted now.
13. Same thing for phone calls. Don't be always available. I always keep my phone on silent, and return calls in batches.
14. Batch small tasks. Like mail, phones, Facebook etc.
15. MI3. Most important three tasks (or the alternative 1 must - 3 should - 5 could). Start with the most important first thing in the morning.
16. Willpower is limited. Don't think that willpower will help you when you get in trouble. Make important decisions in the morning and automate everything possible (delegate, batch etc.). US presidents don't have to choose their menu or suit color everyday—otherwise their willpower will be depleted at that late hour when they should push (or not push) the red button).
17. The most powerful thing. Always ask yourself what is the most powerful thing you can do right now. Then apply rule #4.
18. Ship often. Don't polish it too much—as they say in the startup world, "if you're not ashamed of your product, you've launched too late'!
19. Pressure can do wonders. Use rewards or social commitment. We've recently done this with the new Grapefruit website. The previous one took 2.5 years to launch. The new one took 2.5 days and we did it over one hackathon weekend (+Monday).
20. Scheduled procrastination. Your brain needs some rest, and sometimes that new episode from Arrow can do wonders that the smartest TED talk won't.
21. Delete. Say No. Ignore. Don't commit to schedules. I love the last one, it's from Marc Andreessen, because it allows him to meet whomever he wants on the spot. A lot of people will hate you for this, but you'll have time to do relevant stuff. Do you think you'll regret that in 20 years, or doing something for someone you don't really care about, just to be superficially appreciated.
22. Fake incompetence. It's a diplomatic way to apply the previous rule.

That's it for now. My procrastination break is over, I'm going back to work.

Why?

Whatever is gonna for Allah swt, that will endure. That will remain. Only that. 

7 Things that harden the heart

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPf3tHLosS8&feature=share

Things that harden the heart

1. Music
2. Missing 3 jummas
3. Arguments and Conflicts
4. Arrogance
5. Breaking the promise

Stages of the hardening of the heart

1. Black spots appear on heart. I keep sinning and they start layering on top of another. 
2. So much so that the hearts become rusty. 
3. So much so that hearts become hard. Long time passes when we don't remember Allah, our hearts become like stones. In fact, harder than stones. 
4. So much so - that Allah Himself puts a seal on their hearts. When Allah seals it, who is gonna open it?
5. There's a lock on the heart. 

Its Cures

1. Ahsaas us Zia - feeling how bad our heart is. Any person who doesn't recognize that they're in trouble. The first is to perceive the problem. 
2. Crying
3. Avoiding Sins
4. Controlling the gaze
5. Regimen of dhikr
6. Recite Quran
7. Stay Hungry 
8. Duas in the last part of the night
9. With all of this: Companionship of the pious. Konoo ma'assadiqeen.

One who stays away from the remembers away from the remembrance of Allah, we designate a shaytan for him. And that Shaytan becomes his companion. 

Remember Allah abundantly. Not a bit. Who are those people who remember Allah only a bit? The munafikeen. 

Qul HuAllahu Ahad

Time

Time is in the hands of God. Give some to Him, He will open it up for you.

Raabta

Never think that you have angered or annoyed the shaykh by telling him your spiritual condition and faults, or that you have lowered yourself in his eyes. You have only raised your status in this faqīr’s
heart by being open and truthful. It may be that the devil (shaytān) tries to delude you into only writing good points about yourself from now on, but know that this would be fatal for your spiritual progress. I am hopeful that you will not be a hypocrite to yourself in this matter. There is no better judge in this world than one’s own conscience. I am hopeful that you will keep me informed of your condition from time to time. It is foolish to conceal one’s illness from one’s doctor.

source: http://www.tasawwuf.org/writings/wisdom_seeker/

© 2001 - 2010 Tasawwuf.org.  This material may be used for non-commercial use, provided it is unaltered and this copyright information and a link to our home page is included.

Lover?

source: http://www.tasawwuf.org/writings/wisdom_seeker/

In the darkness of the night, cooed a pigeon
On a branch, in weakness, while I was asleep.

I lied; By Allah, were I a lover,
The pigeon would not have outpaced me in weeping.

I assume I am lovesick, love struck
But I weep not, while animals weep.

© 2001 - 2010 Tasawwuf.org.  This material may be used for non-commercial use, provided it is unaltered and this copyright information and a link to our home page is included.