How to Bring Salah into your Busy Schedule

As a co-founder of a young startup and a mother of 2, I’ve always struggled to find a balance in my work, family life and faith commitments. On some days work overwhelms me (since I’m multitasking on so many tasks), and on other days the kids are extra clingy. On most days, I find myself forfeiting my Quran readings, or -astaghfirullah- even missing my prayers. 😔

If you want to fix your day, fix your salah first. The rest will automatically be put in its place. 

The 5 daily prayers are like the pillars of a house, while the house represents our day. We can always paint vibrant colours on the walls and change the interior decoration or furniture, but if the pillars are not well placed or have a weak foundation, the entire house will collapse. Just like our day!

I’m a morning person, so I usually love to work in the quiet of the early mornings in the window between Fajr prayers to sunrise, where the birds chirp their brightest and merriest. (You can do it in the quiet of the night if you’re a night owl!).

I start the day by writing a short checklist of my to-dos for the day (I use a project management app, but you can do it with any simple reminder app on your phone!). Then, I put on my Qibla Watch and start checking off each task as I complete them. 

During the day, Qibla Watch sends me a prayer reminder right to my wrist, as a vibration, to tell me to stop and complete my prayers before continuing with my tasks. 

While I’m juggling cooking and playing with the kids, and stranded without my phone (thanks to a wailing baby!), my Qibla Watch’s progress bar also acts like a little visual reminder every single time, as I note that the time to next prayer is inching closer and closer when the bar becomes more and more narrow. So even if I couldn’t pray at that time with the wailing baby in my arms, I still am very aware of the remaining time available, so that I can make my prayers as and when I can.

Bit by bit, I find myself more aware of my prayer schedule, and I slowly learn to arrange my day’s schedule around my prayers. Even while I am out of the office or travelling, I find it is better to pray as and when I get the notification on my watch, and I stop by somewhere suitable to pray with my trusty Pocket Sejadah.

If Salah becomes a habit, success becomes a lifestyle. Are you ready to lead that lifestyle, inshaAllah?