Every Ramadhan our social media timelines are inundated with posts and articles in relation to Ramadhan on a myriad of different topics such as keeping healthy, keeping productive, self care and maximising our time for ibadah, but do we incorporate what we learn or at least use what we learn in a realistic manner that we can keep up after Ramadhan?

Alhamdulillah, fasting and Ramadhan seems to inject barakah into one’s time as we feel we can do even more good deeds than we do outside of Ramadhan.

Personally I like to keep two different Ramadhan schedules for the working week to interchange between depending on the day. I usually get asked why I organise two different timetables and that simply is because I have one that I wish to observe every day and the other as a “plan B” when the day isn’t going to plan.

Realistically, not every day will go to plan and that is fine and that’s why having a back up plan aids us when we slip up and also so we can rely upon it so we don’t beat ourselves up when we’re meant to be building ourselves up.

My brief timetable in a nutshell for my ideal day:

Everyday schedule:

• 2 am – wake up for suhoor and tahajjud

• 4 am – pray fajr

• 7:30 am – wake up for work

• 6 pm – come home from work and sleep

• 7:20 pm – prepare iftar

• 8:30 pm – maghrib and eat then clean up

• 9:30 pm – rest

• 10:00 pm – go tarawih

• 11:30 pm come back from tarawih, read Quran and chill

• 2am – wake up

• Total sleep time: 5 1/2 – 6 hours on work days

My “plan B” plan is:

• 2:40 am – wake up
• 4 am – pray fajr
• 8 am – wake up
• 6 pm – come home from work and do any jobs/chores that have come up
• 7:20 pm – prepare iftar
• 8:30 pm – maghrib and eat then clean up
• 9:30 pm – rest
• 10:00 pm – go tarawih
• 11:30 pm come back from tarawih, read Quran and chill
• 11:45 pm sleep

You can see there are minor differences only.

I’m not someone who deactivates social media in Ramadhan. I agree it’s always beneficial to take a break from social media and have an “internet detox”, however i try to set up habits in Ramadhan around the things (obviously no sins innshaAllah) that I already do so that I can continue the good habits and ibadah that I pick up and get use to even after Ramadhan.

That technique of “detoxing” (although have used it before) when limited to doing these detoxes only in Ramadhan is thus showing that we acknowledge that what we are doing online as in social media or otherwise is definitely not good for us ou as you try to move away all that is a distraction rather than seeing these devices as aids to your journey to Allah – so we should leave it indefinitely then.

We hope to use Ramadham to develop easy, realistic and practical habits that bring us closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta’aala as well as keeping us steadfast while also allowing ourselves to rest, relax and have fun.

May Allah place barakah in our time, increase us in knowledge, allow us to benefit from His verses and accept our fasts and deeds this Ramadhan. Ameen